Today I’m sharing a fun little labor of love with you. This tray table cover for kids wasn’t super hard to make, per se. However, it was definitely more involved than many of my DIY sewing projects are. I actually finished this project back at the end of August just in time for our big family trip we took in September. With the holidays coming up–and all the traveling that usually comes with that magical time of year–I thought now would be the perfect time to share it on the blog!

make a tray table cover for kids

I sewed up a little tote bag out of some canvas, and on the outside it looks pretty simple. But with this bag it really is what’s inside that counts! When you turn the bag inside out, one side becomes a car mat, and the other side becomes a felt board. The way that this airplane tote is designed, it serves as a slipcover making a fun tray table cover. And since you’re doing it DIY-style you can customize it with any activities your little one would enjoy!

Now, I have to tell you, I am currently updating this blog post in January 2025. Unfortunately, I found out that many of the websites that I used for inspiration back in 2011 are now dark. I guess that’s one of the drawbacks of having been a blogger for so long. But, you can still check out two of the blog posts I found back then, on inspirationmadesimple.com and serving-pink-lemonade.com.

| Read: DIY Travel Car Rollup |

I really love the way I designed this airplane tray table cover for my son. There’s a fun car mat on one side, and a felt board on the other. I made simple felt pieces by printing out pictures and covering them with tape on one side. Then I just glued felt on the back. You could probably also pick up inexpensive felt play pieces at the dollar store. It also works out well to just lay flat on the ground if you happen to have a long layover, like we did. I also sewed ribbon loops to the side that we could attach toys or binkies to, so they don’t end up on the ground.

something to keep in mind

If you want to make an airplane tray table cover, I recommend making it bigger than you think you need. I had done a lot of research online on the size of airplane trays. There were some comments from other crafters saying that theirs had been too small. So, I gave myself an extra 1/2 inch of fabric totaling 18 inches across. It was still a very tight fit. So, if I were doing it again I might make it 19 inches wide, just in case. After all, it’s better to be safe then sorry. Or just super bummed at the hard work you did and it doesn’t fit on the stupid tray.

You can find more simple DIY projects on my Pinterest boards!