Comments on: The Loopa Bowl

By: Sarah

Sarah — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 12:15:29 +0000

Jay – that’s a great idea. Should you ever be stranded in the car, that would come in really handy.

Maybe unclutterer will post something about what should be in a vehicle emergency kit.

By: Jay

Jay — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:57:29 +0000

My wife and I have a two children, ages 4 and 1. We have, among other things, a bin in the rear of the SUV filled with snacks (fruit leathers, granola-type bars, juice and milk boxes, Zip-Locs filled with cereal or dried fruit such as strawberries, etc.), all of which can last a long time without going bad. While these snacks are available to our children while they are away from the house, we do not allow our children to eat in the car.

It’s pretty simple: If you don’t mind cleaning up the inevitable mess, let your kids eat in the car. If you don’t want the mess, don’t let your kids eat in the car.

By: Alisa

Alisa — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 02:22:56 +0000

So you end up with snacks on the floor of your car….so what? Kids are messy. You can only organize so much in your life and I think this bowl is a solution looking for a problem. This bowl should be a part of your next Unitasker Wed. Also, if I gave it to my daughter, she’d find a way to dump the snack inside.

By: Beth

Beth — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 22:11:08 +0000

No experience in the child department here, but my 1 year old nephew uses this: http://www.onestepahead.com/ca.....uctId=6157

It seems to keep MOST of the cheerios off the floor, carseat, etc… It’s a buy it version of what Susan is describing.

By: Nora Rocket

Nora Rocket — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 17:30:44 +0000

@timgray: “ohh the inner one swivels, what happens if I push on that…oops everything spilled…Neat idea that misses the fact that toddlers do not do things logically.”

I think your example actually shows a perfect use of logic by your grandson: this swivels on its own with exciting results; perhaps I could make it swivel for exciting results! Six seconds from “it does” to “I can make it do” sounds pretty good to me. You may have a genius on your hands

By: annasmom07

annasmom07 — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:16:04 +0000

I have a Snack Trap, which is similar to the idea Susan posted. Unfortunately, my daughter tends to shake it to hear it make noise (she’s very much into percussion!), and the goodies slip through the slits in the lid. Sigh.

By: Jennie

Jennie — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 00:25:40 +0000

You know, I’d say to just use a bag instead of a dish of any kind to put Cheerios in (in transit), but I’ve had that argument with my own children. They insist on using a bowl!

By: Susan

Susan — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 21:43:16 +0000

Relax folks.
Cheerios, goldfish, tofu….as a Public health specialist, I am going to tell you that ALL of those are perfectly fine for toddlers, and a good way to distract them during car trips.
Little tummies only hold a little, and they empty fast. Sugar-free snacks that kid the little one occupied, sated and happy are both healthy for nutrition and for keeping the parent safely focused on the road.

And FYI- I just use an exacto knife to cut an “x” in the top of an old margarine tub, round the edged so they don’t snag little fingers and put the cheerios in that!
As long as you keep the edged smooth and close together, the kid can stick their hand in there, pull out the small snack and if it gets tossed or tumped, very few bits escape.
Add a towel with strategically cut holes for hardware under the car seat and a small inquisitive dog that likes to burrow under said car seat for scraps…and you’re all set!
But then, I’m lazy and hate using the vacuum at the car wash…

By: Peter (a different one)

Peter (a different one) — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 18:45:51 +0000

I think I’ll stick with the ziploc sandwich bags and cheerios and/or goldfish crackers. I like snacks that can be easily vacuumed. The Loopa, while very cool, looks rather large for just holding a snack.

By: C

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 18:23:46 +0000

People who think children (toddlers, babies) don’t need to eat in the car clearly don’t have children (or they have ones that only sleep in the car!)

Though I do agree that anything that’s hard to clean is no good for a busy parent.

By: Martha

Martha — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 17:14:30 +0000

Oh please, this should be a part of your Unitasker Wednesday. I have three children, none now the age of needing this product, but never had that much trouble keeping my car or home relatively clean. Besides, dry food is not the problem. It’s sticky, wet messes that are a pain to clean. It’s a part of life that kids make messes, why get worked up about it?
Actually the best way to treat edible spills is to have a dog. It’s always worked well for us!

By: Adrienne

Adrienne — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 16:52:37 +0000

I see no reason why a child has to be eating in the car. It might mean you need to simplyfy your life so that you are not in the car so much.

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 16:47:52 +0000

Crap flash website defeating the point of the web with no deep links and impossible to view on a less-than-17″ screen. Boo.

By: Sue

Sue — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 15:44:19 +0000

Cheerios are a snack, not a tool to offset boredom. They also allow toddlers to practice their pincer technique and learn to coordinate hand movements. Ana, you can also put tofu cubes in there, if you like.

By: KevinS

KevinS — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 15:39:33 +0000

Ana – try not being so judgmental. Children (and adults!) need healthy snacks throughout the day. Are there healthier snacks than cheerios? Sure, but I’d hardly consider it junk food. We give our daughter snacks like this pretty regularly, too. It helps get some grains in her diet (since most sit-down meals for us are veggies and some meat) and gives her good practice using her new chompers.