Play with your Food!

Does it really hurt anyone to play with your food? Sure, if your child learns that catapulting his peas across the room is considered acceptable behavior, it may hurt his chances of success later in life when he takes his biggest client out for a business dinner, causes the business to go bankrupt, people to lose jobs, and families to go hungry. However, I think that as long as a child knows when the best of manners are required and complies accordingly, a little break in the meal monotony is okay every great now and then, and may even foster a little creativity. And hey, if it gets your little one to consume some veggies, all the better.

Here are a few fun products that might help put the fun back in dinner time, even if Mommy only allows them to see the light of day on birthdays...

The Food Face plate by Fred & Friends turns your child's food into an edible "Wooly Willy."

My sister got me one of these for my birthday this year...funny, I had that on my list of ideas for her too! The only downside for kids is that they are ceramic and breakable. They run about 10 bucks or so on Amazon:



This dinnerware by Constructive Eating is perfect when you need to excavate your mashed potatoes or bulldoze your peas!


Available on Amazon in a 3-piece set or individually, with a plate also sold separately:


Another great product from Fred and Friends, the Pizza Boss 3000 is fun for kids and handy men alike. Daddy won't let you play with his power tools? Okay, maybe slicing the pizza is the next best thing. After all, while it may have less fiber, it sure tastes a heckuva lot better than plywood.



Nuop Designs takes the curly straw to a whole new level, allowing your child to send his or her beverage on a veritable roller coaster ride to it's final destination. A plain 'ol cup of water never looked so fun.


Yes, Fred & Friends has clearly cornered the market on fun food products...in addition to their human version of their "pick your nose" cups, they also have fun animal noses as well. Who says you can't pick your friend's nose?!




So let your kids be kids at the dinner table just once in a while. Who knows, you could have the next Ju Duoqi on your hands!

ID Mommy Tip: Eating Out With Toddlers

Here's a little handy tip that I came up with after experiencing the same frustration over and over again while eating out at restaurants.

When we go out to eat, often times restaurants will have great kid-sized cups. But, rarely do they ever have kid-sized straws, and we seldom see those cool bendy straws anymore. This undoubtedly results in Sammy having to hold his drink out in front of him and tip it down in order to get the straw to his mouth, sending his drink dribbling out the leaky lid and onto his lap.


Instead of waiting for the fast food restaurants to solve my problem, I finally decided to pack a small pair of folding scissors in my diaper bag. All I do now is whip these babies out, and simply snip off the top few inches of the straw.


Voila! A kid-sized straw and a dry pants. Well, at least until that pop goes through and the diaper leaks... ;-)