This review is about the Wood and Hearts Toddler Tower, which we (Becca and I) found to be one of the more “exciting” things we’ve gotten and built for our toddler.

First, it’s a kitchen helper tower, and this is something that toward age 2, our toddler really enjoys. Second, it turns into a desk. We didn’t think we’d have an immediate use for that because we already have a toddler play table, but we were completely surprised.

In this review, we’ll talk about the top-rated Wood and Hearts Convertible Kitchen Tower, the quality, the setup, the two “jobs” it has in our home and how it’s working out. Read on to see if you’ll be glad you got this foldable Montessori toddler tower.

Intro to the Wood and Hearts Toddler Tower

I have a few things to point out about this toddler tower before we get into the review. In this intro, you’ll get a summary on this Montessori toddler kitchen tower.

  • The Wood and Hearts Toddler Tower comes from the Montessori value of toddler independence: it helps our toddler be a part of cooking, and then allows her to sit down at a table with a built-in seat. This works for us because we’re raising a screen-free toddler and we are big on interactive activities.
  • It’s very easy to transition this dual-purpose toddler tower from kitchen stool, to child desk. You could have your toddler sitting and reading and then within a minute, you could have the tower in the kitchen ready to go.
  • The tower doesn’t stop at being a kitchen tower, you can use this for teeth brushing or hand washing, depending on the layout of your bathroom.
  • The age range listed for this tower is 8 months to 6 years (according to the Wood and Hearts website; on Amazon it says “8 years”). I haven’t met many 8-month-olds who can stand, and I am not sure that 6-year-olds are actually small enough to use this tower/desk and fit in it, but I think an age range in the middle would be appropriate, like 18 months to 4 years.
  • Both Becca and I think that this is a great product that we chose to feature as a coffee table in our living room (seriously!). Read on to see how we came to that decision.
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Putting it together

Learn a little about how it all came together.

General construction and first impressions

The instructions are not very detailed, in my opinion, but once you look at the diagram, you don’t really need a ton of direction. (I say this, having built things like simple furniture with IKEA in the past.)

There are only two types screws, so it’s pretty easy to figure out what goes where.

My Convertible Toddler Tower came wrapped in plastic wrap, like, a lot of it. So I spent the first 10 minutes peeling off all of the plastic wrap from all of the pieces. There was also styrofoam (one of our least favorite materials because of how it’s messy).

Nevertheless, all the necessary parts came in the box, flat-packed and it was padded really well.

Like anything packaged in styrofoam, it’s static, so when you’re building the toddler tower, make sure to unwrap all the pieces in an area that is easy to vacuum. Sweeping probably won’t clean everything up because of the static from broken styrofoam.

What you get (tools that are included for assembly)

You get a standard hex key. You’ll be doing a lot of turning with this. I have so many of these from past projects and I should have looked for one with more torque. If you have any longer hex keys that fit, I would use that, as my recommendation.

Next, a tiny screwdriver. Because you’re screwing one of the pieces with a Phillips-Head screwdriver, Wood and Hearts gives you a tiny one. I ended up using a regularly-sized one, because the added torque was needed. I gave the tiny one to my toddler, which ended up being a great way for her to “help.” She thought it was awesome (and used it only with parent supervision).

If you don’t have any tools around, it is a huge perk that Wood and Hearts provides you everything you need to build this product. Lots of other products that we have from IKEA don’t come with a screwdriver. Some shelves that we have don’t even come with screws! So, these little included tools were a nice bonus, and now we can add them to our family toolbox.

In the weeds of it all

Once you get going with assembly, the Wood and Hearts Toddler Tower comes together fast.

The longest part of the assembly production is screwing in all the screws. I wouldn’t use an electric drill, because you don’t want to strip or split any of the wood. I would also thread all of the screws first, as you’re attaching the pieces. I wouldn’t completely tighten one screw, but thread all of them so you make sure that you have a tight connection.

And when I was building the toddler tower, I didn’t completely tighten anything until I was all done. This way, I got some wiggle room to add in pieces and adjust anything as I was doing.

Overall footprint in the kitchen

I was originally concerned about this because our kitchen isn’t gigantic. It has a pretty open layout, with an eat-in area, and also leads to another room, as well as a hallway. With a toddler tower, I wanted to be sure that we wouldn’t be blocking off space or creating obstacles.

The good news is that the Wood and Hearts Tower had the same total “footprint” as our Guidecraft Kitchen Helper Stool, which has a very different shape, and no steps. The difference with the Toddler Tower from Wood and Hearts is that the part for the toddler to stand in is much more condensed, and the steps take up the remaining total footprint.

