{"id":899,"date":"2025-10-17T11:00:22","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T03:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/veryauto.org\/index.php\/2025\/11\/22\/free-plans-build-a-diy-4-in-1-activity-table\/"},"modified":"2025-11-22T14:42:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-22T06:42:13","slug":"free-plans-build-a-diy-4-in-1-activity-table","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/veryauto.org\/?p=899","title":{"rendered":"Free Plans \u2013 Build a DIY 4-in-1 Activity Table"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"4<\/p>\n

Hey there, everyone! \u00a0School is out for summer in our house and I know it won\u2019t be long before all of us would give our right arm for great ideas to keep the kiddos busy and not at each other\u2019s throats during the long, hot months of summer. \u00a0My boys barely wait to get in the car on the last day of school before I have to pull on my striped jersey and play referree. \u00a0The struggle is real, people. \u00a0If you\u2019re one of those parents looking for a way to keep the kiddos occupied for hours, I\u2019ve got just the project! \u00a0The best part is that it is actually a super fast project that you can have done in a weekend! \u00a0Last November, I shared the plans for this 4-in-1 activity table over on RYOBI Nation, and today I\u2019m sharing it here on my blog! \u00a0I built this for my three nephews as a late birthday\/early Christmas present. \u00a0It was a huge hit and my brother said it keeps them busy for hours. \u00a0To get the materials and cut list, make sure you download the free printable building plans for this fun project!<\/p>\n

\"4-in-1<\/p>\n

I started by cutting the plywood pieces for the base. \u00a0I used 3\/4\u2033 birch veneer plywood from Home Depot.<\/p>\n

\"Free<\/p>\n

I used my Kreg Jig and drilled 3\/4\u2033 pocket holes into each end of the bottom and middle shelves. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Free<\/p>\n

Glue and clamp the 1\u00d72 pieces flush with the bottom of the shelves and attach with 1 1\/4\u2033 brad nails.<\/p>\n

\"free<\/p>\n

Attach the front and back vertical pieces to the shelves with wood glue and 1 1\/4\u2033 pocket screws. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\"diy<\/p>\n

Attach the middle shelf in the same way as the bottom shelf. \u00a0There should be 7 1\/4\u2033 between the bottom of the middle shelf and the top of the 1\u00d72 on the bottom shelf. \u00a0Check for square when working on these steps. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\"kids<\/p>\n

Attach the 1\u00d73 stretchers flush with the top of the base pieces using 1 1\/4\u2033 pocket screws. \u00a0DO NOT glue these pieces. \u00a0This way it is easy to disassemble the base if it needs to be moved around or, in my brother\u2019s case, fit into the back of their SUV to take home to Nebraska. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Once the stetchers are in place, center the 2\u2032 x 4\u2032 sheet of plywood over the base and cut the 1\u00d72 trim to size. \u00a0Glue and attach with 1 1\/4\u2033 brad nails.<\/p>\n

\"diy<\/p>\n

Once the entire table was built, I applied iron-on veneer edge banding onto any exposed edges of the plywood and sanded the entire table down. \u00a0For more storage, I purchased crates from Home Depot and added casters to the bottoms of them. \u00a0They\u2019re perfect for storing train tracks or whatever else you need. \u00a0I painted the entire table, then painted one side with chalk board paint.<\/p>\n

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\"kids<\/p>\n

To hold a roll of drawing paper, I installed closet rod sockets on one end of the table and bought a roll of paper and used a 3\/4\u2033 dowel to hold it. \u00a0I bought them after painting it, so I had to finish them by hand.<\/p>\n

\"kids<\/p>\n

On the opposite side of the chalk board, I glued down six Lego base plates. \u00a0One trick we learned when gluing base plates next to each other is to snap Lego bricks onto two at a time and then glue them down (see top of the above photo). \u00a0If you glue the base plates down flush against each other, the spacing is actually too close and it\u2019s hard to snap the bricks down on them.<\/p>\n

\"diy<\/p>\n

One side has a shelf to hold Lego bricks, paper and crayons. \u00a0The other side has more storage for Lego bricks or other toys.<\/p>\n

\"kids<\/p>\n

The chalkboard side is perfect for setting up creative train tracks and the kids can draw roads, trees, or whatever they like!<\/p>\n

\"activity<\/p>\n

The crates underneath have plenty of room to hold large amounts of train tracks and cars.<\/p>\n

\"kids \"4 \"kids<\/p>\n

This table is jam packed with ways to for the kids to keep busy and enjoy themselves. \u00a0The tabletop is light enough that it can be easily flipped over for the fun to continue! \u00a0Even my boys who were 7 and 9 when I built it spent hours playing with it. \u00a0The fact that it can be taken apart means that it can be easily moved around or put away when the extra space is needed. \u00a0It\u2019s such a quick project to build and definitely a great way to keep the kiddos busy over the summer months. \u00a0Don\u2019t forget to download the FREE plans to build your own! \u00a0<\/p>\n

If you build one, I\u2019d love to see it! \u00a0Make sure you tag me on social media or email pics and you could be featured in my reader spotlight! \u00a0Happy building!<\/p>\n

DISCLOSURE: \u00a0This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. \u00a0If you purchase an item from one of these links, I will earn a small commission at not extra cost to you. \u00a0Please see my disclosure statement for more information.<\/p>\n

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Hey there, everyone! \u00a0School is out for summer in our house and I know it won\u2019t be long<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":900,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/veryauto.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/899"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/veryauto.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/veryauto.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/veryauto.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/veryauto.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=899"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/veryauto.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/899\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1051,"href":"https:\/\/veryauto.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/899\/revisions\/1051"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/veryauto.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/veryauto.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/veryauto.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/veryauto.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}