Boon Snack Ball - Simple, but elegant, our kids fight over these little balls filled with goldfish or other snacks. I don’t put them in their lunches though, for fear of losing them in the crowd. The ball breaks in half for easy cleaning, but the orange (or pink) top also swivels open for easy open closed for snacks. $6 from Amazon and BabiesRUs.

We see a lot of baby gadgets, and mostly my wife points to the door and says, “out with them.” Though there are tons of things that dad might think are cool, moms seems to have a very practical sense when it comes to the big category known as gadgets. That is not to say they can’t be wildly impractical when it comes to over-priced linens and diaper bags, but that is another story.

In our house, however, the Combi Chop Stick Trainer was a hit, perhaps because my wife is Korean-American, but also because it does not attempt to do something for a child, but is actually a teaching aid to teach the child to eventually use the chopsticks in the correct way. And, dads incompetent at the local Chinese restaurant, might benefit from a little practice with them as well.

I love the added note Combi adds to their products: “Time spent with your baby is irreplaceable and we want to make it precious.” Well said.

We really like pop molds. They are great way to give the kids an ice cream-like snack, while letting us modulate the sugar intake. And, we make our home-made popsicles out of regular juices and yogurts, so it’s cheaper and greener since there is no extra packaging, say nothing to preservative my kids definitely don’t need.

Previously, we’ve said we like SiliconeZone Popsicle Mold. It makes popsicles in a cool castle-like shape. But, here’s another idea I like even more: Cuisipro Sailboat Pop Mold . Not only does it create a cute-looking popsicle that looks like a sailboat with its keel as a popsicle stick, but the deck of the “boat” also collects the inevitable drips. Only drawback is that these are plastic where we now prefer silicone.

Another simple product for catching ice cream and popsicle drips is the Dripstick for only $3.99.