If you are a parent of young kids, you’ve heard these dreaded words before. They strike fear into your soul and make you question all that you know. And upon hearing them, you fall to your knees and clutch your head in your trembling hands and ask, “Why ME?!” At least that’s a highly exaggerated response that I imagine when thinking back to when my daughter said “I don’t like sandwiches any more.” As the person that packs lunches the night before in the little free time I have between dinner, snack, and bedtime, I need to be quick and efficient with my packing. I’m slinging crackers and cheese into lunchboxes. I’m slicing strawberries as fast as I can and delicately placing the slices into a small Tupperware. And sandwiches can be made in assembly line efficiency with precise strokes of peanut butter and jelly before final assembly. So why does my daughter have to throw a wrench in the plans and what can I do about it? I could just make her the sandwich anyways. She will eat it if she’s hungry enough, and honestly, sometimes that’s what she gets. But at the same time, I also like to give my children a chance to experience variety and learn what they do and don’t like. So that’s when the brilliant idea struck me. Why not get her a Thermos?? Something that has been relied on for decades to keep meals piping hot for lunchtime can surely work for kids too, right? Well, I polled some of my older cousins and they gave me some tips and tricks of the trade, and I invested in 3 brand new Thermos Funtainer 10 ounce insulated kids food jars thinking that once again, I would be on top of my game. So let’s see how things went:
Design:
The design of the Thermos Funtainer is fantastic. It is not too big, measuring in at 3.5” in diameter and 5.3” in length. As evidenced by the name, it holds up to 10 ounces of food. This allows it to easily fit into a lunchbox and still make room for a water bottle, napkin, and additional snacks. The lid features a very handy folding spoon that can be removed and used to help eat the hopefully piping hot contents of the Thermos when lunchtime arrives. The fact that this spoon integrates so nicely into the lid is one of the features that drew me to this particular insulated kids food jar in the first place. And I gotta tell you, it feels pretty sturdy and is sized correctly for the container. Now it won’t stand the abuse that Jason’s sporks have received, but it won’t snap in two when your kid gets a little too enthusiastic with their lunch either.
I also like that the Funtainer comes in lots of different designs/colors. This makes it easy to prep different meals for different kids and not get it all mixed up. The thermos even comes with a label that you can fill in with your kid’s name and stick on the side of it.
Durability:
The body of the Thermos Funtainer is made of stainless steel and the lid is thick plastic. Nothing feels cheap on this, even the spoon like I mentioned before. My kids have dropped these all over the place with no major damage to speak of. Sure, drop it just perfectly and you can dent it, but this thing just feels like a tank.
Piping hot meals?
Now let’s get to the point where I’m a little disappointed. Maybe my expectations going into things that are not quite realistic, but it’s not that easy of a school lunch option for our family. Everything that I have read and heard from talking to others, is that you need to pre-warm the Thermos Funtainer first. That totally makes sense, but adds time because you need to first boil water, which takes a few extra minutes even with an electric kettle. Since my wife does mornings in our household, that’s just one more job that slows down the morning routine. Furthermore, this only seems to work if you then completely fill the thermos with some piping hot soup or other dense meal like spaghetti after the pre-warming step. I tried throwing some cooked chicken nuggets in the Thermos Funtainer (pre-heated with boiling water), but my son said they were pretty much cold a few hours later. I won’t hold this against Thermos too much, but it just doesn’t work for our family for school lunches.
Redemption
Aha! I hate wasting things!!! So what can I do with these Thermos Funtainers taking up space in our cabinet? One day this winter while preparing for a hike with the family, I had an idea: Hot chocolate to go! I wanted something that I could throw in my backpack without worrying about leaks. I knew just the piece of gear I needed… yep, you guessed it, the Funtainer.
I heated some milk on the stove, stirred in some hot chocolate mix, and poured it into 2 of the Thermos Funtainer Jars. I then tossed those into my backpack with a few small cups for the kids, and we were on our way. 30-40 minutes later, the kids were enjoying hot chocolate that was actually hot! Like hot enough that they needed to let it cool a while. We had some extra, so I just closed the Thermos back up and put it in the backpack. Another hour or so later, we arrived home. I pulled out the Thermos Funtainer and tasted the hot chocolate. It was still quite hot, which was a pleasant surprise. Now I had a use for these kids Thermos Funtainers: short winter day hike treats like hot chocolate or a meal like soup. How’s that for an extremely niche use of a product?
Rating: 3.5/5
I think this is a really good product, but I feel like it’s more trouble than it’s worth for most uses. It only gets very occasional use for us, so I can’t give it a glowingly positive review, but it’s well built and designed. Maybe it would work better for your family.
Pros:
- Sturdy design is rugged and durable
- Clever portable spoon stows nicely in the lid
- Good size for kid-sized meals
Cons:
- Requires a lot of effort to use for anything but hot beverages or soups
So there you have it. A decent product that we can now occasionally use for extremely niche purposes. Will I venture to send it to school with my kids again? Maybe, but only if I’m working from home that day and only if I’m sending them in with something super dense. If you have any experience with sending in hot lunches for your kids, what are your secrets? I would love to hear your tips and tricks for using insulated containers like the Thermos Funtainer for kids lunches.
Dad Likes Gear 