Finally, I've made the crate seats!  I looked at a lot of different posts and websites about how to make a crate seat.  I saw some that had the plywood on the inside lip of the crate with a chair cushion tied on the crate, and others had a lot of cushioning inside with the fabric stapled to the wood.  I thought the chair cushion was a great idea, that way you could wash the cushions or replace them easily.  BUT I couldn't find cushions at a reasonable price, and making them was beginning to look as expensive, plus very time consuming.  

I decided that was important to me was cleanliness, multipurpose surface, and ease of construction.  I wanted the surface to be either removable or washable, so I went with a heavy weight vinyl tablecloth fabric so that I can disinfect it easily.  I wanted the cushion to be soft enough to sit on, but firm enough to use as a writing surface/table if needed.  Finally, I wanted the construction to be as easy and inexpensive as possible.

I found some inexpensive vinyl table cloths at a discount store that I thought might do, but they ended up being too flimsy, so I went to JoAnn's and found a heavy weight vinyl table cloth (by the yard) with flannel on the back.  It was $9.99 a yard, but they had it for 50% off, and I had a 10% off coupon that I found online, so I got 3 yards for pretty cheap!  (3 yards created 12 seat covers) 

I chose this neutral color because I try to stick with blues and greens in my classroom color scheme, but they did have black, red, dark blue, etc.  I just wanted something that would go with anything.

The cushioning is quilt batting.  I used 3 layers of thin batting to create a soft but firm cushion.  This was free because my mom is a quilter and had a big bolt of batting.  I'm not sure how much it costs.

Three layers of batting

Cardboard template

Sizing my cardboard template

Finally, I bought a large piece of plywood at Home Depot.  I took with me a cardboard template to show the size I needed cut.  I bought cabinet grade plywood.  It is very sturdy and cost about $16 for the whole sheet.  I got 18 boards, so it was less than $1. They were nice enough to cut the entire sheet of plywood for me free of charge!  I think it is usually 2 free cuts and 50 cents for every cut after, but they are very kind to teachers. :)

Gather fabric, cushion material, scissors, plywood, and staple gun

Leave 3-4 inches around when cutting out

Place cushion (3 layers quilt batting) and then flip over batting side down

Staple down two opposite ends

Miter fold the edges in to create a tab (like wrapping a gift) and staple down

Repeat on opposite side

Finished Crate Seat!

I found this idea in the book Reaching Standards and Beyond in Kindergarten, but since then I have also seen designs for it on the web.  

"Cover the plywood board with foam padding and heavy canvas fabric.  Drill two holes towards the back and insert heavy duty plastic cable ties into the holes and use as hinges." -RSaBiK 

Here is what TeacherPippi from A to Z Teacher Stuff had to say, "We gather in front on crates. It works really well since each child has their own space. Some kids struggle with keeping still while sitting on the carpet and this helps with that a lot."  The pictures posted are from her as well.  

Here is the link for more info. http://forums.atozteacherstuff.com/showthread.php?t=90247&page=2
http://theboutons.blogspot.com/2010/09/crate-seats.html