What a delightful place setting for young kids! The best age range for this dining set is 18 months – 2+ years old. The colorful designs are whimsical and fun, making meals more exciting.
Dinnerware set
The 5-piece set comes with a large plate divided into sections. It’s a great design to help put lots of small portions onto the plate. It also comes with a really large, deep bowl. Most kids’ bowls are very small and shallow. This one will hold a large serving of soup or something messy that will stay inside the bowl. All parents like that! The set also comes with a fork and spoon. Both are easy to hold but not made for brand-new silverware users. These utensils work best for children over the age of 2. They are fairly big and have a nice handle that makes them easy to hold. The tines of the fork have a good ability to grab food without being too sharp. The spoon is bigger than most kids’ spoons and complements the bowl well. It helps with spill prevention in otherwise messy or liquid foods, like soup. The fifth piece of the set is a nice cup. It’s a good size for small hands to hold. It’s a very good cup for a child who is getting used to drinking out of a real cup. It holds a nice amount of liquid but isn’t cumbersome.
Add-on cups
In addition, Mary Blair has two other cups that can be purchased separately. We received a 2-piece baby sippy cup and a toddler mug that looks like a mini beer stein. The sippy cup is easy for a new cup user to hold. The liquid comes out easily. However, this cup is definitely not spill-proof. The holes on the top allow liquid to spill out. The bigger problem I encountered with this cup is that there is no way to attach the top to the bottom of the cup. The two pieces come apart. When turned over, the top comes off.
The mini beer stein is a cute design and is made of a double layer of plastic. In between the two layers, there is a liquid with floating pieces and glitter. It makes this cup fun to drink out of! But it’s a bit cumbersome because of the double layer—it makes the cup quite a bit bigger than the glass which comes with the 5-piece dinnerware set. Also, it’s not the most durable, as the handle fell off of the mug.
The bottom line
All in all, I think the dinnerware set is terrific. I would definitely buy additional designs. They are good for all meals of the day and wash well in the dishwasher. They are easy to clean and don’t retain any food or soap smells. I was not so impressed with the additional cups, as both had design issues that resulted in spilling. However, I am very pleased with the 5-piece dinner set and highly recommend it. I will buy more!