There's a moment every parent knows: your toddler pulls at your leg while you're cooking, desperately wanting to be part of what you're doing. The Toddler Tower was our answer to that moment.

Evgeny and I designed the AVDAR Toddler Tower because we lived that moment ourselves, many times. Our eldest son was around two when we started thinking about what it would mean to create a step stool that actually worked — not just structurally, but as a piece of everyday family life. Something that made a child feel included, not just elevated. Something that looked like it belonged in a real home, not a toy store.

The result is one of our most personal products, and the one we get the most heartfelt messages about. This is an honest look at what makes it special, who it's for, and what to consider before buying.

What Is the AVDAR Toddler Tower?

The AVDAR Toddler Tower is a Montessori learning tower — a freestanding wooden step stool with an enclosed platform that allows toddlers to safely stand at counter height alongside a parent or caregiver. Unlike a simple step stool, a learning tower surrounds the child on three or four sides, giving them a safe place to stand, reach, and participate without risk of toppling backward.

Ours is built from sturdy multilayer birchwood and finished with non-toxic, water-based paint in seven colors. The signature design feature is the trapezoid silhouette: wider at the base than at the top, which dramatically improves stability compared to rectangular towers. Two cut-out openings on the side panels serve as both weight-reduction features and natural handles for the child to grip while climbing.

Key Specifications

What Makes It Different

The Trapezoid Shape — Stability You Can See

Most learning towers are rectangular boxes. The problem is that a narrow base under a standing, shifting toddler creates real tipping risk. We chose a trapezoid form specifically because the physics work better: the wider base lowers the center of gravity, and the angled sides make the structure significantly more resistant to lateral movement. Parents notice this immediately when they first use it — it simply doesn't wobble.

Three Height Settings That Actually Matter

The three adjustable levels aren't a gimmick. A 18-month-old and a 3-year-old need very different platform heights to reach a kitchen counter comfortably. As your child grows, you lift the platform. The adjustment takes about two minutes with the included hardware. Many families use the same tower from the moment their child starts walking confidently all the way through age three or beyond.

seven Colors — Including Natural Birchwood

We offer the Toddler Tower in seven finishes, which is unusual in this category. The color options let it genuinely integrate into different home aesthetics rather than standing out as a children's item.

Non-Toxic, Water-Based Paint — Certified Safe

All paint used on the Toddler Tower is water-based and free of formaldehyde and harmful chemicals. The ASTM, CPSIA, and EN71 certifications cover both structural safety and material safety, including the surface coating. Your child will grip those side panels constantly — it matters what they're coated with.

Where Families Use It Most

The Montessori Philosophy Behind It

The Toddler Tower is built on a simple Montessori idea: children learn through doing, and the most meaningful doing happens alongside real adults in real environments — not in toy kitchens. When a toddler washes real vegetables or stirs a real bowl, they develop practical skills, concentration, and a sense of contribution that play-acting doesn't fully replicate.

The tower removes the barrier of height, which is the main reason toddlers can't participate in kitchen life. That's the whole design brief, and it's why families describe it as one of the most genuinely useful things in their home — not just a toy they rotate through.

• Encourages independence — child can climb in and out without help after a few weeks of practice
• Builds practical life skills through real kitchen and household participation
• Promotes focus and concentration through task-based activity
• Supports a sense of belonging and contribution in the family
• Replaces the need for a separate children's kitchen or play kitchen for many families

What Families Are Saying

A Few Honest Considerations

The Toddler Tower is designed for ages 1.5 to 3. For older children, we offer the Buddy Toddler Tower ($320) which accommodates two children simultaneously and has adjustable heights for slightly older kids. If you have siblings close in age, this is worth considering.

At $220, it's priced in the premium segment for learning towers. Cheaper alternatives exist at $60–$100, but they're typically rectangular (less stable), made from thinner plywood, and don't hold international safety certifications. The AVDAR tower is built to last through toddlerhood and beyond — we still use ours.