Little Brother has recently discovered a love for LEGOs, which has rubbed off on Big Brother as well. For his birthday this week, we got Little Brother a large set of LEGOs (since the ones were mismatched pieces bought at a garage sale the summer before I started teaching to use for indoor recess). As part of his gift, we also decided to convert the boy’s train table into a LEGO table. They don’t play with the train table very much, but we weren’t ready to part with it entirely. The best part about this upgrade is that the insert sits on top of the table, so it can be removed and used as a train table again whenever we want!
My parents gave the boys their train table for Christmas four years ago, so they don’t sell the exact table we have. It is an Imaginarium Train Table (bought at Toys ‘R Us) and is very similar to this one. We purchased a wooden board at a home improvement store and had them cut if for us, making this a relatively simple project. If you’re looking for just a LEGO table, this won’t save you very much money. But if you want to dual functionality of trains AND LEGOs, this upgrade is definitely worth it! I think we spent about $70 total on this project.
Here’s what you’ll need: a piece of MDF or other board cut to the specifications of your table (ours was 1/8″ wainscot marker board and measured 47 1/2″ x 31 1/2″), Gray 15″ x 15″ LEGO building plates OR 10″ x 10″ LEGO building plates, a tarp, packing tape, and high-strength spray adhesive. You’ll also want some LEGO pieces to help as you’re putting it together.
1. Remove all of the train tracks, buildings, bridges, etc. from your train table. Store them in a plastic bucket and pull them out whenever your child tires of the LEGO table. Measure your table and figure out how many LEGO building plates you will need. We ended up using 7 total because we wanted to cover every inch of our train table.
2. Purchase your board (most home improvement stores will cut it to your specifications for you, if you ask nicely). :)
3. Place the board over the top of your train table.
4. Lay out all of the building plates and start securing them together.
DO NOT put the building plates flush up against each other! Otherwise the LEGO pieces themselves will not attach at the joints. Instead, you’ll want to use individual LEGO pieces to join 2 of the building plates together to see how they will accurately fit together. As you can see in the picture above, there is a very small gap between the pieces.
5. Cut the LEGO building plates, if necessary, to cover the entire surface of your LEGO table. Believe it or not, regular scissors work just fine!
Once again, piece the plates together by interlocking the LEGOs, especially on the corners.
6. Use packing tape to secure the pieces together.
7. Carefully flip the entire piece over (you’ll need two people for this step).
8. Grab your adhesive spray. We used 3M High-Strength 90 Spray Adhesive.
9. Lay down a tarp or sheet and spray the entire backside of your LEGO board.
10. Spray the entire surface of your MDF board as well. Let the adhesive sit until it is tacky, according to the directions on the bottle.
11. Very carefully lift the LEGO piece and place on top of your MDF board. Use a rolling pin to press the board against the board and secure the adhesive.
12. Let the table sit for a couple hours before attempting to use it.
Until now, I had no idea that LEGO Duplos will fit on top of the regular LEGO building plates! Awesome!
This is my favorite feature…just clear off all the extra LEGOs into the drawer!
Do you have a train table? A LEGO table?
I love this idea. We have the exact train table. Where did you purchase the plates?
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This is so so great! I guess it saves a lot of money, too, right? How much is a pre-made Lego table? Thanks, Jenae.
I haven’t priced Lego tables lately, so I’m not sure what a pre-made one would cost. From what I remember, it will save you a little money…but not a ton. It’s more of a way to repurpose what you already have (and still be able to use it as a train table). Just keep in mind, however, that a lot of “LEGO” tables use generic building plates to keep the cost down (instead of the LEGO brand), so they might not fit the LEGOs correctly.
Absolutely great idea. We have this exact train table and don’t want to part with it yet either but my son doesn’t play with it as much as he does with Lego so this will be ideal. Thank you
My husband and his dad just finished building our kids a Lego table for Christmas…actually Lego on one side for the older kid, and Duplo on the other side (they made a base that can flip over) for the toddler. I wish I had seen this idea before he finished so I knew to keep the plates from being totally flush and that the Duplos will fit on the Lego plates (the Duplo plates are pricey). Thanks so much for all the great ideas!
I was actually on line trying to find out how to do the opposite! My grandson wants a train table and already has a Lego table – I was trying to figure out how I could make a top for the Lego table, as he does not have a large room. Have you seen any or do you know where I can get the accessories if I am able to do this. I’m pretty handy (for a grandma) and liked the picture of your train table top, but I know he wants bridges, bldgs., etc Right now he has a wooden train and I think maybe a Christmas one for around their tree. But mostly I think he just wants it to look like a whole train table with everything that goes with trains! Thanks for any help I can receive!
You can buy train sets at tpys r us without the table I believe
I finished it yesterday and my son is so happy. It me about £95 which included the lego plates, wood, adhesive and the tape but as we are getting him lego for Christmas it’s worth the cost. Thank you again for this brilliant idea xx
Wow it’s a great idea to make Lego table at home. I have a Lego table which is too old and my kids don’t play with it. So I am thinking of buying a new Lego train table.
Great idea! I have the same table and will be doing the same project. However, would you know how many of the smaller green plates would be needed to cover the table instead of the large grey ones?
Thanks!
I am not sure about that…I am sorry! I would just measure the table and then make sure you have enough green plates to cover the surface. You can always trim off the excess. :)
I’ve been reading this post over and over for a while….considering doing it for my boys (I have four boys). We’ve recently really been getting into the lego world…their ages are 6,4,3,3. I’m curious to know how this has help up as far as durability and if you would change anything if you were to do it again? Thanks!!
We’ve had it over a year now and it has held up beautifully! I can’t think of a single thing we would do differently. :)
Thanks!!
this is not a table that would grow with a child, the table is too low to the ground!
Yes, the table is low to the ground. My 7 and 5-year old boys just sit on the floor while they are making LEGO creations. :)
hey. i have the same exact train table and am on the fence about keeping it and making a train table or doing something similar to this. the thing is, i have a 5 year old and a 2 year old. they both like legos but the younger still likes trains. can i ask why you didn’t flip the train board over and make that a lego table? i’m just trying to figure out what is the easiest and best idea and thought maybe you had a reason for purchasing a whole new board to sit on top.
thank you
jamie
Hi Jamie! Yes, we actually used a finishing nailer to secure the tracks to the table originally, so we couldn’t get some of the nails out of our board.
Thanks!
thank you!
We have the same train table, given to us by a family friend. I was looking for a way to cover it and make some various table tops, such as a parking lot, craft table, drawing table, etc. Home Depot sells the DPI marker board panels in a 3-pack for about $31. Done!
When do you take off the Lego pieces securing the boards?
Good question. I was thinking the same thing. If you leave the Lego pieces on, it wouldn’t be flat once down.
We actually re-purposed our son’s train table into a Lego table. One thing everyone should know is that the bases of the drawers are very weak and with enough Legos in them, the bases will pop out from the bottom and leak Legos everywhere.
Thinking of doing this with ours. When they play trains do you just put the Lego board under the train board?
My boys didn’t ever go back to playing with their trains…but you could definitely do that!