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The Best Activity Tables for Kids 3-8 (Baby & Toddler)

If you’re looking for a top-rated activity table for kids 3 to 8, we’ve put together a full guide for you, including activity table reviews, pros and cons, and a buying guide of the most important features to look for.

From babies to toddlers, activity tables are a great opportunity to develop the skills of young kids, such as balance, drawing, creativity, writing, and other motor skills. There are many options available in Canada to fit any children’s taste – outdoor or indoor ones, and even to play with water, chalks, cubes, music, blocks and toys, with or without a chair.

Besides being a good gift choice for Birthdays or memorable dates, such as Christmas, it is durable to use for many years. Another interesting feature is that activity tables can be a good help for parents or guardians keeping their child entertained for a certain time while they do something else at home.

Our top picks

How to choose an activity table

  • Height: The height is important since it will determine the usability of the product. If it is too high, it won’t be useful for a baby or toddler. It could even be dangerous. To prevent falls or any safety concerns, it is important to double-check the kid’s height before buying an activity table. If you’re uncertain about the right height, there are many options with removable legs that can fit multiple baby sizes, which also increases the usability of the product in the long term.
  • Features: Melodies, numbers, letters, toys, shapes, colours, piano, white or black board, block table, a multifunctional or simple one. There are important characteristics to consider to guarantee your kid will approve and interact with an activity table. Younger kids like babies and toddlers tend to like colourful items, music, and dynamic activities.
  • Size: A small activity table can measure ‎43.2 x 33 x 17.4 cm, or 37.9 x 50.2 x 42.7 centimeters in average and a large one, 51 x 51 x 49 centimeters in average. That is an essential feature to consider, not only because activity tables are big and require more space at home, but also in terms of the workspace. You may not want an activity table to be too crowded. If you are planning to get one for your kid, check the space you have for this item. If you want to gift someone else’s child, ask their parents about what would be a good size activity table.
  • Material: Wood, plastic, heavy, lightweight, durable… There is a sea of textures, materials, and shapes for different tastes and budgets. Although a plastic table can look fragile, it could be the best option depending on the kid’s age, considering it’s easier to clean and harder to break depending on the model.
  • The number of kids and chairs: It’s easy to find an activity table for more than one kid, which is the perfect choice for those who have kids at a similar age, or for those who often host for friends with kids.
  • Indoor or Outdoor: Because they’re more exposed to weather events, outdoor tables require a different material than their indoor counterparts, like impermeable and weather-resistant features, as well as stronger materials. If you don’t plan to use the activity table outside, you don’t need to worry about it and can go with less resistant (and often cheaper) options, such as bamboo.

The best activity table for babies and toddlers

VTech Magic Star Learning Table

Size: 37.9 x 50.2 x 42.7cm

Small and lightweight (500g), the VTech Magic Star Learning Table is easy to save or carry anywhere at home.

With six activities in two languages (English and French), this activity table stimulates your baby at multiple phases of their development.

Versatile and useful for the long term, the table is a good match if you prefer to buy gifts that will last for years and follow the baby’s growth. At around six months old, they start to sit, so the best way to use is removing the activity center table legs to decrease the height, so it works as a floor play toy.

After the first year, or whenever the baby can stand, it’s possible to add the table legs, so they can play while exercising the standing posture.

Dynamic and created to grab the baby’s attention, the table allows you to press the light-up music buttons on the gear toy to play music and learn about colours, pick up the pretend baby phone and press the number buttons to call animal friends.

Pros
  • Removable legs.
  • Affordable (less than $50).
  • Improves the kid’s balance.
Cons
  • The table legs are not so firm and can slid, causing falls.

BABY EINSTEIN Discovering Music Activity Table

Size: 41.91 x 43 x 38.1cm

High-tech and well thought to stimulate babies in many ways, the Baby Einstein table has five melodies, lights, three languages, learning toys, coloured piano, and discovery mode. Many tools that improve the kid’s balance in a sensorial way, which is important to develop their abilities and intelligence.

Moreover, it has shape buttons feature animal characters besides musical instruments, so the baby can learn at an early age multiple sounds and even languages, such as English, Spanish and French. We loved this activity table because it provides what your kid needs at a time when their brain is like an sponge and they learn fast. So the more you stimulate (in a good and healthy way) the better it is for them.

Versatile and with detached legs, the baby Einstein table can be useful in different baby phases, as sitting up by playing on the floor, and later, playing, standing and practicing the balance all at the same time.

