My husband and I have been wanting to get a child sized table and chair set for our son. So he can sit and color, play, and read at his own little table.
The problem is we just cannot decide which would be better, a plastic set like the ones Little Tikes make or a wood set like you see in One Step Ahead and Pottery Barn.
The price isn't the deciding factor but rather what will be more functional over a long period of time.
Our son is almost two, right now is an only child, but very large and tall for his age. (already wearing 4T-5T clothes). He doesn't go to daycare, he has a caretaker in our home so he'll be using the table and chairs a lot. He also socializes with other children and adults through our mom's group and playdates, so other children will be using the table/chairs too.
I guess I am wondering what other moms think of these types of products. For example, considering my son's size, would the Little Tikes set be too little for him? I don't want to buy one set now and have to get another set later, we have had to do that with other things because he is a taller/larger boy for his age and it's a little frustrating.
Thanks for all the great input! After the input from other families and moms here my husband and I got a set at Target (wood) and we are painting it to match our sons room this weekend. Thanks again.
Jaime
I think a better alternative would the kids table and chair like they have in preschool classes or in Sunday School. The chair comes in many different colors and sizes, and if I'm not mistaken the leg on some of the tables are adjustable. Not to mention the quality would last a long time as well. Just a thought since he's big for his age. I found them online there lots of different companies that sell them.
My 2 older boys are 3 and 4 years old and both of them are big for their age. My 4 year old gets mistaken for a 6 year old and my 3 year old gets mistaken for a 5 year old. One is really tall and the other is just big. Anyway we both them a wooden table and chairs for the same reason like 2 years ago and they still use it. We both them the patio table and chairs from KB toys for outside. Hope this helps.
Hi Jamie - we got our son a wooden table and chairs. It is a little biigger than the plastic sets and I thought it would be kept for a "keepsake" set also. It's been great so far and very durable w/ a boy. Actually my mom purchased it at a local furniture store and she got 2 chairs - w/ the option to purchase attitional charis at any time. If you have in interest in keeping the set, I would go with wood. We love ours and so does he! Here's how much in fact. Our living room is rather small and that is where his table and chairs are. We have bought another house and decided to "unclutter" this house before we decided to show it and my husband took Justins table and chairs out to put in storage and Justin didn't like it at all. So we bought it back in. He uses it daily and I really enjoy it also. It jsut depends on how much use you want to get out of it and if you'll want ti keep it forever. Good luck on your decision.
C.
PS - if you'd like to see a picture of our set. email me directly.
____@____.com
I have 2 boys - 3 1/2 yrs old and 9 months old. My 3 yr old tears up EVERYTHING really fast so we got him a plastic table and chairs. That way, if he writes on the table, it's not a big deal and it will be easier to clean. I have also seen those bench sets that come all in one piece.
Good Luck! J.
Little Tykes furniture is great for the durability! We have the Little Tykes table and chairs and my 5 year old daughter can still use it as a desk for coloring.
It wipes down easily and is very light weight.
The Pottery Barn furniture is always very well made and CUTE!
BUT the Little tykes can be moved outside, too!
We have both. I have a 9 year old daughter that we bought a white table with 2 chairs from JCPenny's and it is still going strong. We have the Little Tykes plastic picnic table outside. We love the picnic table too but I have been concerned that it will not hold the weight that the wooden one will. Which ever you buy makesure it is a good quality. (sometimes you truely get what you pay for) You might even consider getting an elementary size desk. I found one at the local antiquie store and my children love them.
My 2 cents
M.
I suggest the little tikes because I bought one when my daughter was 2 or 3 and she had it till she was 5 and it converts to a easel, and has great storage pockets on the side, I also passed it down to my son who is pretty tall for his age and he used it to the end of second grade which was justb last year.
I have an 8 yr. old and a 5 yr. old. I have a plastic little tyke table that was handed down to me and i keep it outside. It is very durable. We also had a child size card table from Walgreens.... they have destroyed that. Get something durable. If they color on plastic you can get it off with comet. If they color on wood it is not so easy and they will also scrape and gouge it and that is hard to deal with if you aren't good with wood products.
Jen
Jamie,
I honestly wouldn't worry about durability at this point. They get sooooo nasty with food, playdough, whatever - he even threw up on it once. We consider the one we have semi-disposable.
Go to IKEA in midtown (we just moved from Atlanta). We bought a set that has a small wood table with white formica top and two matching chairs for $20. It's plenty big for him and also for my 6 year old niece. It's easy to clean too. We usually just spray it down with windex or something antibacterial although it was hosed down that one time :-). The fact that it's $20 makes us not care if it gets destroyed. When it gets too nasty, we'll toss it and get another one. We'll end up with extra chairs then too.
If you can't get down to midtown, IKEA sells them online
I am a mother of 2 girls. For the youngest we had a 3-in-1 highchair/table/chair combo. It was great!! But she did outgrow it before she was ready. My suggestion would be to find a nice wooden set, but check to see if you can replace the length of the legs with longer table legs later.ie: notice if they twist/screw into the table or if they are nailed into it.
Good Luck,
T.
I would definitely go with the wooden table and chairs. We bought one of the Little Tikes tables for our daughter last year in May. It was for her 2nd birthday and she has already outgrown it. She also is wearing the 4T's and is very tall for her age. We have already purchased the wooden table and chairs from Pottery Barn for Christmas this year. Some friends of ours bought one for their 3 year old years ago and she is still able to use it at the age of 7. I hope this helps!
Good Luck!
You might want to try Ikea. They have some fun kids sets.
Jamie,
Look at Rooms To Go Kids. They have many different sets to choose from. We bought our twin daughters the larger Farmhouse table with 4 Farmhouse chairs and the set it beautiful. Large enough for even my husband and me to sit with them and play cards or a game. Plenty large enough for art projects, crafts and schoolwork, too.
Quality is superb; much like Pottery Barn's but not nearly as expensive. Go to the Rooms To Go Kids website to check out all their products for kids. We were so pleased with the quality of their furniture that when it came time to buy their "big girl beds" we bought them at Rooms To Go Kids also.
I'm not affiliated in RTGK in any way; just got tired of seeing really flimsy kids furniture at expensive prices and was thrilled when I came across this store!
I am glad to know I am not the only person who agonizes over such a decision. I too wondered what would be most practical and I ended up purchasing a plastic table second hand and hated it then I bought an unfinished set and finished it myself. It was a great decision. I bought it when my daughter was only 2 and she and her sister are now 3 and 5.5 and they have many years to enjoy it. I have a friend whos daughter is 12 now and she is on the small side but, she could sit at it comfortably when she was 10 years old.
I hope you find a great set and enjoy it.
J.
We got it at Babies R Us for $70 - good sturdy wooden set of table and chairs. We had already boughten some plastic chairs before she had the table set. We added them to it and the plastic chairs were the first to go. My daughter is 6yrs old and 4ft tall and she never complains about her table and chairs being too small and still uses them daily.
My son is also a big boy, and we have the little tikes set (mainly cause it was passed to us). It is definitely sturdy, and wouldn't be too small (I often eat lunch at it myself), even older neighborhood kids work or play at the table. The downside of it to me is appearance. No one really enjoys bright colored plastic sitting around. This is sturdy as all heck, it has already gone through 5 years of use by my niece, and shows no signs of breaking down.
Hi Jamie, My thought is a wood set,very durable and can easily be sanded down when needed and refinished..a heirloom....Hope this helps....WOW,he is gonna be a football player !!! Good night! G.
