With the multitude of children's feeding accessories that are currently available I really wanted to share with you the great experiences I've had with the Arrow Plastic Primary Food Set over the past few years. These inexpensive, colorful and extremely sturdy utensils are just as practical as standard metal flatware but easier for small kids to handle and use. My boys won’t readily admit it but they still use these when they have day field trips or when we are on the road for the day. And if you knew my boys you’d know that they generally shy away from most things with a “kid theme” to them.

I’ve given so many of these sets to friends, neighbors and relatives that I’ve lost count. Kids as young as a year old can easily grip the textured handle while older kids will love the fact that they have their own fork and spoon set. These make great small gifts, rewards or something to toss in your childs lunch as a cute surprise. With a suggested retail price of less than a dollar these are great to have on hand for meal time, when you are on the run or when you just need a little color in your life!

The Basics

The Arrow Plastic Primary Food Set is comprised of two cool looking utensils – a fork and a spoon. Both are packaged in one set and available in red, blue, green and yellow. These are usually found in the house wares section but occasionally find their way into the children’s section or possibly the food storage aisle. I’ve seen them in several areas of Wal-Mart but if you are having trouble locating them just ask where they chose to stock them.

Both the spoon and fork are constructed of a high grade thick plastic that won’t bend, snap or crack – even under extreme pressure. That doesn’t mean that they are indestructible but rather that they will stand up to a lot of use and abuse. These have been stepped on, left in the sun, accidentally dropped down the garbage disposal and carried off by the various animals that share our dwelling and are still in excellent condition. Clean up is a snap since the plastic prevents almost all food items from sticking to the surface. But even if you find that something is stuck to the spoon or fork and you can’t [or don’t want to] remove it – these are easily replaced for less than the price of a small coffee.


The Handle

You might not think that a handle would make much of a difference but trust me – it does. The ribbed handle has four ridges on the top and three on the bottom. This allows the spoon and fork to interconnect and stay together. There isn’t a click when you press them together but the ridges – most of the time – help to keep the two utensils attached to eat other. The nice part about the ridges is that they are free flowing which means you won’t have to worry about water getting trapped in the bottom portion of the ridge. Some other spoon and forks that have this type of ridge feature trap water in the base and you end up with water everywhere when you go to sort out your utensils.

The Spoon

Measuring six and a quarter inches in length, this spoon will stand up to a lot of use. Cereal, oatmeal, macaroni and cheese and soup are no match for this slick spoon. The edges of the spoon are seamless which means you won’t have to worry about a child getting a scratch on the lip or chin when using it. Even though this is a full sized spoon [about the same size as a standard teaspoon] all the kids that I’ve given this to have used it without any size issues. There is a nice deep well towards the back of the spoon so kids can get a nice sized scoop without having it spill everywhere.

These work great with hot or cold foods and since this is a high grade plastic you don’t have to worry about the spoon getting warped from the heat of soup or cooked cereal. Additionally these don’t absorb much heat so you don’t have to worry about them burning a childs mouth, tongue or lip. That was one of my biggest complaints about disposable flatware – expose it to heat and you run the risk of it bending, warping or causing a potentially dangerous situation. I’ve found that when I have to give my kids a liquid medicine they seem to take it a bit easier from one of these cool colored spoons than a plastic measuring cup or metal spoon.

The Fork

I don’t know about your kids but mine love to goof around at the dinner table – which most of the time results in someone getting accidentally poked with a fork. With this fork you don’t have to worry about any serious injuries since you are only dealing with three tines. The ends are rounded so there’s virtually no chance of it breaking the skin but you can still stab most food items. You might encounter a little trouble with some foods like raw vegetables, steak or cut up fruit sections [apples, pears etc]. For most foods that kids love [macaroni and cheese, fish sticks, french fries, tater tots etc] these forks are more than adequate.

Much like the spoon, the sides of the forks are seamless so even if you are introducing these to a small child you won’t have to worry about rough edges. Even children as young as a year old have used this spoon without any major issues and since they are strong you won’t have to worry about the tines getting weakened when they stab their food. As a precaution you should check the tines from time to time to make sure that there aren’t any small cracks. I’ve never had a tine break but if you anticipate this fork to get a lot of use it’s better to be safe than sorry.

On A Personal Note

Some of you may know of my neighbor Jane [the reformed soccer mom] that I mention from time to time in my reviews. Her son sustained some life threatening injuries almost a year ago and his road to recovery has been hard and time consuming. He basically had to re-learn everything from walking to feeding himself and everything in between. Jane had searched high and low for eating utensils that he could use by himself [with supervision] without the possibility of him hurting himself, biting into the fork or spoon or breaking it if he had a seizure. I picked up a few of these sets for her to try out and at first it seemed that he didn’t like the textured feel of the handle. Since he had a limited vocabulary at the time you really had to pay attention to his actions and reactions to see if something new was working or not.

After trying these for a few days he started to take to them and eventually refused to use anything else. He’s made great progress since then but he still asks for these with every meal. Jane made a cool chart on the wall with the different colored sets [blue, yellow, green, red] so he could have a better understanding of what day it was since his instant recall and short term memory are skills that still need constant attention.

So why did I bother to mention this? Well, every child is different and some require a bit more care and attention during mealtime. Since Jane’s son was, and still is, prone to seizures these are great to use instead of metal utensils or the disposable ones that could easily break or snap resulting in a very dangerous situation. The textured handle gives him the ability to hold on to the spoon or fork even if it gets wet or covered with food. For Jane this has been a real lifesaver since she no longer has to hover over him cleaning off the utensils.

The Bottom Line

I won’t lie. I use these a lot and not just when I am on the road or stopping off for a quick bite to eat. Sure I feel a little goofy whipping these out at a fast food restaurant but it’s better than the alternative that most places offer. More often than not when we don’t have a sit down dinner I am either doing laundry, on the computer or hanging out with the brood. With the constant threat of an animal strolling by and stealing my fork or spoon I’d rather have to sacrifice one of these than one from my kitchen set. You would be surprised where I’ve found spoons and forks – under the couch, in the couch, in the laundry and yes – in the animal litter. Sorry, once it goes there – it goes in the trash.

Seeing as these are inexpensive and come in a wide array of colors you can lose them without getting too upset. I’ve had the best luck finding these at Wal-Mart but they can also be found at selected Target stores, grocery stores and chain drug stores. These have a suggested retail price of .88 cents at Wal-Mart but I would suspect that they would be a little more at drug and grocery stores.


As always, thanks for the visit!

~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~

© 2004 Freak369



Other Arrow Plastic product reviews ...


Arrow Plastic Sippin' Safari Bowl
Arrow Plastic Pack-A-Snack
Arrow Plastic Primary 16 Ounce bowl
Arrow Plastic Anyware Sectional Tray
Arrow Plastic Anyware Cutlery Set
Arrow Plastic Trick Or Treat Tub
Arrow Plastic 7 1/2" Divided Plate with Cover
Arrow Plastic Halloween Sip-A-Mug


Recommended: Yes