Kid Sized Oak Chair- Refinish/ Refurb Advice

Unless this is a high quality chair that will be used for years with the possibility of being used by grandchildren or unless it's important to you to have it look like new, I'd either sand and paint it or use it as is. Assuming it's structurally sound. I suggest that unless it's a highcend chair and you want it to look really good you buy a new chair. The cost of supplies would pay for a new chair. Then add the labor. Would you enjoy stripping it, sanding it, steaming out or filling in the dents? If so, that's a different story.

The easiest way to paint it would be chalk paint. Give it a sanding to get off the loose finish and then paint. There are a lot of homemade recipes on Pinterest. I really like the one that uses plaster of paris and you can make any color you want. You can finish over the chalk paint with a water based polyacrylic so that it stands up to kids' use.

I would do a light sanding and then repaint. You don't need to strip it if you are putting new paint on it (the new paint will stick better to the old paint). If you are planning on staining the wood then you will need to take off all the old paint and stain, this will include sanding and the use of chemicals.

Take it to the car wash and see what comes off in the wash....

Once you clean it deep down see if you can recover the seat part. If you can't do it take it to some shops to see how much they'd charge to do it for you.

If you posted a picture it would be easier to decide what to say.

I would use a paint stripper on it. Obviously, do this outside, and work on a small area at a time. Really, the chemicals do all the work, and you're just left to scrape the oozing paint off. ;) Wear gloves and a face mask, safety glasses - you don't want the paint stripper on yourself.

Once you've stripped the paint off, lightly sand it, prime it, and then paint using a few coats of semi-gloss paint. That should give you a finish that will last for a long time.