Kids table?

[insidevoice]

I'm trying to decide if it is worth the space in our house to have a separate kids' table.  Obviously, meals can be at the normal table, as can crafts, but I have an older child plus 2 (and a half -edd Dec) much younger children. I'm wondering if it might not be nice for the little kids to have a table/chair set scaled for them to use easily without having to climb and reach.  I notice that my middle child, for instance, likes to use the coffee table as a work surface and often will create a seat for that height out of a box or a few books.  He simply seems more comfy at that level. 

But.... it's another piece of furniture!!!!  Ack!  

[crunchy_mommy]

We have a few kids tables and they get TONS of use even with only 1 kid -- snacks, crafts, playing, etc. I can't imagine not having one actually! But we don't have a coffee table... I'd imagine that would serve basically the same function, so a separate table probably isn't necessary unless you have restrictions on coffee table use or it's always cluttered with adult stuff. We had chairs at DS's table at one point, but found he prefers to stand, so we just have a kid-sized chair we keep under the window that he can drag around to wherever he needs it (usually NOT the table). Maybe you could just get a few chairs that can be used at the coffee table but grouped in a corner of the room when not in use? Maybe those little 1' cube storage ottomans would work -- you could store stuff in them but they'd also be comfortable to use at the coffee table. They're probably on sale now since college kids are going back to school!

[mkksmom]

I've been debating the same thing. I keep putting off getting one. I'd love to have meals at it actually, but I can't figure out where to put it. My MIL just gave us one that we put in the play room, and my dd definitely uses it a lot.

[Jenni1894]

We have a small table and chairs and all 3 of my kids use it daily.  DS eats his breakfast while watching Animal Planet every am.   DD eats her breakfast there also.   They use it for a play surface for ponies, barbies,etc.   It's a table for their dolls and they make them food.   I didn't want one either but someone gave it to me and I thought, oh what the heck, I'll put it out for a bit.   I really like having it there. 

[accountclosed3]

making furniture out of books and boxes is a great activity, so I suggest that you keep it that way rather than getting a smaller table. :)

but that's me. :D

[insidevoice]

Originally Posted by zoebird 

making furniture out of books and boxes is a great activity, so I suggest that you keep it that way rather than getting a smaller table. :)

but that's me. :D

We will for now, but we're in the middle of a 'start from scratch' move, and the coffee table isn't going with us.   Once we get there, my goal is to not have enough 'stuff' for him to create furniture with... (I can dream!)

Hmm... it sounds like it might be worth trying provided I can find something that will fit well and be multipurpose. Dear Craigslist.... 

[accountclosed3]

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Edited by accountclosed3 - 7/25/12 at 1:46pm

[skreader]

Then let him use the coffee table, maybe consider a stool for him to sit on when he uses it?

[LaughingHyena]

We don't use ours as much as I though we would. The kids use it as part of the play kitchen but it's not often they will sit there to do jigsaws etc. We did have it downstairs but since it didn't get much use we moved it into DSs bedroom. That said I prefer to keep crafts at the kitchen table where they are easy to keep and eye on and the floor is easy to clean.

We do have tripp trapp chairs so they are at a comfortable height at the main table which I think makes a difference too.

[4evermom]

We use a kid's table AS a coffee table.  It was actually a sturdy desk with a drawer and I cut off the legs so it was the right height to go with small chairs.  I love that it isn't as low as a regular coffee table, much nicer for grown up use, too.  More recently, I added wheels.  I love that we can roll it into the corner or pull it out and position it in front of the couch to play a game or build a lego set.  With younger kids, one might want to get wheels that can lock so they don't get hurt pulling themselves up or have a little too much fun rolling it around.  I've become a big fan of wheels on things.  I'm thinking if I add any more, I'll have to put up a warning sign for the sake of visitors. 

[Deir]

Definitely!! My kids use their little table all the time. We also have a low train table that they use. We have a small square table with 2 little chairs and a stool in our kitchen. Absolutely used in our house.

[Coconut Chronicles]

We use ours all the time

[Ygle]

We also use our kid table as a coffee table... much more stable, easy to clean, portable and safe (the coffee table we used to have tipped over and also had rough edges on the underside so we moved it out of the living room when the kids kept crawling under it and getting scraped and as it turned out using the kid table instead has worked out so well we've never gone back to the 'official' coffee table.)  I don't think a day goes by that we aren't making use of our kid table.  We actually have two of them now because they come in so handy.  Right now my kids are using one as a barricade and the other as a jumping bridge... some sort of superhero game apparently going on... in a few minutes I'll be snagging one back to use as the table to spread out lesson plans for our german tutor and we will probably be using the other for playdough for my younger two.  We also can take the table with us to friends or just bring it out the front for a picnic or fort.  Tea parties definitely seem more special to the kids around the smaller table for some reason... also great for playing with legos having them at the perfect height for the kids and board games in the living room or bedrooms (the coffee table sat a little lower and of course couldn't be picked up or fit into the other rooms as easily)... I could go on and on, obviously, heh!  Love my kid tables!