I love these adorable DIY seats made from milk or file crates but what I don’t like is lettings kids loose on plain fabric- yikes!
That’s an accident waiting to happen for sure, and if you teach pre-k or kindergarten you know I’m not joking!
Create More Classroom Storage with Crate Seats
I’m always looking for more ways to maximize storage space and organize but I just I couldn’t bring myself to make crate seats until I spied these vinyl polka dot tablecloths at a local discount store for $2. It’s a great teaching hack and a money saver too!
I instantly knew I had found a solution to my problem. The vinyl is much cheaper and more practical than regular fabric, one tablecloth will easily cover 4-5 seats. Keep reading to find out exactly how to make your very own crate seats in only a few minutes- it took me longer to gather the supplies than it did to make the seats!
DIY Milk Crate Seat Supplies
- Crates
- Vinyl tablecloth
- Staple gun
- Scissors
- Foam
- Pieces of particle board or other cheap wood cut to size
- Tape measure
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How to Make Crate Seats
Start by measuring the inside of your crate so you will know exactly what size to cut your boards. If you go to one of the big home improvement stores and tell them you need a few boards cut to size for your classroom they may do it for you if you ask nicely and give them exact measurements. You may need to sand the edges or corners of the board to get that “just right” fit. You don’t want the boards to fit too tightly in the top of your crates because you need to wrap the tablecloth around the edges.
Next, measure and cut your foam to fit on top of the board. Then, spread your tablecloth out on the floor and place the foam on top. Place your board on top of the foam (see picture #3 above)
Now you can start stapling the tablecloth to the board making sure to keep the fabric taught to smooth out any wrinkles (see picture #4 above).
Once your tablecloth is securely stapled to the board, just turn it over and it should fit in the top of your crate. Above you can see how the seat lifts up for storage. If your crates are more solid and don’t have an opening for you to push the lid upwards you can staple a small loop of ribbon to the underside of the board that you can use to lift the seat.
More Organization Ideas
