Welcome to Plastic-Free Kitchen Week on the Strategist, where we’ve been obsessively researching and testing plastic alternatives — for everything from appliances to cleaning supplies to cookware. For more, head to our Plastic-Free Kitchen Week hub.
It’s probably a good idea for all of us to stop using plastic in the kitchen, but it feels especially important for the youngest among us to avoid it wherever possible. While silicone is the material of choice in children’s dishware, I stopped using it when I noticed that silicone holds on to food odors, dish-soap flavor, and grease. But I still needed something durable in those early feeding days, as babies and toddlers notoriously love to throw, drop, and play with whatever is in front of them. My boys are 6 and 3 now and can thankfully handle ceramic, porcelain, and glass, but before they got to this point, I tried a lot of non-plastic options like bamboo, enamelware, and stainless steel, all of which can withstand an enthusiastic chuck and feel more hygienic, too. Here are some of my non-plastic favorites — including plates, bowls, cups, and utensils — plus recommendations from my fellow Strategist parents. (And for non-plastic food-storage containers, check out our roundups here and here.)
Non-plastic flatware for kids
Silicone is a popular choice among parents for baby’s first exploration of solids because it’s soft on tender gums and mouths, but over time, the silicone begins to take on the flavor of dish soap and whatever food it has touched. Still, I love the idea of using tiny silicone spoons for feeding baby their first mashed sweet potato, so I’m inclined to use it on the youngest eaters. (I would feel bad putting a cold, hard metal spoon in an infant’s mouth as their first introduction to solids.) As their palate expands to different types of foods, I would suggest switching to bamboo utensils, then eventually to stainless steel. (This unscented, fragrance-free dish soap can help with the soap-taste issue in silicone serveware.)
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I love the pointed tip of this leaf-shaped spoon and how flexible it is. It’s great for little hands, too.
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For when they’re slightly older, I like using these spoons that are sturdier and more substantial feeling in the hand. The longer handle is more comfortable for the grown-up who is feeding the baby, too.
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Bamboo is a safe, sustainable choice for kids’ tableware. Greta Caruso and Fanny Singer, the authors of the Green Spoon newsletter, recommend these bamboo feeding spoons “for the tiniest new diners: The handle is designed for parents, but the spoon is small enough for baby-size mouths.” They’re made without glues or lacquers and are finished with a plant-based food-grade oil.
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Singer and Caruso also recommend this fork-and-spoon set for when they begin to feed themselves. It has broad handles for easy gripping.
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The Green Spoon authors and I recommend these spoons from Avanchy if you’re looking for a stainless-steel option. They come with comfortable silicone handles and are the perfect length for when kids are 1 and older.
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I also bought this six-piece set that includes forks and spoons. They’re lightweight and inexpensive, and I’d never feel bad about sending them in a lunch box and not getting them back.
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Strategist senior writer Liza Corsillo uses this polished stainless-steel set from Munchkin that comes with a fork, spoon, and knife. You can also get it personalized with your child’s name.
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For a long time, this was my favorite set of utensils for my older kid before he graduated to normal cutlery, because it was longer and bigger than other toddler sets, but not too long. It came as part of a set (see below).
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Here’s a four-piece flatware set from Zwilling if you want something more formal. It’s made with polished 18/10 stainless steel (more durable than other types) and comes with a fork, knife, and big and small spoons.
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Strategist senior editor Jen Trolio calls this coffee spoon “the best non-kids kids’ spoon of all time.” She owns about a dozen of them, and the whole family uses it for “condiments, for eating stuff you want to savor like ice cream or panna cotta.” But for kids, “it’s just proportioned well, very well balanced and smooth, and easy to care for since it’s all stainless and dishwasher friendly.” Trolio notes that it’s ideal as a “dinner spoon” for ages 2 to between 4 and 5, and now that her daughters are older, they use it for dessert.
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My kids love (attempting to) use these metal training chopsticks.
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When they’ve gotten enough practice, they can graduate to these wooden Japanese chopsticks that Strategist senior editor Winnie Yang found.
