CHOPSTICK KIDS: Encouraging mindful eating
by Desmond Williams
My wife and I go out to eat with our three-year-old toddler quite often, and our budget constraints usually dictate that we dine at restaurants where eating meals typically involves using chopsticks (Thai anyone?). As a result, my son has taken a liking to the paper-wrapped stick-like utensils, and without Chopstick Kids our dining experience - not to mention our life - would be a literal mess!
Chopsticks promote mindful eating and reduce consumption in general. So although drumming is a normal occurrence at our family’s table, followed by a bit of orchestra conducting and the inevitable chopstick-up-the-nose routine (all acts performed by my preschooler), I am happy that when the food arrives he doesn’t quickly trade the chopsticks for that hybrid utensil popular with airlines, fast-food joints and prisons: the spork. But the resulting mess - offset by a hefty clean-up tip for the waitstaff, tends to negate the reason that we were in a Thai restaurant in the first place: our budget.
Enter Chopstick Kids the “soft, washable, food-safe hinges really keep your chopsticks in line and add an element of fun.” Simply pop the sticks into the rubbery legs of these helpers and watch your kids get all chop-socky (and less messy) with their food.
Chopstick Kids retail for $7 at the ModernTots online store. Other versions (such as HogWildToys’ new DinoSticks) are also available, or simply build your own.
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August 7th, 2008 at 8:40 pm
These chopsticks are so slippery even I had trouble eating comfortably with them. Yes I tried them out myself and I’m Korean so I’ve been using chopsticks since I was 3. But these… I really don’t recommend.. cute, but slippery. The plasitic thing you insert the tops of the two chopstick tops into, works wayyyy better. My daughter who’s 3.5 years old now practiced with it.
August 8th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Hello Doran - I recently tried the DIY version and it worked splendidly (not sure why I hadn’t come across it before). After marveling at how ‘MacGyver’ Dad was, my son gave the adjusted chopsticks a go and was able to pick those tiny bits of tofu from his miso soup.
September 18th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
My son has used these and they are quite slippery, but better than tying a rubber band around one end of a normal pair LOL.
October 17th, 2008 at 10:20 pm
I recently found these clothespin chopsticks at CB2. They’re relatively inexpensive and my son approves (they double as crazy earrings).