Ultimate Guide to Kids Plates: Divided, Suction, Silicone, Stainless, & Mats

Buying the best kids plates can seem like a daunting task with all of the options on the market—but this guide is here to help you sort through the best toddler plates and baby plates so you can choose the best one. Included: Stainless steel, suction, divided plates, bamboo, plastic, and silicone plates.

Kids Plates

Once your child transitions from eating straight off of their highchair tray, giving them their own kids plate is a fun milestone. There are so many options to choose from now that you may not know where to start. We’ve tried so many kids plates and have our favorites to share with you today!

Best Baby and Toddler Plates with Suction

So here’s the deal with suction plates: Some stick to tables better than others and virtually all of them can be pulled off if a child tries hard enough. That said, we’ve found the ones by Bumkins to be really great at sticking to the table most of the time. They have an awesome assortment of designs including:

Bumkins Pooh Bear Suction Plate
Dinosaur Suction Plate
Unicorn Suction Plate
Silicone Grip Dish:This one comes in a variety of colors and is a nice $12.95)

P.S. You can use the code YUMMYTODDLERFOOD on their website for 18% off your order.

Best Suction Mats for Babies, Toddlers, and Kids

EZPZ is the leader among the suction mats and I’m pretty convinced that there’s the best suction placemat on the market. I like that they have two sizes to accommodate babies and toddlers and that their mats are available in a few fun and bright colors. If you want to use this on a highchair tray, opt for the oval mini mat.

ezpz Mini Mat – One-piece silicone placemat + plate
ezpz Happy Mat – One-Piece Silicone placemat + Plate
ezpz Mini Bowl – One-Piece Silicone placemat + Bowl
ezpz Happy Bowl – One-Piece Silicone placemat + Bowl

Best Divided Plates with Sections

When it comes to divided plates, which can be helpful for kids who like their food to be separated and for serving multiple foods on one plate—including ones that may have some liquid like applesauce—you’ll need to choose the material that you like. Here are my top picks for divided plates in the materials you’ll find them in.

Best Recycled Plastic Divided Plate: Replay Recycled. They stack for easy storage and are available in a ton of colors.
Best Silicone Section Plate: Kiddie Bites makes a great one that’s easy to clean–even when serving tomato sauce. This also gets my vote since it’s safer to put into the microwave. It also comes in clear and blue.
Best Bamboo Divided Plate: This Bobo & Boo plate has more sections than many other divided plates and it comes in a variety of pretty colors that will likely coordinate with your kitchen better than most other kids plates. I’ve found their plates to be super duper durable!
Best Stainless Steel Divided Plate: We’ve had this EcoLunchbox plate for 6 years and it still looks brand new. Points for super durability!

Best Bamboo Plates for Kids

I’m a big fan of the bamboo kids plates from Bobo & Boo because they are durable and available in such a lovely range of colors. We have the round toddler plates (photo 1 & 2), their bowls, and cups. They also make a divided plate (photo 3), a smaller snack bowl, and a set of 5 mealtime pieces (photo 4). We love to use them regularly and when we have friends over for meals.

Best Plastic Plates for Kids

Replay Recycled, which makes their kids tableware from recycled milk containers in the US, is our go-to for plastic plates for kids. They have divided plates and flat plates with walls (to help prevent spills) available in a huge variety of colors. After a few years, they may scratch slightly, but they are otherwise very durable and easy to wash.

Best Stainless Steel Plates for Kids

I’m a big fan of the divided stainless steel trays from Ecolunchbox. They are incredibly durable and easy to care for. They’re also easy to clean since sticky foods tend to wash right off.

Best Silicone Plates for Kids

We love these Kiddie Bites plates since they are easy to clean, even with foods like tomato sauce that can stain other plastic plates. They’re also a safer material for heating in the microwave and washing in the dishwasher. They are very resistant to scratches and have been very durable in our experience.

Best Personalized Plates for Kids

If you want to have custom tableware for your kids, I love the options from DYL Bug. We have two of their plates and while the plates are very large for a small child’s meal, they are super adorable!

Which kids plates can go into the microwave?

You want to avoid putting plastic into the microwave and wash it with a soft sponge or on the top rack in the dishwasher to keep it in good shape. Heat and scratches can break down the material and cause it to wind up in the food that’s served on the plate. You also want to avoid putting bamboo and stainless into the microwave.

The safest plan is to use either silicone or glass when heating food in the microwave and then transfer the food if needed to the child’s plate.

Which kids plates are dishwasher safe?

You’ll need to check the packaging on each individual plate, though most will say that they are dishwasher safe. I recommend using the top rack only if you want to put them through the dishwasher, though to keep kids plates in the best shape and avoid exposing them to super high heat (which can cause them to break down) I recommend washing them by hand.