Greg sent us an email: "I am in charge of making a class project for the kid's preschool auction, a toddler-sized playtable and chairs set. Since I figure we'll end up bidding and buying it back anyway, I bought some Chip molded ply chairs from Modernseed, and a Bunny Junior table, beech with nice chromed legs, at DWR.
I scuff sanded the hard, glassy polyurethane finish on the table a bit, then had the kids—nine 2-3 year-olds--make acrylic handprints. Looks great, but now, I'm stumped as to what to finish it with. Spray or brush-on poly? Epoxy? Dip it somehow?
This one had us stumped, too, so we turned to the experts and called our local hardware store. The very helpful hardware guy listened to the question, then immediately told us to stay away from oil-based finishes (the most common kind) because, as he put it, "they're not so safe, especially if your child puts their mouth on the finished surface." And apparently even if your toddler doesn't put his/her mouth on the table, the smell alone is pretty potent.
Instead, our expert advised us to find a water-based poly finish, like 
I haven't used it, but for applications like the one you're talking about, I've heard Liquid Glass recommended by other scenic and props artists. It's the same stuff that restaurants use to make the tops of their tables glassy-smooth. This makes me think that it's okay for occasional mouth contact; but folks who work making sets for theatre don't usually have toddler safety on the brain, so check with someone at your local hardware store before deciding on that.
Very cool table top! I have used the miniwax polycrylic on a wood project and really liked the shiny finish. If it were my table, I would use it again, or any water based polyurethane top coat. If you do go the second route, the w.b. polyurethane goes on sort of whitish, which is disconcerting! But it dries clear and hard, and is easy to brush on.