Our Kitchen Tower Has Arrived!!

I've been feeling like a failing Montessori parent, as my child has no kitchen tower so that I may bring him up to counter height and begin letting him help in the kitchen (sure we've been cooking and baking at the kitchen table, but it hardly lets him be a part of daily activities).  But, my kitchen is smaller than a parking space, so my desires for a kitchen tower have long conflicted with my desires to be able to turn around.  I will refrain from complaining about my storage issues...

But now, my kitchen and my parenting ego need not fear!  The GuideCraft Kitchen Helper has come to my rescue!

It took some researching to find a tower that would suit my needs and my budget.  There are a number of amazing towers out there.  The Learning Tower and Fun Pod are generally the most popular:    

       

They are a bit costly, upwards of $200, but they are well made and sturdy.  They are also big, and I had nowhere to put one.  I need sturdy and space-saving.  So, luckily, I came across TWO kitchen towers that fold.  One Step Ahead makes one that folds.  But after reading reviews, I learned that you have to remove a screw and replace a screw every time you want to fold it up.  That's just not convenient for something my son wants to use frequently.

The GuideCraft became the best solution.  It folds up easily (although the feet at the bottom keep it a little wide, but that's the price of safety).  It does have a removable screw in the platform, but you don't need it in place to keep the whole thing together and sturdy (you might only need it in place if your toddler insisted on lifting up the platform and this was a problem for you).  The tower from One Step Ahead might be the same, but I'm not certain, so I went with the GuideCraft.  The price wasn't much cheaper than the popular brands (at full price it's more than $170) but I found it on Amazon at 30% off, so it didn't end up too pricey after all.  Some of the reviews on Amazon reported a lack of quality (...did not meet expectations...) but I'm not sure what people were expecting because I have found it to be very sturdy.

My son LOVES it.  He'd spend all day in it, hanging out at the counter.  Sometimes I put water in bowls and let him play in the sink.  Today he helped me make dinner (give the kid a mortar and pestle and he's thrilled).  Then again, while I cooked this evening, I put on his favorite music and he just danced in it.