Take an animal to dinner - What's New?

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), May, 2003

Once infants and toddlers reach the stage of eating solid foods, that seemingly triggers a battle between tot and parent to get the youngster to try unfamiliar dishes. Who among us doesn't remember being on both ends of the "Open your mouth and let in the choo-choo" ploy to get something past a child's clenched lips? One solution may be to make mealtime more like playtime. Now, thanks to the Pactiv Corporation, Lake Forest, Ill., that's possible.

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Hefty Zoo Pals paper plates are shaped like a wide variety of ultra-cute animals' heads. Each has a heavy duty coating that makes it soak-resistant and microwavable, able to stand up to almost any meal, and its presence on the table makes it more likely that kids will be willing to sit still while they eat everything on the plate to get at the face beneath. Ranging from alligator to zebra, with such varied creatures as bumblebees, dinosaurs, koalas, octopi, and snow owls in between, the depictions are amusing and educational. In fact, the company shrewdly suggests a number of games (such as playing Concentration with face-down plates) and arts-and-crafts projects (making masks) that will help use them up faster. Since these appealing plates can be found on most supermarket shelves for a mere $2.49 for a 24-plate package, you might as well indulge your tot. After all, would you rather have him or her playing with the food?