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Food Polite: Trebimbi Puppets Cutlery

TrembimbiBy Maura Keating

I used my own hand-me-down stainless steel baby spoons as long as I could with my son. With my son was born a new fear of plastics, and I didn’t want BPA or PVC (or anything else that might cause harm) in my son’s mouth six or more times a day. Trebimbi Puppets Cutlery is the perfect compromise. The handles (or bodies) of the puppets are made from polypropylene that is BPA and PVC free, while the part that goes into a child’s mouth is made out of stainless steel.

My son loves his Trebimbi Puppets dinnerware. The Italian-made three-piece set includes a brightly colored fork, spoon, and knife. The hollow handles slide onto little fingers for instant action. With arms that snap together to hold hands with other pieces and smiling faces topped with caps, the plastic handles are fun and friendly. The stainless steel utensil tops have etched smiling faces, too, for extra sociability. My son (at nineteen months) has not caught onto the puppet appeal of the dinnerware set, but he loves to connect the pieces, and best of all, he loves to use the Puppets dinnerware as utensils–to transfer food from a plate into his mouth. This could be a breakthrough.


I love the Puppets spoon best. The spoon’s elongated curve is the perfect shape for little mouths. The spoon is deep enough for soup, but not so deep that my son has trouble eating everything off of it. Other spoons trapped the best bits of the meal at the bottom of the spoon, frustrating my son. He could suck soup off of the spoon’s top, but the corn and beans that he loves so much stuck to the bottom. In frustration, he would resort to using his hands or drinking soup directly from the bowl. Now, my son is able to expertly manipulate his Puppets spoon. This improved dexterity and success rate encourages him to use utensils instead of his fingers–a victory for him and for me. The Puppets fork and knife have child-safe edges. All three utensils are the perfect size for my son’s hands, and the cone shape of the handle makes the utensils easy for toddlers to hold. The set is recommended for children from two to six years old, but we started using the set a little early (when my son was about sixteen months old) and I think the spoon could be used even earlier.

The handles of the Trebimbi Puppets cutlery can be hard to clean. Since the flatware can be used as puppets, the handles are hollow. The cone shape traps food easily if food happens to wander up that way and my son is expert at shoving food up the handles whenever he thinks we aren’t looking. Happily, we discovered that long bamboo skewers are effective at removing trapped food. The Puppets cutlery is also dishwasher safe. To extend the fun, Trebimbi also offers a Puppet Club Set, which includes the three utensils reviewed here, with an additional egg cup, bowl, and mug.

If you’ve got a child who is always looking for something to play with during mealtime, encourage him or her to play with their utensils and eat their food by inviting the Trebimbi fork, knife, and spoon over for dinner. Meals don’t have to be a struggle when the cutlery makes eating fun–and easier too.

Details: Trebimbi Puppets Cutlery, $20 – $45. Available at www.barebabies.com.

Kidoinfo DEAL: Barebabies.com is offering 10% off any Trebimbi order when you use the code ki100fftre.

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4 comments
  • Should we chuck our Ikea plasticware? (The $1.99 for 16 pieces sets that everyone seems to have.)

    How do you know? Is any plastic ok for use & re-use?

  • Great review! I ordered a set for my 2 year old son shortly after reading this! It is refreshing to know that quality products like these are being reviewed so that parents have some choices, especially in light of all the attention regarding the BPA or PVC in plastic. I was searching for some new utensils and it was so nice to see this review and to feel confident in the research. Thanks!

  • those are so cute! that would be the perfect baby gift. i just saw some similar ones–baby utensils with faces–that had all-stainless steel handles. maybe they would be easier to clean. unfortunately i spotted these in a random magazine in the YMCA sauna so i can’t offer a link.