#25 - Dabbldoo Review: Food Play Tools Done Better

***This podcast/post contains affiliate links. I may receive a commission if you purchase one of the products. However this is my honest review and option of the product.

Welcome to Episode #25 of the Food Explorers Podcast. I am recording this episode right after J.R. and I got back from our amazing 2 week trip to Europe. Thank you for hanging in there with me throughout those 2 weeks as my instagram (@DrSamGoldman) was pretty quiet. 

It gave me so much time to reflect and think about where I want to go with @DrSamGoldman, and I really have a lot of fun stuff coming for you - especially next month. Stayed tuned for an exciting announcement the first or second week of June, I’m doing something I haven’t done before and I’m SO nervous and excited about it. 

Ok…on to the point of this episode. I’m adding something new into our podcasts. Every once in a while I’ll now be doing a product review.
 

As you know, I am an occupational therapist by training (I don’t offer any therapy within this business), but I am an OT, so I am constantly on the lookout for really good feeding and developmental toys and supportive products.

 

And shopping for them is one of my favorite things to do, especially when friends and family have kids. So I would really love to share with you the products I love, and some that I don’t, so you can be more informed when making a purchase. 

And first up is Dabbldoo. Ok, so spoiler alert & disclaimer. I loved this product so much I did join them as an affiliate. So if you make a purchase using any of my links in the show notes, on my website, or on instagram, I may receive a commission.

But, what’s really important for you to know. Is that I really take what I recommend and share to you seriously. So being an affiliate is new to me, and I have made a promise to you and myself to only become an affiliate for products I love, have used, and can truly support. 

So what is Dabbldoo? Dabbldoo is a relatively new company created by a registered dietician, that has created a way better food pick and food brush for kids.

Ellie, the owner, was so gracious to reach out to me and offer to gift me a set to try on my own. It’s actually really funny because I had seen her products pop up on my Instagram a couple weeks before, and was personally thinking about purchasing a set to try because they stood out to me. So I have tested this, played with them, and brought them over to my niece and nephew to see what they thought. They loved them so much, I had to buy them their own set.

Before we talk about why these are better let’s talk about…

 why food tools are helpful for children, especially children with feeding challenges.

1. Kid’s main job in life is to play: And research has shown that play even helps improve learning and motivation. When a child struggles to eat, they usually want to stay as far away from that food as possible. But when you make it fun, it can help them overcome that hurdle and be motivated to start interacting and learning about a new food.
   
   
2. They allow for smaller bites: Many children get overwhelmed when it comes to the serving size of food. When you use a food pick, you’re usually just putting one smaller piece onto the pick, which makes eating it way more approachable.
   
   
3. They’re motivating: It’s fun to change it up and try something new. Especially when a child has been struggling to eat, the table becomes a place they want to avoid. Offering something different and new can reset the mood at the table.

How is Dabbldoo is doing food tools better?

1. Safety: One of the things I worry most about when using food picks with kids is the tiny size and break-ability. My primary concern is always safety. You can’t really use many food picks with smaller kids because you are worried they are going to swallow them. Ellie has made these food picks longer and extremely durable, with more rounded edges at the point so that they are less likely to hurt a child. 
   
   
2. They’re adorable: I can’t ignore this. I am a fan of all things cute and fun, especially when it comes to mealtime. And these just take the cake. Each one is a different animal - one is a gecko, one is a snake, and the last is a chameleon. My niece and nephew immediately grabbed for these when they saw them, because they looked so fun. And each one has a name too, which really helped them better connect with the tools.
   
   
3. They’re ergonomically designed for kids: one reason many children dislike using utensils is that it requires a lot of fine motor skills that they may not have developed yet. This can be especially hard for children with sensory processing challenges who have a hard time connecting to their muscles. The Dabbldoo tools are designed so that even young children can easily grasp them. And these food picks actually do pick up food really easily. A lot of the time kids have a hard time stabbing the food on their own and give up or get deflated. My nephew was about 18 months at the time we tried this, and he was able to independently stab the food with the pick, which was pretty impressive. ***Disclaimer, per the website, the company recommends these products for kids aged 2+. 
   
   
4. One of them in a mini paintbrush: The paintbrush is totally innovative, it’s something I’ve never seen before, and it is the perfect way to start introducing new sauces or liquids in a fun way. So I’m really excited to now have this tool in my toolbox.
   
   
5. They’re dishwasher safe: who has time to wash all those tiny food picks by hand? The fact that you can just throw these into the dishwasher makes using these tools that much easier of a decision.

So overall, I really do love these. And that is my honest review and opinion. Again, I purchased a set for my niece and nephew because they were such a hit. I highly recommend that you check them out, because they can be a really fun addition to mealtime. 

And because I know you will immediately want ideas on what to do and how to play with them, I wanted to let you know that Ellie has an entire article on her website with 41 ideas of how to use the food brush. 

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE WEBSITE, AND then scroll all the way to the bottom to see Ellie’s article with ideas of how to use the food brush. And of course you know I will be sharing ideas over on my instagram @DrSamGoldman of how I love to use them. 

I hope you enjoyed our very first product review, I know I have enjoyed talking about it. And I’ll see you next time!

Resources: 

https://arxiv.org/pdf/1904.08993.pdf 

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ilkay-Ulutas/publication/319643814_Learning_with_Play_How_Play_Activities_Program_Improve_Pro-social_Behaviour_of_Six_Year_Old_Children/links/59bfabc4458515e9cfd51df3/Learning-with-Play-How-Play-Activities-Program-Improve-Pro-social-Behaviour-of-Six-Year-Old-Children.pdf 

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