Non-plastic cups for kids
Once children graduate from bottles and sippy cups, they can experiment with open-cup drinking with a bunch of different options. As with their first utensils, for the littlest drinkers, I would start with a soft silicone cup as long it’s only being used for water.
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The Ezpz Tiny Cup is adorably small and holds two ounces of liquid. It also has a weighted bottom that helps keep it upright.
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We used these petite, lightweight four-ounce stainless-steel cups from Ahimsa after the Ezpz, then moved on to the eight-ounce tumblers.
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Corsillo recommends this mini espresso cup made from enamel that her son loved playing with around 15 months. Now that he’s older, he uses it for drinking water and milk, too.
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Trolio first used these stainless-steel tumblers at a friend’s house. The ten-ounce capacity is ideal for thirstier kids, but she notes that they are easier to tip than glass because of how lightweight they are.
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Moving on to more grown-up options that also work for children, here’s a stoneware clay cup from East Fork that Yang’s kids use. They hold three ounces of liquid and are 2.7 inches tall — great for small hands.
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If you want to venture into glass territory, these Duralex glasses that Trolio, Corsillo, and I use are a good option. Made from tempered glass, they’re shatter- and chip-resistant and come in multiple sizes that are great for little ones and grown-ups alike. Younger kids can start with the shot glasses, then move on to the eight-ounce tumblers.
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Strategist deputy editor Simone Kitchens also recommends these stacking glasses from Toyo Sasaki that the whole family can use.
Non-plastic plates and bowls for kids
After realizing that food put on silicone plates began tasting like dish soap after a while, I started looking for non-porous, non-plastic dishes for my kids. Stainless steel is an easy choice for how lightweight and easy it is to maintain. Bamboo is another sustainable option, but you have to watch out for binders like melamine. And enamelware — steel coated with porcelain enamel — is yet another worry-free (and design-y) material to consider.
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I got this this divided stainless-steel plate from Avanchy for my younger son when he was beginning to feed himself. It comes with a silicone suction base that actually stays put, no matter how strong-willed your toddler might be. The downside is that it’s a little heavy, but it’s very durable, should your child figure out a way to detach it from the table.
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For older kids with bigger appetites, lightweight stainless-steel plates are a versatile option, though I admittedly don’t love the institutional look that it can give off. Ahimsa’s colorful stainless-steel sets, which I’ve been using since 2022, feel more fun, less lunch line. The brand’s cups, utensils, plates, and bowls are sturdy and dishwasher-safe, too. The rainbow effect is also appealing to kids, though sometimes I feel like it can make the food hard to see on the plate. It’s probably the tableware we use the most.
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I used a similar bamboo plate from Avanchy that isn’t available anymore. According to Munchkin, the bamboo used in its dishes is BPA- and melamine-free. This one comes with a suctioning silicone base.
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I picked up this Moomin enamelware bowl (and mug) at Salter House a couple of years ago. The deep bowl is great for yogurt and granola, and my kids like pretending that they’re drinking coffee out of the mug. Yang also likes enamelware mugs from Golden Rabbit.
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This enamelware set from Falcon comes with six small side plates and six tumblers. The 10.5-ounce tumblers are now my kids’ go-to water cups, and the side plates are perfect for slices of banana bread and other small-scale breakfast foods. One downside is that the rims can get chipped when the cups are accidentally dropped.
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Trolio recently stayed at a friend’s house, where their kids used this enamelware set. Durable and dishwasher safe, the cups, bowls, and plates have stainless-steel rims that Trolio says help with the durability issue.
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We use these small glass bowls from Corelle for everything from yogurt and rice to soup and ice cream. They’re made with tempered glass laminated into three layers, making them extremely durable despite how thin and lightweight the material is. They stack nicely, too.
More From This Series
- Ask the Strategist: Your Most Ultraspecific Plastic-Free-Kitchen Queries
- Welcome to Plastic-Free Kitchen Week
- Replace This With That: An Exhaustive List of Plastic-Free Kitchen Swaps
- Very Pleased With My Teflon-Free Ceramic Waffle-Maker
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