Durable children's activity table and chairs

November 12, 2013 3:43 PM

I need a durable (durable!) children's table and chairs for a new community center (human services multi-service center).

I can’t believe I’m asking this. I don’t have kids but this is for a new community center that we have opened at work. I’m searching for a kids activity table and 4 chairs for roughly 3 year olds and older. Bright colors are a plus. Must be sturdy, very sturdy and, of course, as cheap as possible. I've been searching online but the reviews are all over the place. Do you have something that you love? Do I need to look outside of the regular consumer realm?

I was considering KidKraft Nantucket table and 4 chairs at Walmart
for $100 but the reviews make it sound flimsy.

Also considering IKEA SANSAD table ($50)

And KRITTER chairs ($13/ea)

OR

SUNDVIK chairs ($20/each)

would any of this work?

posted by fieldtrip to Home & Garden (9 answers total)

Best answer: I agree, you need to buy them from a school supply company. They will cost more but last way longer (as in you won't have to replace them after a few months). The Ikea wooden tables are fine for one kid, but unless reinforced by adding extra L-shaped brackets at least, will end up getting wonky fast. The chairs are much sturdier though and you could probably get away with the Sundvig chairs plus commercial supply tables.

If you are really budget limited, you could do what we did in Cambodia: we bought regular sturdy tables for restaurants and old sturdy desks and sawed off the legs to make them kid-height.

The Mammut plastic ones, though less attractive, are actually the sturdiest things I've seen from Ikea and I have seen them used at commercial spaces for kids. They get scuffed up fairly easily, but they withstand a lot of use.
posted by viggorlijah at 4:40 PM on November 12, 2013

Best answer: MAMMUT can really take a beating.
posted by Rock Steady at 4:58 PM on November 12, 2013

The Little Tikes "classic table and chairs" are very rugged for consumer-grade stuff. We have subjected our yellow chairs to all manner of abuse with no visible ill effects; I got them in a thrift store in 2008, and they still look great.

Would not risk any of the ones you linked. Something will happen to whatever you buy that will make you want to douse it in bleach/boiling water; go for scrub-able over looks.
posted by kmennie at 5:44 PM on November 12, 2013

Best answer: Have seen the Mammut used at a play center. It appeared to hold up well.
posted by MadMadam at 6:21 PM on November 12, 2013

I would really recommend going for something built for a school. You'll spend more now but it will last forever.

Lakeshore always has great stuff. Here is a table and chair combination, and another table and chair combination.

If your demographic is 3+, I'd go for 13.5" chairs. This will be slightly big for your littlest kids, but not crazy, and adults can sit in them relatively comfortably (and get their legs under the table!)
posted by charmcityblues at 6:55 PM on November 12, 2013 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks for the responses so far. I was trying to avoid the school supply manufacturers because of the cost but I understand that I might have to for durability. Now I'm intrigued by the IKEA MAMMUT table and chairs as a solution. Has anyone seen the table being used at a commercial space?
posted by fieldtrip at 8:54 PM on November 12, 2013

I've never done this, but have you looked into one of the (government) surplus auction sites?
posted by oceano at 9:49 PM on November 12, 2013

We have a P'kolino table that is very sturdy and the kiddo loves.
posted by LightMayo at 5:40 AM on November 13, 2013

I work in a large library system and several of our branches have this table. My current branch has 2. They are at least 5 years old and still holding up very well. Very sturdy.
posted by morganannie at 6:19 AM on November 13, 2013