Playing With Food

If your kids are like mine, they’d much rather play than sit down to eat. Wouldn’t it blow their minds to do both at once? Wouldn’t it blow your mind to see them stay seated and engaged at family meals? Maybe even try new foods without a struggle? These utensils and plates from Constructive Eating will add fun, incentive and quite possibly tranquility to your table and they’ll have your kids shoveling food in their mouths in no time at all. Literally. In a nice way.

The three-piece utensil set features a forklift fork, front loader spoon and bulldozer pusher. Each apparatus is true to scale, a thrill for those small and highly observant construction fans. Easy-grip handles are made of rubber, which is particularly useful to the under-6 set still mastering their utensils. The coordinating plate has ramps and dividers like a real construction site, and the utensils fit right into the different cavities. (All materials are FDA-approved and free of PVC, BPA and phthalates.)

The idea for these eating machines came to Jackie Malcolm one night in a sleep-deprived haze, when she wished for a forklift-shaped utensil so her son could entertain himself while eating. The next morning, Jackie and her husband Carter started drafting prototypes and Constructive Eating officially broke ground. So imagine a stress-free family dinner, with little balking or wandering. Picture kids happily experimenting with new foods because it’s so much fun to heft that fantastic forklift. You can just enjoy yourself, and leave the heavy lifting to the pros.

—Diana