Evenflo Smart Steps

CanCan, 21 October 2009,
Categories: Eating, Reviews
Tags: Mom Most Traveled, review

My children are nearly 5 and 2-years-old. This week I have been spending my days as a substitute teacher in a 3-year-old class at a private school.
The personal highlight of my teaching day is snack time. I love to watch the little children sit at the big table together and eat the snacks that their parents packed for them.
I have made several observations from watching this herd of 3-year-olds:
-not all preschoolers can open and close the lid of a thermos.
-not all preschoolers can open snack food packaging.
-not all preschoolers can open and close Tupperware-type containers
-eating yogurt is a very messy endeavor.
-preschoolers don’t like it when their parents pack the same food every day (they told me so).
-some parents send the same container of raisins a zillion times, even though the child doesn’t eat it, ever!

Since Deeds is 2, he will be in this class as a three-year-old next August. I have been thinking about how I can help him to be independent at snack time next year.

I’m really excited about the products that Evenflo sent to me from their new SmartSteps line.

Developed in collaboration with top nutrition experts from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Smart Steps offers parents a simple solution to fostering lifelong healthy eating habits by providing products for each age and stage of a child’s eating development.

The Smart Steps are: Serving Myself, Knowing Portions, and Exploring Food.

I got to try two of the “Exploring Food” products: the Insulated Cup and the Discovery Spoons.

The Smart Steps Insulated Cup has a neat neoprene sleeve for insulation; after what I have seen this week, I think it would be a good choice to send in Deeds’s snack bag.

It keeps the drink cold, and teaches proper drinking habits with the soft spout. I like the colors, and the idea that Deeds won’t have to ask for help in taking any kind of lid off in order to get a drink. The Smart Steps Insulated Cup is BPA free and holds 14 ounces.

The Discovery Spoons are soft, shallow spoons the help little hands and texture-sensitive mouths navigate self-feeding and tasting new things.

I also got two products designed to help kids in the area of “Knowing Poritons,” the Snack Stackers and Magic Labels.

The Snack Stackers are a great idea; you can set proper, realistic portion sizes for your child’s snacks. When the child is ready to eat, the bowl attaches to the lid for stability. How clever!

Magic Labels can be used to label foods and portions, or write a note to your child or their care giver. The “magic” is that the label washes off with water. Cool!

The Evenflo website has some good tips on various child-rearing issues, such as Tips for Coping With Picky Eaters.

And? This link is a PDF of a printable coupon for your Evenflow SmartSteps purchase. There are two coupons; one for $1 off any one Smart Steps item, and the other for $3 off a purchase of two times. Both coupons expire 12/31/09

Happy shopping!

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Evenflo and received a sample to facilitate my candid review. In addition, Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

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