DIY Kid’s Craft Table

In need of a functional kid’s craft table but can’t justify the price tag? We made our own kid’s craft table that’s the perfect size for little hands, has tons of storage, and is budget-friendly! Find a full tutorial, including a materials list, in this post!

I’m taking a break from Christmas decor to share one of my favorite DIYs from the Shared Boys’ Bedroom we completed a few weeks ago – a DIY kid’s craft table!

I knew I wanted to have a specific space in their room designated for coloring, crafting and just making. 

I also needed a place to hold their crayons, markers, and the boatloads of Play-Doh and assorted Play-Doh tools. Their coloring books needed a permanent home that wasn’t my dining room table or the floor.

I scoured the internet searching for a budget-friendly kid’s table only to be disappointed by how costly they could be! I’m talking several hundred dollars.  I simply couldn’t justify spending that!

So, I designed my own table from the couple I really liked online. I needed storage for coloring books and shelves to store their other “making” supplies.  And I knew I wanted a paper roll that could be pulled across the top for easy coloring.

I set off to draw my design and went to show my FIL. He, being CRAZY awesome, agreed to make my little table!

Oh, and he agreed to write this post, too! Talk about the best guy, ever.

So, with that, I’m turning my little blog over to him to give the full tutorial on our kid’s craft table!

Building Plans for a Kids Craft Table

Every project needs a detailed, precise, drawn-to-scale blueprint, right?  Yikes!

How to Build a Kids Craft Table

Since we were looking for a rustic look (isn’t everybody?), we chose to use regular common pine boards, complete with the knots, checks, and other imperfections. You know, the good stuff!

You could choose to go with a better grade of clear pine or even a different species like oak (if stain is desired) or poplar (good for painting).

Tabletop Assembly

We cut the tabletop panel down to the desired 42” length with the table saw. We only cut off 6 inches, so you could keep it at 48″ if you prefer.

Next cut the 1×4 pine boards to length to create an apron to surround the tabletop.

After sanding the surface and edges of the boards, we attached them to the tabletop using a bead of wood glue and Kreg pocket holes in each corner and around the perimeter of the table top.

The pocket screws create a very strong joint that is virtually invisible since the fasteners are installed on the underside of the boards, out of sight.

Instructions for Individual Components of the Kids Craft Table

1. Table Legs

Having determined the finished height of the table, we cut four pieces of 1×4 boards to length to create the two legs of the table.

The other side of the kids craft table is held up by the shelves instead of legs.

Two of the 1×4 boards were cut down to a width of 2¾” each with the table saw, then attached to the other 1×4 boards using 5 Kreg pocket holes, forming two “L” shaped legs with equal width sides.

Next, fill the pocket holes on the legs with wooden plugs and wood glue. Once dry, sand the legs and the plugs smooth.

2.  Side Shelving

The side shelving unit has two shelves perfect for crayons, markers, and Play-Doh. It also serves as the legs of the kids craft table on one side.

Cut the sides of the shelving from a 1×8 board to the same length as the table legs.

We cut the two shelves from the remaining 1×8 board and used pocket screws to attach them between the 1×8 side panels.

The bottom shelf sits on two 1×2 boards, set back about ½” from the front and back of the leg.

Each shelf gets a “backstop” made from a ½” x 1 ½” pine slat, to keep the storage bins from sliding off the back of the shelves.

3.  Book Holder

We started the bookholder by cutting a 1×4 board to length for the bottom and a 1×2 board for the top.

We decided to fit the bottom between the two 1×8 legs of the shelving unit, where it would slip under the ½” overhang of the bottom storage shelf.

Laying the top and bottom boards side by side, we drew locator lines evenly spaced across both boards.  This allowed us to pinpoint where holes would be drilled to accept the ends of five ½” dowel rods.  These dowel rods will serve as the side of the book holder.

Using a ½” Forstner bit, drill five sets of holes for the five dowels, each ½” deep.  The Forstner bit drills a clean-edged, flat-bottomed hole. Perfect!

Then, we cut the five 1/2″ dowels to length with the miter saw and glued them into place on both boards.

Here’s the completed end shelf assembly with the book holder attached.

