DIY Chalkboard Train Table

For Christmas last year, I wanted to get my son a train table but quickly discovered that nice ones were quite expensive. 

After looking around, we thought it would be easy enough to make our own. And it was.  We decided to make a versatile table with a chalkboard top for drawing and writing when it wasn't used for trains. 

The total cost for this table was less than $15, which gave us plenty of money leftover for wood tracks, trains and accessories.

We happened to have this table base, which we had purchased at a yard sale for $5.  It has a wood insert (not shown) to make a table. The trouble was that there wasn't enough room inside the confines of the table for a figure 8 train track.

With some basic woodworking skills, we were able to make a table to fit on top of the base. We made it a rectangle, measuring approximately 40 x 48 inches. 

After we put together the tabletop, we gave it a couple of coats of chalkboard paint and we were ready for the train set. 

We purchased the Figure 8 Train Track at Target. It is the Circo brand and is interchangeable with other brands of wood track. The trains and accessories are a mixture of Thomas, Brio and Circo. 

The table and trains are hands down my son's favorite toy.

If you have any questions about how to make the table, feel free to post questions in the comments. Thanks for stopping by!