Trying the Montessori Learning Tower by Woomo

UPDATE 2020: unfortunately, Woomo is no longer in business 😔

When I researched to include the very best Montessori furniture and toys in my online course (at the moment only available in Italian), I found this beaufitul Granada-based company called Woomo, so I reached out to them and—I love when this happens—the people behind the company are as beautiful as the image they portray on their website.

Aquiles not only replied quickly and kindly to all my enquires, he also gave me a discount code for whoever buys my Montessori course, and sent me one of Woomo’s star products to review: the Woomo Montessori Learning Tower.

Let me get straight to it. I really like it! Not only is it minimalist (the brand is not even visibile anywhere), functional and beautiful, but the whole CHILD collection is made out of sustainable wood and 100% water-based paint—now more than ever, I think it’s important we all strive to move towards a more eco-friendly lifestyle.

This is also one of the reasons why nowadays—if I can afford it—I’d choose the Woomo learning tower over the DIY IKEA version we made for Oliver two years ago.

The other reason—needless to say—is the convenience. The learning tower came to my door in a compact box, and it’s easy to assemble: it’s few pieces, and the only minor “difficulty” is to screw a few holes into virgin wood, so it’s definitely way easier and less time-consuming than making one yourself from scratch (duh!).

Even so, you do have to keep in mind that there’s a waiting time of about 4-6 weeks… all good things take time!

It’s wider and bigger than I expected—Oliver and Emily fit comfortably on it together—but it’s still very light to move around, so even though my kitchen is small, it’s easy to move it when we need to open drawers and cupboards. When we don’t use it, we store it in a dedicated space, and I honestly think it makes the kitchen feel homier.

It’s also quite easy to clean, although being solid wood I recommend cleaning it relatively quickly when it gets dirty if you don’t want it stained.

I like its adjustable base that can be set at four different heights, so it truly grows with the child. If Oliver were to use it, I would have it set in the lowest possible setting, though Emily (1 year old and 72cm) needs the highest setting, which is just perfect for her to see what’s going on on the kitchen counter and “cook” with us (on her tippy toes, which drives me crazy with love).

One of Emily’s favorite activities is to help me put the silverware back in the drawer when I empty the dish washer, to move pasta pieces and beans from one plate to the other or, of course, to play with water (that’s always a big hit). Oliver by now is a mini chef, so writing his favourite activities would require a whole new post!

Emily was an early walker at 10 months, so by the time we received the Learning Tower she could already walk, which helped on one hand, because she was already able to get on it by herself using the dedicated step… she’s tiny, but she’s quite the climber, and so determined she’s also learnt to get on it through the sides (yep!).

On the other hand, it created an extra challenge for us, because Emily has no sense of self preservation (unlike cautious baby Oliver), so at the beginning we didn’t feel comfortable leaving her on it unsupervised like we used to do with Oliver when he was her age.

Now I patiently taught her how to come down by turning, kneeing and going backwards (which is not natural at all, she has to look in one direction to go the opposite direction). For a long time this was her favourite way of getting off it (sigh!):

If I could change one small detail about it, I’d add a simple grasping hole on the base: in Oliver’s DIY version, the hole on the IKEA stool base gave Oliver an easy grab to pull himself up, and as we still use the same IKEA stool for him in the kitchen, I can see how easier it is for Emily to have something to grasp to pull herself up (which she does do, giving me endless heart attacks).

For me, the Montessori learning tower is a must in every kitchen with young children, and the Woomo CHILD is currently my favourite out there in terms of aesthetics and sustainability.

But I’ll admit that I might be a bit biased, as for me it was love at first sight with Woomo! The first time I read their about page, I knew I’d have loved their products: “Our main user is the child”, and everything they make is for the child to use independently, something that seems obvious, but it’s rarely implemented—so often I see children’s furniture that only adults can use!

The CHILD collection is, in fact, all made for the children, and my very favourite pieces for the house are the CHILD wardrobe, the CHILD reading bench, the CHILD wood cabin, and the super versatile Montessori pack.