How to Build a Wooden Play Table and Chair Set for Kids

Months ago, they hosted what they call “Orphan Care Weekend” at our church. They had different activities and speakers trying to raise awareness of the needs of orphans and foster children in our community. As you may expect, one of the very important topics they talked about was the unfortunate, but desperate need of adoptive and foster parents for kids of all ages (0 to 18), and the great difference they are able to make in the children lives.

Moved by everything we learned that weekend, late last year, Carla and I started the process to get certified as foster parents.

Fast forward to April 2018, we got our certification and a kid at home. An energetic 4-year old boy (we got a call the same day our certification was approved, that’s how desperate they are for foster families).

Without kids, our house was absolutely not kid-friendly. We had to start working on changing this. So, after looking for different ideas, we decided that building a wooden play table was definitely a must for us!

HOW TO BUILD A WOODEN PLAY TABLE AND CHAIR SET FOR KIDS

Before we show you how to build the wooden play table for kids, let’s make sure you have all the tools and materials you need to build it, we used the following:

• Pallet wood
• Small piece of 1/4 in plywood (20 1/2 in x 20 1/2 in)
• Table Saw
• Miter Saw
• Sander & sandpaper
• Measuring Tape & pencil
• 2 1/2 in wood screws
• Drill and drill bits
• Wood putty & putty knife
• Paint and paintbrush
• Air compressor, pneumatic nail gun & nails (optional but makes the job way easier)
• Wood glue

 STEP 1: CUT ALL THE WOOD PIECES FOR THE CHAIRS

To be honest, we started by cutting, sanding and assembling only one of the chairs. This is because we wanted to make sure our plan was going to work, before going through all the work of cutting and sanding all the pieces.

 

 

 

Once we assembled and were happy with the first chair, we went ahead and cut, sanded and assembled the other three.

These instructions were written based on the fact, that we are happy with our results, so you can feel comfortable and cut all the pieces at once.

All of our chairs have a total of 13 pieces:

• (5) 12 in x 3 1/2 in pieces for the seat and back
• (2) 22 in x 1 1/4 in x 1 in Back legs
• (2) 11 in x 1 1/4 in x 1 in Front legs
• (2) 7 7/8 in x 1 1/4 in x 1 in Side rails
• (2) 8 1/8 in x 1 1/4 in x 1 in  Front and back rails

So that means that that to build the four chairs, you need:

• (20) 12 in x 3 1/2 in pieces for the seat and back
• (8) 22 in x 1 1/4 in x 1 in Back legs
• (8) 11 in x 1 1/4 in x 1in Front legs
• (8) 7 7/8 in x 1 1/4 in x 1 in Side rails
• (8) 8 1/8 in x 1 1/4 in x 1 in  Front and back rails

 

STEP 2: CUT ALL THE WOOD PIECES FOR THE TABLE

For the table, we cut the following wood pieces:

• (4) 20 1/2 in x 1 1/4 in x 1 in Legs
• (2) 20 1/2 in x 3 1/2 in x 1 1/4 in Side rails
• (2) 20 in x 3 1/2 in x 1 1/4 in Side rails
• (4) 20 1/2 in x 1/2 in x 1/4 in Pieces to hold the piece of plywood
• (1) 20 1/2 in x 20 1/2 in x 1/4 in Piece of plywood
• (8) 24 in Pallet boards for the table top, we ran these through the table saw to make the table top exactly 24 in x 24 in.
• (2) 22 in Pallet boards to hold the table top together

 

 

STEP 3: CAREFULLY SAND ALL THE PIECES

As you may know, pallet wood is not the smoothest, and because this table set is to be used by kids, we carefully sanded all the pieces. We also had to remove or drive in a bunch of nails that were sticking out from it.

 

STEP 4: ASSEMBLE THE CHAIRS, TABLE FRAME, AND TOP

To assemble the chairs and table frames, we used two different drill bits. One 1/8 in and one 1/4 in. The first one was to drill pilot holes for the 2 1/2 in screws we used. The second one was to make a bigger hole for the head of the screws to go all the way in. We could have bought a cabinet drill bit to make this part of the project easier, but we did not see the need for it.

I don’t think it was needed, but we also used some wood glue to make them even stronger.

 

 

 

As we put all the pieces together, we used a level to make sure the legs and side rails off the chairs were all leveled.

 

 

 

 

 

Once we assembled all the chairs and the table’s frame, it was time to put the table top together. To do this, we followed the exact same procedure we used to build our coffee table top.

In this case, using eight of the ten 24” pallet boards for the top, and two on the bottom (perpendicular) to hold the table top together.

To finalize the assembly process, we went ahead and covered all visible screw and nail holes using the wood putty and putty knife.

STEP 5: PRIME AND PAINT ALL THE PIECES

With the chairs and table frames assembled, we went ahead and put a coat of primer on all of them.

 

Later on, we put a coat of white paint.

 

Finally, a couple of coats of blue, red, yellow and green to the chairs’ seats, backs, and tabletop.

 

 

STEP 6: INSTALL THE CHAIRS’ SEATS AND BACKS

With the paint dry, it was just a matter of installing the chairs’ seats and backs to finish the chairs. We used the nail gun to make the process faster and cleaner.

 

 

 

STEP 7: INSTALL THE TABLE’S TOP

Finally, we installed the table top, using 18 in soft-close drawer slides. This allows the top to open and close for toy storage.

 

 

 

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