Good sized and lightweight, the product is a good one if you or the guardian don’t have a lot of space at home. It’s entertaining and easy to store.

Pros
  • Affordable.
  • 3 languages.
  • Lights.
  • Lightweight.
  • Piano.
  • Detached legs.
Cons
  • Once you put the legs, it cannot be remouve.
  • Fragile.

The best activity table with 2 chairs

Play Platoon Kids Activity Table Set

Size: 55.9 x 53.3 x 12.7cm

Ideal for toddlers and for two children, this table is great to work on activities like colouring, painting or anything else that is better to do while sitting.  More than that, it is a versatile product that can be used in many different ways, even with water. This works pretty well as both an indoor and outdoor activity table.

In the summertime, it makes a great water table for hours of outdoor fun. The building brick side provides a surface on which your child can build what their creativity can imagine. And the smooth side – a regular table – is the perfect place to make crafts, draw, play with colours, and paint.

I bought the Play Platoon Kids Activity Table Set a few years ago for my daughter and is still great – she is six now. She used and still uses the table with her friend a lot, almost every day – especially for painting and colouring. With this level of versatility, the kids never get bored. It is important to highlight that the table chairs are now getting small for her, but it’s going to work for a while still.

Pros
  • 5 in 1.
  • Allows water.
  • Indoor or outdoor.
  • Resistant.
  • Has bricks.
Cons
  • Legos are hard to connect to the base plates.
  • Pricey.

Costzon Kids Table and 2 Chairs Set

Size: 59.69 x 59.69 x 48.26cm

Made of wood, the Costzon Kids Table is multipurpose, and can be easily used as a regular table for drawing, painting, homework time. Because it has a blackboard on the top, with chalk, it can be also used in different ways for learning or colouring with friends. Removable, the tabletop can become a toy box to store everything, from pens and crayons to bricks.

Medium sized, the table can take up a large space from the room, and as finding spaces at home can be a challenge, each chair has an underneath lightweight storage where is viable to save blocks, pens, and toys to keep the home organized and everything easy to get.

Well designed and resistant, the tight structural design makes this set extremely sturdy for kids to use for a long time. Although it is made of wood, according to the manufacturer, the activity table can be used in both indoor and outdoor places, which increases its versatility and convenience.

Pros
  • Resistant – made of wood.
  • Indoor or Outdoor.
  • Additional storage.
  • Removable top.
  • Blackboard tabletop.
Cons
  • Pricier than most activity tables.

Milliard Kids Art Play Table

Size: 71.12 x 48.26 x 48.26 cm

Simple and useful for homework, tea party, and drawings, this table (and chairs) is made of scratch-resistant and has a set of shelves (two) underneath, helping on saving toys, blocks, papers, pens, costume accessories, and everything kids and their parents want to keep in these lightweight baskets (they look like a drawer and are easy to pull.)

Grey and white, it has colours that are easy to match any decoration style, which is useful for guardians who care about aesthetically pleasing kid’s toys. Although resistant, this table is a good option for indoor places, but not for outdoor activities with water or sand since the weather can damage the material and impact consequentially the kid’s safety – the priority.

Easy to assemble and safe (the main concern as we said before), the set is lab tested and kid-approved. Both table and chairs have been strength- and safety-checked by an independent consumer agency, which is a relief for parents.

Pros
  • Two large drawers.
  • Scratch-resistant.
  • Easy to clean.
Cons
  • Fragile.

The best activity table for car/travel

Lusso Gear Kids Travel Tray

Size: ‎41.91 x 5 x 34.01 cm

During trips, especially long ones, it is tough sometimes to keep a kid busy and focused on activities, and this travel tray can help with that. Comfortable and adjustable to the car seat, the Lusso Gear Kids Travel Tray comes with space for iPad, papers, notebooks, pens, and markers, ensuring your kid can try a range of activities on a single table.

The tray also comes with a dry erase board and an iPad tablet holder, which can help your kid to quickly switch activities and avoid boredom.

The multiple pockets also make it quite a car-friendly accessory, as it allows you to store toys and items in a safer, more organized way.

One important quality to highlight is the versatility since  the dry erase board may be used for eating, colouring, and any other activity that toddlers can think of considering that the product is adjustable for all shapes, sizes and can be used on car seats, strollers, high chairs, etc.

Moreover, to make it easier and convenient, avoiding big messes, it has sturdy walls and a detachable cup holder to keep everything in its place.

