How can I hack a twin bed to use as a play surface for my kid?

October 15, 2017 11:49 AM

There is an extra twin bed in my son’s room which, for various reasons, cannot be removed. Is there something I can get to put on top of it, like a topper of some kind, which would convert it into a table or play surface and then be removed if I actually wanted to use the bed?

This bed was originally purchased for use as a guest bed by a family member and for family politics reasons, it must remain (I.e. I can’t get rid of it and buy a blow up bed, or anything like that). My eventual bed plan is to convert the baby crib to a toddler bed, and then when he is done with that, ditch all of it and buy a bunk bed for both baby and potential visitors to share.

But that is five years away and in the meantime, he’s starting to do stuff like zoom around the little cars, and the bed is a great height for that but the mattress is too squishy. Ideally, I’d like to move the toy dollhouse, farm etc. in there and let him have a tiny plastic village. So what I’d like is some sort of bed topper I can put on there to make it a stable surface that he can play on, but which can be removed if or when actually want to use the bed. Does such a thing exist?

posted by ficbot to Home & Garden (10 answers total)

Why don't you get a piece of plywood cut to size to put on top of the mattress? You could wrap it in a spare sheet or nice textile if you want a nicer look/play surface? You could get fabric with roads printed on it like those play mats?
posted by PardonMyFrench at 12:07 PM on October 15, 2017 [2 favorites]

Go to whatever home improvement store near you sells plywood, have them cut a sheet to twin bed size (you can probably get two pieces out of it, not sure on dimensions), and sand down the edges. Bonus: you can paint car tracks / glue on Lego plates / whatever will enhance play. Plywood is light enough that if he pulls the whole thing over it won't be a big deal and you can shove it between the bed and wall to get it out of the way.

(jinx!)
posted by Flannery Culp at 12:07 PM on October 15, 2017

If you're afraid of him pulling a plank of plywood off the bed and onto himself, what about taking some cardboard and reinforcing it with duct tape? If you're willing to replace it regularly, you could let him draw and color little villages and roads on it.
posted by christinetheslp at 12:23 PM on October 15, 2017

If you are concerned about the plywood being unstable, maybe you could have a hole drilled in each corner of the plywood, and use a bungee cord or rope to secure it to the four corners of the bed frame or something like that.

It might be helpful to have a description of what kind of bed we're dealing with. For example, is it raised with an empty space underneath? If so, maybe you could just stick the mattress underneath the bed frame, and put the plywood on the frame sans mattress. (You'd probably want to get a mattress bag or something like that to keep the mattress in okay condition.)
posted by litera scripta manet at 12:32 PM on October 15, 2017 [1 favorite]

My suggestion would be to get a 4' long adjustable height folding table. At this age if he's not climbing up on the bed himself you can just lay it on top of the bed so he can play from the floor (my thought would be to secure to the mattress with ratcheting straps). Then when he's a little older you can either move it elsewhere as a regular table or unfold the legs and set it so it straddles the bed, and then kid can have a nice slightly raised flat play surface while sitting/lounging on the bed. Plus, there are a thousand-and-one other uses for a folding table.
posted by drlith at 12:42 PM on October 15, 2017 [3 favorites]

Instead of plywood, you could consider a piece of masonite, it's less splintery and has a smoother top.
posted by Wulfhere at 1:31 PM on October 15, 2017 [3 favorites]

what about just covering it in one of those area rugs that look like roads
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 6:37 PM on October 15, 2017

Is disassembling the bed and storing it so that it takes up less space most of the time an option, or is this something that needs to be easily reversible? I'd be tempted to do that and store it flat up against the wall, so you can put a table or something in front of it.
posted by Aleyn at 6:46 PM on October 15, 2017 [1 favorite]

Can you move the mattress somewhere else? (e.g. Under the bed, against the wall, pitch it and buy a new one later).
posted by oceano at 3:15 AM on October 16, 2017 [1 favorite]

Perhaps my family were weird but we used to play on beds. Is there any reason you need to convert anything? If you don't like or can't disassemble the bed for storage I'd start by leaving it as is. Don't add any bedding but cover the mattress with a fitted sheet. If you like the idea of a harder surface go with the plywood. But get a piece that is the size of the mattress, get the edges smooth or covered in tape and cover both in the fitted sheet to prevent kids from pulling the board off the bed?
posted by koahiatamadl at 5:17 AM on October 16, 2017