Best Plastic-Free Kids Utensils
Forks, spoons, and training cutlery for babies and toddlers.
Why plastic matters here
Utensils go in a child's mouth at every meal and get chewed, scraped against plates, dishwashered, and left in hot lunchboxes. Most "first utensils" are plastic, sometimes with a plastic-coated metal core that chips. Stainless and wood alternatives are cheap and easy - a low-effort, high-frequency swap.
What to look for
- Solid stainless steel is the simplest fully plastic-free choice - toddler-sized handles exist
- Silicone-tipped spoons are gentler on new gums but the tip is silicone, not plastic-free
- Avoid plastic-coated metal utensils - the coating chips into food over time
- Wood/bamboo utensils are plastic-free but need hand-washing and oiling
Our picks
A 5-piece set stamped from solid #304 stainless - handle, bowl, and tines all one piece of metal, with no plastic, no coating, no paint, and no silicone tip. Nothing to chip into food and nothing to wear out. Cheap, dishwasher-safe, and independently tested for lead and CPSIA / EN 14372 compliance. The simplest way to get a toddler off plastic utensils.
Avanchy is famous for silicone-handled spoons, but these training forks are the all-metal exception: handle and tines are one piece of 304 steel with no silicone grip, so they are genuinely plastic-free. Short toddler handle, rounded-but-usable tines. Pair with the Kiddobloom spoons for a zero-silicone set.
The 304-stainless bowl keeps plastic and coatings out of the food, while the soft silicone handle is easy for a baby's fist to grip and gentler than bare metal on early gums. The catch is right there in the handle: it is silicone, so this is silicone-only, not fully plastic-free - a fair trade for the youngest self-feeders, but reach for the all-steel picks if you avoid silicone.
Considered, but not picked
Popular options that look plastic-free but aren't — and why.
Munchkin Soft-Tip Infant Spoons
The archetypal "first spoon," and entirely BPA-free plastic - Munchkin's own listing describes them as flexible BPA- and phthalate-free plastic. A soft plastic tip is gentle on gums, but it is still 100% plastic in the food path, scraped against plates and left in hot lunchboxes, exactly the high-frequency exposure this category exists to avoid. A stainless bowl on a silicone handle does the same soft-feeding job without the plastic.
Nuby Spoons & Forks
Standard toddler utensils made of BPA-free plastic (Nuby also sells a SoftFlex silicone version). Same issue as any plastic utensil - the whole thing is plastic in the food path and abrades with use. Inexpensive, but the solid-stainless sets cost about the same and never chip.
Plastic-coated / painted metal kids cutlery
Character-themed kids' forks and spoons often have a metal core under a colored plastic or enamel coating on the handle (and sometimes the bowl). The coating chips with dishwashing and chewing and ends up in the food - the exact failure mode we warn about. If you want metal, buy it bare (Kiddobloom, Avanchy steel), not painted or plastic-dipped.
Related: Kids Plates & Bowls · Lunch Boxes