Allison's Toddler Towers
2019
These photos show Toddler Tower use with the youngest being 15-months-old, the middle 3-years-old, and the oldest 4-years-old. For reference, the 39.5" tall son uses his Tower is on the lowest setting and the 35" tall son uses his Tower is on the middle setting.
Q: Are Toddler Towers worth the hype that they get in the Montessori community?
A: Yes! Toddlers are very interested in being involved in what their parents and caretakers are doing. My kids were always very interested in watching and being a part of what was going on in the kitchen (specifically what I was doing at the counter). A Toddler Tower is great for providing a little independence for a child to be able to get up to counter height and watch a meal being prepared (for example). Having a Toddler Tower also makes it easier to provide opportunities for a young child (or multiple young children) to be involved in the process of food preparation. My kids love being able to use their Toddler Towers to help me when I am cooking or baking.
Q: What makes the Toddler Tower different from a step stool?
A: Because the Toddler Tower is enclosed on three sides, there is added safety compared with a step stool. This is especially important for wobbly toddlers - as a mom, I have felt they are more secure standing in a Toddler Tower compared to a step stool (or using a chair) that isn’t enclosed. In addition, the Toddler Tower allows them to be up higher compared to most step stools (which are only one or two steps). My youngest started climbing into his Toddler Tower shortly after turning 1 year old. With the Toddler Tower, he could climb into the tower and reach the counter, which he wouldn’t have been able to do if he was using a step stool.
Q: How have your towers lasted with daily use?
A: They have lasted great! With the exception of some surface scratches on the wood, they look almost new, which has been our experience with our other Sprout furniture, too. As our kids have grown, we have even taken the Toddler Towers apart and reassembled them to be a lower height. With other furniture (by different companies) we haven’t always had a positive experience when needing to disassemble (and reassemble) furniture, but that hasn’t been the case with our furniture from Sprout. When we have needed to, it has always been very easy for us to disassemble and reassemble the furniture and the quality has remained high.
Q: How do your children feel about their towers?
A: My kids love the towers! That is one reason we ended up with three towers. By the time my youngest was ready to start using one, my oldest child could have switched to using a step stool, but he was very fond of using the Toddler Tower, so we decided to add a third tower instead.
Q: What are your go-to ways of using the Toddler Tower?
A: We usually use them in the kitchen at the counter and in the dining room. The boys will move them around to the sink to wash dishes or over to the coffee maker because they’ve started making my coffee, which is so fun. They’ll push it over to the cabinets if there’s something over there that they want, too.
I don’t think we’ve used them outside of the kitchen, but you could definitely use them in the bathroom to reach the sink. We definitely don’t just use them for cooking though; we use them for art and science activities at the counter, and they even push them over to reach the light switches.
Q: How did you teach your children to climb in and out? Do you have any tips for introducing a child to a learning tower for the first time?
A: We got the tower for my oldest when he was already walking, and he learned to climb in and out in a couple days through trial and error. We placed him in it through the top at first and described how to climb in and out, and he figured it out pretty fast.
My middle son was standing and holding onto things when we got his tower, but he wasn’t walking yet. We started by putting him in through the top. He first learned how to get down, we used a combination of using our hands to show him and verbally explaining. He was hesitant to climb in on his own and it took him a little longer, but once he figured it out there was no stopping him.
My advice is let them go at their own pace–they’ll figure it out on their own. We would put them in through the top and they loved standing in there, and we would help them duck under the bar when they climbed out until they figured it out.
The hardest part with the added safety bar is helping them know to duck to get in and out, so if they’re having trouble, you can remove that part when they’re climbing in, then place it, and remove it when they’re climbing out. And once they get the hang of it and understand, that won’t be an obstacle for them anymore and you can leave it in.
Q: When did your children start using their towers?
A: I think my oldest was close to 16 months and a new walker when we got his. My middle was closer to 12 months and wasn’t walking on his own. We waited until he was fairly stable on his feet when holding on to something. We noticed that around a year was also when they started showing more interest in seeing what was going on at counter-level.
Q: How long did your oldest use his tower for and what do you think you'll do with it after?
A: My oldest just turned 6 years old and while he still will go in his tower occasionally, he is tall enough now that he doesn’t need to use it. He now will often use a simple (one-step) step stool and he is able to reach the counter and sink in the kitchen. Currently, we still have three of our towers setup in our kitchen, but once we are done with them, we will likely sell or donate them, or pass it onto a family member with younger kids.
Q: Do you have tips on how to handle involving kids in inherently messy meal prep?
A: I recommend using a tray for them to work on to contain the mess. I give my boys everything I want to give them at a single time on the tray. I pre-measure what they’re going to be using and put it in smaller bowls and pitchers that they can easily manage on their own. Also, if they’re really young, they don't have to do everything on their own and you can do hand over hand guiding.
But also just knowing, messes are going to be a part of it, so I just anticipate it! It can be helpful to only give them as much as you’re willing to clean up, which is another reason the pre-measuring can be helpful.
As they get older and their skills get more developed, we can move up from just a few steps to more complex things. They’ve also started doing some of the riskier parts of meal prep, like using the crinkle cutter to cut things. They will sometimes bring their tower over to the stove to watch but haven't done any cooking on the stove yet.
Q: Have your towers felt safe, even with sometimes wild kids? Do they topple since they’re narrow?
A: Yes, they really have felt safe. I really like that it has the bar on the back and enclosed sides. I also love that it only fits one child so they really can’t both try and go into one at the same time, which helps when they’re in a wild mood. Having 2 towers helps.
It’s not at all easy to topple over. If you push it, it could topple, but that’s true of pretty much everything. If it’s weighted because they’re in it, it’s not going to topple.
I also don’t think the narrowness made any difference in their learning. The most difficult aspect of the learning process was learning to duck under the bar to get out, but the width didn’t have any negative impact.
Q: Do you have any difficulties cleaning the tower?
A: It’s pretty easy to clean, we just use a wet sponge or a towel and it’s very simple.
Q: What have been the benefits of the Toddler Tower?
A: The independence that it’s given them. They can easily be a part of what’s going on helping out in the kitchen. And even that they can just see–if an adult is doing something in the kitchen, they’ll go up in their tower to watch. It’s given them so many opportunities to be independent and involved.
It would definitely be hard to imagine their childhoods without the Toddler Towers. We are going to get a third one for our third baby because she’s getting to the stage where she could use it, and our oldest still loves his Tower because he can’t reach the counters on his own. They love their own individual Towers and the ownership they have of them.
