Now that spring is here, the flowers are in bloom, and most importantly my little girl is old enough to hold a paintbrush, I’m lusting after this art table from Imagine Childhood.

Yeah, yeah, a table has nothing to do with spring, I know. It’s just that we’ve been spending some time outdoors now, picking little flowers, watching bugs wobble over the dirt, and hearing birds happily chirping. It’s inspiring me to teach our daughter about making things.

The Imagine Childhood art table includes two tear-off paper cutters, a handy storage tray in natural wood and a paper roll holder. The surface of the table is actually a white marker board art surface for those times when paper just isn’t called for.

Oh, and for those eco-minded of you out there, the table is made from sustainably harvested northern hardwood maple. Non toxic finish. High quality paper roll is 16.5″ wide and 100′ long. That’s a lot of paper.

We have this chalkboard (stickers, actually that make a chalkboard) that Sophie just loves to scribble on then wipe away. I figure that, with unlimited paper at her disposal, she could really delve into her inner artist.

Plus, since the roll of paper is right there, I won’t have to be constantly handing her new sheets of paper or making sure that her pen stays on the paper. With this table, it looks like the entire surface is covered with paper.

Anyway, with Spring in full bloom, what better time to break out of one’s old shell and start something new?

I’ve been on a quest to find a modern toddler table that will grow with our little one but won’t break the bank. Since we don’t have a playroom separate from the main living area of our house, I wanted the table to at least be pleasing to look at and fit in with our sense of design. However, I didn’t want to spend a bundle of money because, while I wanted the table to be of use for years to come, that doesn’t mean it WILL be of use for years to come. What I really didn’t want is an expensive dust catcher stuffed away in the basement (or in our case, the black hole closet).

I’ve found some delightful tables at both zacandzoe.com and modernseed.com. My favorite among the many cool designs are:

1) The Anka Table set. It’s stylish without being fussy or overly designed. I like the natural finish on the birch wood, but it comes in honey and espresso, too. It seems perfect for little ones and can also support Mom or Dad, so you can join in with “tea time” or playing with trains or coloring. Priced at $199 ($249 for the honey and expresso), it was at the top of the list, though still a little pricey to end rejected in the closet.

2) Offi Nest Play table. Here’s a great idea – re-purposing that Nest bassinet that was only in use for roughly 3 months. My brother and sister-in-law have the bassinet and barely used it for those 3 months. Theirs now holds hats. But, Offi decided to make a conversion kit for the bassinet so it becomes a table and toy bin. Beautiful stuff! Only, at $599 for the conversion kit (plus the $999 for the bassinet you’ve already purchased) that makes for one expensive toddler table!

3) Softy Table by Paul Frank. Really cute mix of plywood and molded MDF, this table was also a top contender. The chili red chair that comes with is also very stylish and sturdy, able to support both toddlers and parents. Also priced at $199, it’s a good choice if you like simplicity with a little bit of contemporary quirk thrown in.

4) The Chalkboard table set with stools. I love the chalkboard finish for an activity table. Talk about a no worry surface. However, the chalkboard doesn’t seem like a meal friendly surface, so I’m not certain it can do the double duty we need it to. Again priced at $199 it’s a fun table but, if we’d have to buy yet another table for meals, it’s not what I’m looking for.

5) Ecotots Project table and Popsicle table. Totally cute and clean lined table with stools fit for any toddler’s developing sitting style. And, apparently, it is assembled with NO TOOLS! Yay! Can you imagine not having to whip out the allen wrench or screwdriver?!? The stools tuck under the table for easy storage. Made out of eco-friendly, formaldehyde free plywood, it could be a good choice especially for the “green” family. I can’t find a discernable difference between the two styles except the design on the legs of the stools and the price. The Project table ranges from $125 to $225 while the Popsicle table is $250.

6) Svala table at IKEA. Now I love IKEA for some things and hate them for others. Mainly I think that buying too much IKEA makes a room scream “IKEA!”, so I shy away from making big purchases there and stick to the small stuff. But, I must say their children’s section is quickly winning me over. This table set that comes with 2 chairs costs only $39.99 and is perfectly acceptable. It won’t win any design awards, surely, but it is simple and made of real wood. Plus, if it gets tossed aside I won’t be heartbroken.

Ultimately we decided to go with the Svala table and chairs from IKEA as it fit the bill for simple design at a reasonable cost. I do, at times, wish that it had more style. I’ve seen a number of the Anka tables in action and they do look great. So, there’s that. But, we bought it and we’re happy with it. Out little girl loves to color while sitting at the table and we do use it for meal time to great (most of the time) success. (also see post on eating at the toddler table).

At 21 months of age my daughter has begun eating her meals at her own toddler table. Maria Montessori calls this the weaning table and actually advocates introducing it much earlier than 2 years of age, say around 4-8 months old. The table is Montessori’s replacement for the highchair. Her take on the whole table idea is that it allows the child the opportunity to make his or her own decision regarding eating.

Independence of thought/choice is big in Montessori’s world and while I don’t know near enough about the details to discuss it in detail, I do have a post here and here on the Montessori method as it pertains to eating. I am, however, very interested in the big picture philosophy behind her method. My husband and I often fold (or one could say cherry pick) the Montessori method into our parenting style.

As for feeding time, we chose to use a highchair until we were comfortable offering Sophie the option of getting out of her chair on her own. This timing also coincided with food throwing. Really, our decision has been based on whether or not she’s getting enough to eat to sustain her growing body. However, the food throwing was a very large factor as well. I believe it is the international (and inherent) sign for “I’m all done eating this so called food.” I mean, enough with the food throwing already!

So we’ve introduced the toddler table. Sophie can sit at will and get up at will.

Disaster, you might think…but surprisingly, no. The new found independence (and no doubt trust) she feels has emboldened her to remain at her table until she is finished eating. And she actually eats! A lot.

Now, I will qualify this by saying that sitting is a loose term for what she does at the table. There is a fair amount of standing with one leg dangling over the seat, the one butt cheek on and one butt cheek off of the seat form of sitting, and my favorite the my toe is touching the chair so I’m still sitting form of sitting. Ahh, that lesson will have to come in time. Maybe when we introduce table manners.

The table, though, has successfully stopped the food throwing. When she’s done, she simply gets up. What a concept! Now, we’ve dealt with food throwing in the past and have some fairly effective methods for dealing with it while at the grown up table, but so far the toddler table is the best solution we’ve found. Granted, a semblance of toddler maturity is needed (is there such a thing?) to fully pull it off. I’m a big fan of the toddler table…in fact, I find myself sitting at it with Sophie, which makes for fun table time conversations in a language I have yet to master. I’d recommend it highly.

photo credit: ian.schofield