4. Paper Holder

The paper holder consists of a couple of short lengths of 1×4 pine and a ¾” dowel.

For aesthetics, and with little heads in mind, we clipped the bottom corner of the paper supports.

We routed grooves into the inside surfaces of the supports to accommodate a ¾” dowel rod. Cut the rod long enough to hold the paper roll plus a little excess on each end of the roll.

5. Paper Hold Downs

We fashioned paper hold-downs on the top of the table out of ¼” x 1 ½” slats. Then, we determined a length that would be long enough to cover the width of the paper and allow room for the hold-down knobs.

Drill holes slightly larger than the threaded insert nut of the tightening knobs on each end of the slats. 

After placing the slats on the tabletop in the desired final position, transfer the location of the holes in the slats to the tabletop by tracing through the holes with a pencil.

Next, drill holes into the tabletop at those points for the brass threaded inserts. 

There was a lot of trial and error with the size of these holes. They needed to be bigger than expected! 

Once you get the sizing right, you can drill the remaining holes into the tabletop to accept the threaded inserts.

It helps to add a bit of painter’s tape to the drill bit to the depth of the hole being drilled. When you get to the tape, the hole is as deep as you want it to be.

Next, turn the threaded insert nuts into the hole until flush with the top of the table.

Here’s a look at the components of the paper hold-downs:

• the installed threaded insert nut
• the 1/4″ x 1 1/2″ wooden slat with a hole drilled slightly larger than the thread on the hold-down knob
• the threaded knob itself

Next, take your threaded knobs and feed them through the holes in the slats, then turn them into the inserts until the slats are snug to the table. 

Final Assembly of the Kids Crafting Table

Once we had all the individual components constructed, it was time to assemble them into the final kids craft table!

First, sand all surfaces smoothly and round the corners over slightly. Start with 150-grit sandpaper and work up to 220-grit.

Then brush off and wipe the wood with a tack cloth before applying a natural wood stain and multiple coats of satin finish Polycrylic.

To make things easier, we applied the finishes to the leg and shelf assemblies as they were completed, and to the top and apron after everything was assembled. Then everything got a final coating of Polycrylic just to be sure!

Attaching the Table Legs

First, we screwed the legs to the inside of the table apron.

We decided to use screws only – no wood glue – to allow for future removal.

Attaching the Side Shelves

The shelving unit is attached to the inside of the apron boards using 1 1/4″ coarse-threaded Kreg screws.

We squared up the end shelf assembly to the tabletop before driving home the 3 fastening screws.

The entire bookholder assembly is attached to the back of the storage shelves (using pocket screws), and to the underside of the tabletop using 1 1/4″ Kreg screws. 

Attaching the Paper Holder

For the paper holder, we drilled pilot holes through the table apron.  Then, we glued and screwed the supports into place.

Getting there! Completed paper holder assembly!

We used a router to create the groove in each bracket to hold the 3/4″ dowel in place.

Adding the paper roll is as easy as lifting the dowel up and out of the grooves, and then dropping it back in!

Adding Anti-Sleep Feet

Last, we added rubber anti-slip feet to the bottoms of the legs.  They will help to keep the table in place during furious crayoning and hand painting!

The Finished Product: A DIY Kids Craft Table!

And, here’s the finished kids craft table in place in the boys’ bedroom!

The shelves are the perfect height for little bins of crayons, markers, and Play-Doh supplies.  And, the perfect height for little hands to reach (and clean up!!).

The paper roll is one of my favorite parts of the table. It’s so easy to loosen the paper holds on the table, roll a bit under, and secure the paper to the table.  The kids can freely draw and color whatever they’d like.

I often leave the same section up for a while.  I love seeing what they come back and add to their little drawings. It’s completely open-ended!

The kid-size metal chairs (similar option here) are the perfect size for both boys, with room to grow.  Plus, they’re really, really cute!

Finally, the coloring book holder fits ALL of their books, which is entirely too many, of course.

While I love the style and function of the table, the kiddos are thrilled about it, too!

I’m so excited to have this table for the kiddos and so thankful to have a helpful FIL living so close!

Wishing you a joyful day!

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