 My Plate-Mate for Kids |
My Plate-Mate ($7.95), which is a simple, curved piece of plastic — that snaps on to the side of a plate to help kids push food on their fork — is one of those “where’ve YOU been?” products I’m glad to have finally found, albeit five years and three kids into the game.
I’ve been watching my five-year-old chase his eggplant parmesan (yeah, but, it’s one of only three dinner foods he’ll eat) around his plate for so long. Some bites make it in, but too many end up being forced off the plank, onto the table and floor. I tried giving him a dull knife to help — no luck. It was even more frustrating for him to use both utensils (and for me to watch).
My Plate-Mate, which resembles a headband, snapped on easily to our ceramic, 9-inch plate. And with very little instruction — if any — he was off and running, using it to maneuver bites onto his fork like it had always been there. We tried it with macaroni and cheese on a smaller, plastic plate with my three-year-old son (it’s marketed for ages 2 and up) who also barely noticed it was there and used it like a pro, pushing slippery noodles up against the Plate-Mate and watching them fall back onto his spoon.
The lightweight Plate-Mate is easy to throw into a bag for restaurant dining (or eating at nervous grandparents’ houses) and a breeze to clean. Made of FDA-approved food grade plastic-free from lead, PVC, polycarbonates, bisphenol-a (BPA) and phthalates — it’s dishwasher safe and comes in three colors: pink, blue and white. (We used white, and so far no tomato-sauce stains.) It fits any round plate with a 8”-9 1/2” diameter. It was just awarded the 2008 Outstanding Product Award from iParenting Media Co., a subsidiary of Disney Online.
– Danielle D.