Pros
  • Versatile.
  • Easy to clean.
  • Adjustable for many shapes and places.
  • Safe strap.
Cons
  • Uncomfortable for some customers, especially taller kids.

The best blocks table

Lennox Furniture Kids

(‎66.04 x 63.5 x 16.51 cm)

Different than most activity tables in Canada, the Lennox one is 7 in 1 and allows for hours of dynamic activities for kids from 2 to 6 years old, being versatile for indoor or outdoor places, and providing lots of different possibilities to play, such as water, blocks, and with storage for toys. This multi-function activity table is ideal for boys and girls to eat, read, build blocks, play board games, etc. It is a useful option to develop the healthy habits of reading and learning. Ideal for your child’s bedroom, playroom, or the living room.

Complete, the set includes 1 removable double-sided play board, 1 chair, 2 storage box, 1 building block  with 135 pieces, 4 heightening column. It comes with 4 heightening columns, which can adjust the height of the table according to the growth of your kids.

Ergonomic, the chair design helps to cultivate the kid’s upright sitting posture and comfort to stay hours without any concern or back pain. Moreover, its spacious internal storage space can keep the game room tidy, and there is plenty of space to store building blocks, crayons, markers, paper and other toys.

We picked the Lennox activity table as the best option for blocks as it comes with 135 pieces at a wide range of shapes and colours, however, we also loved to find out its multiple functions and how it is way more than just a blocks activity table. Even if your kid doesn’t care about building blocks, they will still have a lot to do with this table.

Pros
  • 7 in 1.
  • Indoor and outdoor.
  • Ergonomic chair.
  • 2 storage options.
  • Board games.
Cons
  • Not many user reviews available online for this product.
  • Pricier than most activity tables.

The best activity table with 4 chairs

Size: 5.08 x 66.04 x 48.26 cm

This table can solve some regular issues, and I can give a good example. My daughter’s playroom has 4 different chairs (different sizes and colours) from different products that she already had. Whenever we receive guests at home with kids who want to play, they fight over the chair where they want to sit. If someone doesn’t have a chair to sit, that is also a problem to solve.

So, this set with 4 chairs is a great option to have more and equal seats for everyone. Although not affordable, the set is durable and can be used in the long term between the ages 3-8, according to the brand. Ideal for indoor drawings, colouring time, meals, homeschooling, crafts, and reading, the Humble Crew is a traditional style activity table that is never out of fashion.

The surfaces are easy to clean and not permeable. The design easily matches most furniture considering the product has a classic style and three sets of colour options: white and green; white, purple, pink, light blue; white, green, yellow, red.

Pros
  • 4 chairs.
  • 3 options of colours.
  • Durable.
  • Easy to clean.
Cons
  • Small chairs.
  • It requires some room space.

Frequent questions about activity tables

At what age to use an activity table?

Activity tables are versatile and depending on the brand or product it can be useful from the early days, when the baby is six months old and it is learning about balance, and discovering colours, sounds, and music. It’s easy to find tables with removable legs to adjust to kids six months to one year old.

Moreover, for toddlers there is a sea of options for indoor or outdoor places to play with water, sand or simple ones for drawings, reading, meals, with or without blocks, drawers, plastic or wood made, big or smaller, with one or more chairs, to better fit to any space or needed.

How to use an activity table?

It is better to check if it is an indoor or outdoor product so it doesn’t last less than you’d like it to last; many products are not durable enough to be outside. The manufacturer will inform about what is allowed and it is important to follow the instructions to have fun without concerns.

It’s also important to check the kid’s weight and the table’s capacity, so you your baby or toddler is safe. As your kid grows, this is something that you need to double-check from time to time, so you can make sure they’re using the proper table and chair sizes.

How to choose an activity table?

There are some important features to analyze before buying this product. For how many kids? What is the kid’s age (baby or toddler)? Where are you going to assemble the activity table? Is it for an indoor or outdoor space? What features are essentials (music, piano, colours, letters, blocks)? After you have these answers, you will be able to pick the right product.

What is important to check before buying an activity table?

Safety and size, to guarantee that the product will be useful for your children, as well as safe for many years. A good activity table should last for more than four years.

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Updated date

July 26th, 2022

About the author

Bruna Drummond

Bruna Drummond is a writer and a PR expert. She is a mom and loves to write about anything related to housekeeping (cooking, cleaning, and decoration), but also technology, fitness, and animal stuff. When she's not working, she spends her time exploring the city, watching documentaries, or reading books based on true stories.
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