Kids Picnic Tables: Outdoor Table Rules for Schools and Childcare

If you are choosing which kids picnic tables suit a school or childcare centre, our kids and childcare picnic tables piece covers seating and sizing. This one is about the rules, because that is the question we get asked just as often about kids picnic tables, and it does not have a simple answer.

The one rule that already applies to every kids picnic table

Before anything else: CCA treated timber has been prohibited from sale in Australia for garden furniture, picnic tables and children's play equipment since 12 March 2006. If a picnic table is being sold new today, it is not meant to be built from it, whichever supplier it comes from. It is one of the few genuinely settled facts in this space, and it is worth knowing before anything else on this list.

What the standards actually cover, and what they do not?

This is less simple than a supplier's marketing usually makes it sound. AS 4685 covers playground equipment, not furniture. AS 1428.1 covers accessibility in premises, not loose items sitting on the ground. The National Quality Standard, which is what early learning centres are actually assessed against, does not mention outdoor tables at all. There is no single Australian standard written specifically for a picnic table in a school or childcare setting.

That does not mean nothing matters, it means the questions worth asking are practical ones rather than a certificate to request.

What to ask a supplier before you order?

• What height are the tables and benches for the age group using them? 

• What timber and treatment is actually used?

• Are edges rounded and fixings countersunk, given who is using the furniture? 

It matters because there is rarely one right answer: our own tables and benches, for example, can be built to different heights and lengths to suit whichever age group will be using them, rather than one size doing service for every year level.

What it looks like after years of actual use?

The number of tables produced, years in service and customer satisfaction tells a buyer more than a warranty period on its own. It is what the furniture actually looks like after real use by children, rather than a claim about how it should perform.

Timing, if you are ordering for next year?

Queensland Term 4 runs from 6 October to 11 December 2026, and that is when most school and centre ground works and equipment decisions actually happen, before the long summer changeover. If a table needs to be in place for the new year, the order usually needs to happen well before term ends, not after.

Questions schools and centres ask us

Is CCA treated timber safe to use? 

New picnic tables and play equipment have not been allowed to be built from CCA treated timber in Australia since 2006, so it should not be an issue with a table sold today, from any supplier.

Do your tables meet playground standards? 

Playground standards cover play equipment rather than furniture, so there is no certificate to hand over on that basis. 

What height should a table be for a preschool aged child compared with a primary school aged child?

There is no single figure, since needs change even across a couple of years of a child's growth. We build to order, so table and bench height and length can be adjusted to suit the specific age group using them, rather than fitting the age group to a fixed size. Ask any supplier, including us, what height range they can actually build to.

How do your tables hold up to being used by a class of children rather than a family?

 sales@jjtimberdesign.com.au

Where to start?

Our kids and childcare picnic tables page covers the kids picnic table models and sizing, and our commercial page has more on what we build for schools and early learning spaces beyond the standard range.