Need something craft related-don't know what to call it

I use a self-healing cutting mat. You can get them at chain craft stores in many sizes with a coupon.

there are cutting mats for quilting that are pretty sturdy (since they're meant to protect a surface from a cutting blade) but the larger ones can be kinda pricey.

Perhaps some Pea might have a different option for some kind of 'lap desk' type thing-- just without the lap rest part underneath it, or something like that. Or maybe some sort of a piece of smooth board / wood that has a felt backing so it won't damage your table?? I can picture it in my mind, but I have no idea if it's a 'real' thing or not!

I saw some enormous self-healing craft mats at Tuesday Morning the other day, so if you have one near you it might be worth a look. They were in the craft section, way down on the bottom shelves.

Probably thirty years ago my mother bought the cutout from a piece of laminate from where the sink would go. It's called "the board". Sometimes I suspect it will be the only thing my kids fight about when I die. It's been used for everything: coloring, painting, peanut brittle making, Lego building, tap dancing, you name it. The funny thing is that it's still a great surface. I have grandkids coming to visit and it will again make an appearance. It has saved tables, carpet, hardwood. I think she paid 25 cents for it, it will probably cost a little more now.

I just use a x-large rotary mat. it's plastic, thin, cleans easily, and the ruler marks come in very handy sometimes.

I currently use a large cutting mat. There is a craft mat (Tim Holtz - Ranger) that I have used in the past and is cheaper ($15 or less) that I have also used. I love the flannel backed vinyl fabric - I just purchase cheap plastic table cloths from Target for when we are painting/crafting.

I get vinyl felt-backed tablecloths for 2.99 at Christmas Tree Shops or Old Time Pottery and I use those.  A lot of YouTube scrappers/mixed media artists I follow use foam core board so that they have a nice white background for on camera and then replace it when they get dirty.  Or, as others have suggested, there are the self healing mats at Tuesday Morning. They pretty much always have them, but they're probably on a bottom shelf, so can be hard to spot.  

These aren't big enough to cover a table but I use these plastic trays from ikea. www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40041131/ They are big enough for my daughter's projects, I can move them easily, and they stack to allow multiple projects to dry at one time. She uses them with playdoh and playing with water toys too. I have at least ten of them in the cabinet!

I bought a pink one there and I think it was $15.
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Yup, self healing mats. I bought five of them when I set up my studio so when my friends come over to scrap they won't muck up my new table tops. Then I got a pink one for my own desk when I saw it at Tuesday Morning for $15. I also bought a 6' long Teflon splat mat from there for the table where DD sits when she's working on craft stuff with me. Glue, paint, crayon, watercolor, ink--pretty much everything wipes off of that thing!

I don't like the picnic table cover, I find it too soft.

I need multiple pages to write on or I use a desk pad calendar at work.

if you wanted a large self-healing type matt for your whole table, you could get a vinyl flooring remnant from a home depot/menards store and cut it to fit. then you could roll it up when you were done and store it away too. if you need a harder surface, I'd get some hardboard from the same place, it's thin and cheap and the harder surface might be nicer for coloring.

I own a drop-in craft studio. We top our tables with thick, clear vinyl. I buy at by the yard at a fabric store. We hold it on the tables with picnic clips. Once it gets really painted up, we replace it and use the old vinyl to make patterns for other crafts.