Food picks....a little lunchtime pick-me-up.

 One tool I like to have in my Mommy lunchtime arsenal are these fancy little food picks.  I have several types--these were bought at the dollar store for a pack of 100.  You can find them near the toothpicks at pretty much any store, but party and dollar stores have especially fun ones.

I used them a lot packing Quinn's school lunch bento style, but now that she no longer eats at school, I still use them occasionally.  It seems like they come in handy when I am trying to introduce a new food to my kids--it's just more fun to eat them off a fun stick!  Also when they may be getting burnt out of a particular food but we have more to eat up (like the last time I bought a few too many kiwis and they all ripened in the same two days....)  Sometimes I put the food on the skewers for the kids, othertimes I may give them a plate of fingerfood and a pick and let them do their own stabbing.  :) 

I also like them to hold turkey roll ups (rolled up turkey lunchmeat) together and to make fruit kabobs that I then freeze for teething little boys. 

Obviously I don't give these to my kids without watching them closely, but even my 1 year old has learned to use them safely.   

Additionally they encourage great fine-motor skills as it takes great dexterity to poke small foods onto the picks!