The Learning Tower

So, there's this thing called The Learning Tower. I had heard of it before, seen it in the kitchen of a few friends, thought it looked like a cool idea, and then just never did anything about it. That is, I never did anything about it until it started becoming almost impossible for me to make dinner because Miss was no longer content to sit and play with toys on the kitchen floor while I cooked. She had to be everywhere but the kitchen, especially places where I couldn't see her or really didn't want her to be, like climbing the stairs. So I figured she was probably big enough to give the Learning Tower a try. I thought it would be really fun to let her be involved in the things I do in the kitchen, without stressing me out that she would fall off a chair if I put her up on one so she could see. I took the leap and ordered the Tower.

The first day my hubby got it put together, this is what happened:

She loved it! It came with the blue scarf thing for playing, and she had a blast with it. I had also just gotten her a set of mini pots with a wooden fork and spoon, which she loved. You can see her holding the fork and spoon in some of the photos.

Unfortunately, there have also been times when I've tried to get her to hang out in the Tower while I cooked dinner and she would eventually get bored and want to get down. I've found it's a little hard to let her be very involved at her age when a lot of my cooking prep involves sharp knives and/or hot surfaces. And though she's started to get into the pretend play some, she just isn't quite ready for pretending to cook along side me. I am really looking forward to that. And even more looking forward to when she is big enough that I can get her actually making some things with me. I don't think that's too far off and I can't wait!

In the meantime, I've worked it out so that she spends some time in the Tower when I'm cooking, though not necessarily as long as I might want her to. She plays on the counter, watches what I'm doing, or plays in the sink some when I'm doing things she can't be too close to.

She asks to get up in the Tower in the mornings to watch me mix her oatmeal, and there are some tasks that I have been able to let her help with, like harvesting, washing, and freezing some of my abundant herbs from our deck herb garden.

Although we aren't able to use it as much as I would like to yet, I am really looking forward to sharing more and more with Miss in the kitchen. I so enjoy cooking and am very excited to be able to let her participate in the process of creating food for herself and our family. I want her to have wonderful memories of our times in the kitchen, and I think this Tower will help facilitate that. Definitely worth the money!