My children love to eat off of paper plates, especially when there is something fun to find under their food. In the case of Hefty Zoo Pals my girls love to find the animal looking back up at them.

The Basics
Hefty Zoo Pals are heavy-duty coated paper plates. Their overall oval shape is, 9” X 7 1/2”. There are a total of 3 compartments on each plate. The main compartment is a 6 1/2” round and then there are two small compartments, each 1 1/2” X 2 1/2”. Each plate has an animal design. The larger main compartment is used for the animal’s face and body while the two smaller compartments are generally decorated to look like feet or ears. The colors are all vibrant and the animals are reasonably accurate representations. Zoo Pal plates come 20 in a package and there are 60 or so different animals available at any given time.

Our Experience
I’ve been buying Hefty Zoo Pals for my children for nearly a year. At least I bought what I thought were Zoo Pals. I would pull a package off of the shelf and it would immediately go into a child’s outstretched hands. Quite honestly I never looked close enough at the packaging to realize that I was purchasing Dixie Krazy Kritters! However, a few weeks ago when my 3 year old reminded me in the grocery store that we were out of “her” plates for the first time I actually brought home genuine Hefty Zoo Pals.

There is no doubt that Zoo Pals are cute. The artists are clever with the way they are able to incorporate an animal into the fixed shape of these plates. The plates are sturdy for paper plates and I can cut with a sharp knife right on the surface and they never leak. It is a nice way for my girls to learn a few more animals while they eat their food. Designs include, rabbits, fish, dolphins, gorillas, tigers, pigs and peacocks.

The design of Heft Zoo Pals does not work as well for us as our usual Krazy Kritter plates. We use these plates primarily at lunch and my girls usually have a sandwich and some sort of fruit or vegetable. While the completely separate compartments are nice for holding ketchup and other dips, those tiny cups only hold about 1T of food. That does not make these small cups suitable for a side dish, just dips. The main compartment is just large enough to hold a sandwich, meaning I have to try and pile the side dish around the plate. Fortunately neither of my girls has a problem with different foods touch each other.

For us, these plates work better for snacks, like dipping fruit in yogurt or carrot sticks in dressing. Breakfasts of toast or bagels work out well or even French toast sticks with some syrup for dipping. Otherwise I don’t find these plates large enough for a full meal.

Final Thoughts
The plates are cute and durable but they don’t always work with the meal I have prepared. The plates are small, even for children and do not hold much food. We find that these plates are best for meals with only one food and dip as opposed to a meal with a main and side dish.



Recommended: No