DIY Kids Art/Activity Play Area

DIY art / activity center to support independent play, messy projects and open-ended art.

This room is an awkward second living room (meant to be formal dining) right after my other living room. It’s blocked off enough that I can’t make it one big room, so I’ve always changed the purpose of the room. For a couple of years, it was my office. The piano is there too.

Since moving my office downstairs, I have really not known what to do with this space. Until I realized my kids are always upstairs with me and want to play, but most of their toys are downstairs in the playroom. So my thought — MAKE AN ART/ACTIVITY CENTER. I hardly ever get out of the paint/messy art/playdough downstairs, so I decided to make a child-safe art area upstairs in my “piano room.“

Elements this room needed.

Organized art supplies
A big art table
Something for the wall space that wasn’t too busy (J-hook shelf)
Something to make the floor safe for messy art/activities (Ruggish Rug)

Art Table

The art table was a super easy build.

Here’s what you need, all found at Home Depot.

Wood Round Taper Leg (cut off the bottom metal part)

White Melamine Board (mine was leftover from another project, cut to 2’x5’, you can get any size you need at home depot, this is the biggest)

Heavy Duty Top Plate x4

iron on edging

Instructions

Screw the top plates into the board in all four corners
Screw the table legs into the top plate
Iron on the white edging

That’s it! SOOOO easy.

Ruggish Co. Rug

This rug is AMAZING. It’s not only washable but WIPEABLE. The thick foam makes it so great for even the youngest of kids (my baby nephew LOVED it), but it’s also PERFECT for our art/activity area. We chose the one called “Lola“

Use the code: “XOLAUREN_10” (exp. within one week of this blog)

shop the rug here