All in all, the two kitchen towers were nearly identical in how much total space they took up on the floor. And due to the overall design of the Wood and Hearts one, it felt like it opened our kitchen space more because it wasn’t as bulky on the top half.

Toddler experience in the tower

What’s cute about toddler towers with steps is that toddlers immediately know how to scamper up them. With our Guidecraft Toddler Stool, our toddler is a little daunted by how to get into it on her own, and instead asks to be helped up.

The Wood and Hearts tower, which has a similar design to other toddler towers with steps, is more straightforward. Our child climbed up the steps and into the tower, with some guidance from us about avoiding hitting her head on the bar.

Toddler experience in the desk

Right away, our 22-month-old toddler saw that this desk was the perfect size for her. She needed help getting her legs into the little seat the first time or two, but then was ready to figure out how to sit in the little chair and start reading books.

What we like about the desk setup is that the table is long, rather than square. This allows a parent to hang out with a toddler while they’re doing an art project, and have some space for each person to work on their own, or pull up another small chair or stool.

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Criticisms

The Wood and Hearts 2-in-1 Toddler Tower is very unique and it’s crafted very well for the two purposes it has: an adorable toddler/child desk, and a toddler kitchen tower that looks quite nice in our home.

However:

“Unused latches”

I’m not sure how I feel about the unused latches. Because there are two sets of latches, one for the sitting position and one for the tower position, the unused set is “open.”

Our toddler would try and open the unused one and I was afraid that she would pinch her fingers. I’m sure that’s something that I wouldn’t even think twice about for a second child, though.

Product width

I wish the tower was a little wider, so that we can position this against one of our drawers and it would open. But this is really only an us problem since we don’t have an island where it makes more sense for a tower to go.

Wood heaviness

The wood is kind of thin, so that’s a good thing and a bad thing. The good thing is, it’s light and not heavy to move around between rooms. And that is exactly what we do with it.

It’s not terribly heavy like the Guidecraft tower, though: I can see how an overactive toddler could jump with force or topple over and something on the Wood and Hearts Tower might crack. It doesn’t feel flimsy, but it doesn’t feel like solid wood, either.

Does not fold down for storage

There’s virtually no way to store the Wood and Hearts Toddler Tower unless you put it in the tower position and store it upright in a corner of your closet or basement when it’s not in use, like when your child outgrows it. Maybe the bright side is that you could put soft things in all its empty areas, like clothes or bags of shoes, if you are short on space in your storage.

In my mind, I am comparing it to a toddler tower like the Piccalio Mini Chef Foldable Helper Tower, which really does fold down like a ladder, to a flat size. This one is much more like a ladder in how it is designed, so it’s a bit like comparing apples and oranges.

Price comparison to other best-selling toddler towers

The Wood and Hearts Tower is on par with other high-quality toddler towers we’ve looked at, which are nearly all +/- $200. The Guidecraft Kitchen Helper Stool (currently) retails at around $180-190 on Amazon, and I’ve seen other towers go for less, or sometimes more.

However, the Wood and Hearts Tower packs in two purposes into one piece of furniture: it’s also the toddler desk with a seat. For this reason, I think it’s worth the extra spare change to go into the $200+ range and have the option for it to be a desk. We’re currently using the Wood and Hearts Tower in its “desk formation” as the coffee table in our living room, so that our toddler can feel like she’s welcome in that part of the house.

It’s also interesting to me that the Wood and Hearts Tower is sold at various retailers for different prices every time. And I think that’s just how this market works. Luckily, it is priced on Amazon as the same price from the Wood and Hearts website, so that makes things easy. Somehow, sites like Buy Buy Baby, Pillobebe and Little Wonder & Co. have it at about $50 more. This could vary from week to week with their algorithms or however they’re pricing third-party products.

In conclusion, the best place to get this one is Amazon (just note that the “specialty shapes” are not available, but we didn’t mind that).

Should you get the Wood and Hearts Toddler Tower?

Out of all the toddler towers, we’re actually really happy with this one. Like I mentioned above, we have the Guidecraft kitchen tower, and that one is a classic, and highly popular. It’s sturdy and we like it, but it’s not quite as special as the one from Wood and Hearts.

The experience of putting it together with our toddler was fun, and she felt involved. It was adorable. She’s at the age where she likes doing what we do, and doing a “building” project that was going to be a piece of furniture she could use was fantastic.

If you don’t already have a toddler tower, consider that it is a great thing to put on your baby registry for a second child because it can be used for your current toddler (if you have a first), and then your next child, and next child.

And lastly, a 2-in-1 product like this one helps save money with a baby because it’s both a toddler tower and a desk: wow. We’ve shown the Wood and Hearts Tower to our “parent friends” and they’re really impressed with what a cool find this is.