why we LOVE our learning tower
(and things to consider before buying one)
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Both myself and my husband love to cook. I lean towards the baking and cake decorating side of things; whereas he gets creative with our sous vide doing delicious things with joints of meat. As a result we spend most of our down time in the kitchen, prepping at the counter or cooking at the stove. To keep Osk safe whilst we cook, we got a pretty big playpen for the kitchen which was initially great, but as he has gotten bigger, he wants to be closer to the action.
life before our learning tower
In the weeks before lockdown, he was unbearably whiney every time I put him in the playpen, to the point where I couldn’t bear it and started experimenting with getting him more involved in the kitchen. Firstly, I dragged his high chair over to the counter, but it was the wrong height and the footrest stopped him getting close enough to be involved. Cue more whining. I tried cooking with him in the sling, but honestly I found it a bit scary to use the stove or chop anything with him trying to grab everything. Fail. I tried to stand him on a chair in front of me at the counter. Too much grabbing (by him) and defensive body moves required (by me). Lastly, I just sat him on the kitchen counter beside me, but as gravity is not a concept that really bothers him, and our quarry tiled floor is pretty damn hard, back in the playpen he went. More whining.
learning about learning towers
I spent a bit of time googling my options (and despairing) and came across learning towers (also called montessori towers/tots towers/kitchen helpers).
These are basically just fancy step stools that are enclosed and designed to bring a kid to the right height to reach the counter. Bingo!
There are loads of different types of towers, some are solid, some have railings all around, some have a safety bar at the back, some have safety fabric, some convert into chairs etc.
After quite a bit of research, I was all set to buy this one, but there was a part of me that wondered if Grandad might be up to the task. I sent him a few photos and got a text back within 20mins asking for the height of my kitchen counter - success! Less than 48hrs later we picked up our learning tower (formerly Grandad’s shelving unit) and brought it home.
“Osk’s Pulpit” as we like to call it has now been a feature in our kitchen for a few weeks and I am a total convert.
a tour of our tower
Our tower started its life as a shelving unit in Grandad’s study, hence the screw holes and slightly dodgy paint job…
It is basically a box with a platform in it so that he can stand in it
The platform is the same height as the seat on a kitchen chair
The railing around the top slides snugly under the kitchen counter
We added a harness as Osk likes to climb out
Stabilisers - we trip over these constantly, but they are essential to stop it from tipping over as he likes to rock it and push away from the counter.
why I LOVE our tower
He is happy in the kitchen. He can see what’s going on and is part of the action and conversation. Whining has reduced massively.
He is so much more willing to try new foods. I let him taste anything that is safe and he continues to call my bluff. Yesterday he took a huge bite of of a garlic clove and loved it!
He watches everything that we do and tries to copy it. I give him a mini chopping board and blunt plastic knife and he has a go at preparing some of the food.
He is learning a lot about different foods, textures, temperatures etc.
He is eating way more of his meals. This may be a coincidence, but I’d like to think it’s because he has been a part of preparing the food.
He can take part. He is obsessed with flapjacks and he got to help make them and lick the bowl for the first time this week.
We can do counter top activities. We made our saltdough ornaments for Easter and played with the world’s worst playdough standing at the counter.
I get to interact with him at the same level. Selfishly, this is my favourite pro. We have a little routine in the morning where he puts the filter in my aeropress and helps to pour in the coffee. It gives me pure joy to see how proud he is to be helping.
some cons of our learning tower
He can reach things on the counter. We have to be so careful with knives, hot things, raw food etc.
He drops food into it. All the time. I clean it 50 times per day. Luckily ours is pretty easy to wipe down.
He tries to climb out. His favourite things to say at the moment are “allllll done” or “get down”, as he hooks his leg over the railing. We added a makeshift harness for him; I never rely on it, but I figure it buys me a couple of seconds to get to him if he’s trying to climb
He pushes away from the counter. Clever grandad added long stabilisers out the back to prevent tipping, but boy does he try anyway.
I have to stay within arms reach. For me, that means being more prepared than usual as we store most of our food on the other side of the kitchen. This is a small price to pay though!
It takes up a lot of space. Our house is a rental with a pretty dated kitchen layout, but we felt that the loss of space was worth it though.
things to consider when buying a learning tower
Do you have space? Consider where it will fit in your kitchen and maybe leave a kitchen chair where you plan to put a tower for a few days to see if it works for you.
Is the platform height adjustable? Kids grow and it would be nice to be able to lower the platform so that they stay at a comfortable working height.
Does it have a harness or is it possible to add one?
Is it sturdy and difficult to tip? Does it attach to the counter and/or have a wide, steady base.
Is it easy to clean? Look out for corners, fabric, nooks and crannies etc.
Does it have any footholds? Anything that enables climbing is a no no for me.
Does it have a back? Kids step backwards without thinking. I would think twice about towers that are open at the back, unless you are planning to stand behind them 100% of the time.
Will it fit close against the counter? Some have a wide base that prevent little arms from getting close enough to the counter.
Are there any available second hand in your area? In Ireland, check out adverts.ie or donedeal.ie
After hours of research, the only commercially available tower that I have found that ticks most of the boxes is the Little Helper Funpod (not an ad/sponsored ). The only drawback I can see is that it doesn’t have a harness.
Overall we got really lucky that my dad was able to make us a tower that ticks all our boxes and just in time for lockdown!
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