Make a sensory table

Take an old children’s table and turn it into a fun and tactile sensory board!

Resene upcycling for good with Sarah Herring - Project 42

Finished project

You will need: Testpot brushes, detail brushes, sandpaper, Resene Quick Dry primer sealer undercoat, ruler and pencil, painter’s masking tape, assorted hardware and sensory objects (Dollar stores are a great start), super strong glue and a drill with small screws, Resene testpots in your choice of colours. Sarah used Resene Black White, Resene All Black, Resene Hopbush, Resene ASAP and Resene She’ll Be Right.

Top tip: Sensory boards can be made with all sorts of textures and themes for young children, and are great learning tools. We always recommend that they are only used with careful adult supervision.

Finished project

Before

Step one
Always check your item for repairs and give it a clean before starting. Lightly hand-sand the coloured laminate on the table top and apply a coat of Resene Quick Dry primer sealer undercoat. If the surface is very smooth, use Resene Waterborne Smooth Surface Sealer instead of the primer. Sarah left the plastic legs of this table black because they were in reasonably good condition, but you might like to paint your table base too.

Step two
Apply two coats of Resene Black White all over the table top, waiting for each coat to dry completely in between. Once this colour was completely dried, measure and mask out a simple striped pattern.

Step three
Apply two coats of Resene All Black to every other striped area, waiting for each coat to dry completely. Once dry, remove the masking tape carefully and touch up with a detail brush is needed if a little bit of colour has run.

Step four
Sarah wanted to make a sensory board with lots of fun ‘working’ objects for young children to enjoy playing with.

Use a mix of push-button lights, sliding locks with chains, stretchy plastic bands, stick on mirror shapes, a solar calculator, a spinning castor etc. It’s very important to ensure that all the items you select can be securely fastened to the table and are SAFE for a child to play with. Map out with a pencil where each item will go.

Step five
To make the table fun and colourful, paint a splat shape under where some of the objects will be fixed. Sarah used detail brushes to apply Resene Hopbush, Resene ASAP and Resene She’ll Be Right. It took at least two coats of each colour to hide the black and white underneath.

Step six
Once all the splat shapes are dry, affix all the play objects with a drill and screws, or with extra strong glue. All that’s left to add to the finished table is a toddler!

Upcycling for Good

You can find a huge range of treasures, from ornaments and picture frames, to furniture and toys at your local Salvation Army store that you can easily upcycle with a little Resene paint and some imagination.

"Our Family Stores are full of treasures generously donated by members of the public. We value these donations and try our hardest to re-purpose and sell as much as possible. We’re all about re-using and recycling, so teaming up with Resene on Upcycling for Good was a perfect match. Resene’s products and tips are a natural fit with our pre-loved furniture and accessories, which are usually great quality but could sometimes do with a lick of paint to ensure they fly off the shelves.

Each year, nationally, our stores save 16,000 tonnes from landfill. This initiative increases the value of the donated product, improves the range of goods for our customers, and furthers The Salvation Army’s mission and Resene’s community activity.” Gareth Marshall, The Salvation Army's National Family Store Manager.

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Resene Paints Ltd – www.resene.com