I have 2 boys, 4 years old and 2. When the first came along we decided not to use a gate and to teach him how to act around the wood stove. When he 14 months or so I had the stove cranked right up for one of the first fires of the year. I brought him down near the stove, brought him close enough to feel the heat, and shocked him with yelling HOT, NO TOUCH at just the time he pulled his hand back from realizing the heat for himself. He'd never been yelled at like that before and it made an impression. I brought him back a safe distance, calmed him down, and we sat and enjoyed the fire and periodically reiterated (in a much kinder voice) the hot, no touch message. His first word became hot and temperature was the topic of most conversations that entire winter. He would play in the same room as the stove and we never had an issue. If a toy rolled in the proximity of it, he'd just find something else to play with or ask us to get it.
The same approach was used on boy #2 with a similar result. However, we soon noticed their respect for the unit was on an individual basis, and when the two are playing together, and each want the same toy, that stove is the last thing on their minds and was going to be a potential accident situation.
As much as I hated to I purchased 2 fireplace screens
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000X4SWAS/ref=wms_ohs_product .The front and right of the stove were the only sides that needed to be protected because of the room layout. They easily move out of the way for loading, actually don't look bad around the unit, and I can easily reach over them to adjust the air setting. Surprisingly, the view is still quiet good through them as well.
Being as portable as a unit like this is, they don't provide the protection that an actual gate secured to the floor would, but they will serve their purpose for a few years and be easily put away, they didn't cost much, and they aren't a hindrance. A lot of boyish playing took place around the stove last winter with 2 bumbling boys, and only once did one of the grates ever get bumped, and that was when a toy went flying. Should one of the boys fall directly on the unit, it would fall over but at least keep them from landing directly against the stove surface.
As much as the Mrs. and I were opposed to doing anything of the sort, what we chose to do was a compromise that we are comfortable with.
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