Mythical small snack containers???

March 29, 2015 3:07 PM

I am looking for small, sturdy, totally leak-proof containers, both half cup and one cup volume.

They have to be easy to open for small kids, I like to pack yogurt for their lunch. I only need 1/2 cup and 1 cup sizes, I do not want to purchase a large assortment of additional sizes. Snapware lids have all broken too quickly.

posted by gryphonlover to Food & Drink (9 answers total)

Best answer: Lock & Lock are easy to open and close but also stay sealed. They're similar in construction to Snapware but way less shitty. I have containers that are years old and still doing great.

They have several sizes in the range you're looking for and you can buy them individually.
posted by phunniemee at 3:22 PM on March 29, 2015 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Lock & Lock get my vote, too. We have some that are about 6 years old and still work beautifully. My kids have used them to take yogurt, fruit (in juice), and other snacks to school, starting at age 4 (for my youngest). They're durable as all get-out. They also get bonus points for the fact that the seals can be easily removed and washed - so any goopy stuff that my kids manage to get into the seal area while wildly shaking their yogurt can be fully cleaned out.
posted by VioletU at 3:32 PM on March 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

Mom here. I struggled with the same needs for my child and had enormous success with half-pint wide-mouth mason jars, like this. Easy enough for small children to open and close. Wide mouth so they can stick their spoon or fork in there. Easily washable. Don't let the glass scare you -- it's thick and very sturdy. I have been using these with Kid BlahLaLa since kindergarten (he's in 6th now) and the only time he's ever broken one -- around 5th grade -- I asked him what happened and he said it was when he was hurling his lunchbox full force, repeatedly, across the schoolyard. (I told him to knock it off.)

Seriously, try these. The glass will last forever and every year or two you can get a new set of lids when the old ones get banged up or rusty. I use them for school, camp, for car snacks, whatever.
posted by BlahLaLa at 3:58 PM on March 29, 2015 [5 favorites]

These twist-lid containers come in various sizes. Canning jars are great, but my kids aren't allowed to bring glass to school.
posted by metasarah at 4:18 PM on March 29, 2015

Response by poster: Thanks for the recommendations, they look perfect. For the glass jars, we've found reusable plastic screw lids that work great for around the house. My kids (and myself) are waaaay to clumsy for glass on the go, bummer.
posted by gryphonlover at 4:19 PM on March 29, 2015

nthing Lock & Lock. Just bought a stack of little ones online, and they're well-built and durable. It's a pity that cheaper knockoffs of their design now occupy the shelves, making them harder to find in stores.
posted by holgate at 4:28 PM on March 29, 2015

We have some Lock-and-Lock and also some plastic containers sold as "freezer jam" jars. We find the round jars a little nicer to clean, and the locking containers a little nicer to open. They come in multiple sizes, though I'm not sure if they're interchangeable.
posted by tchemgrrl at 4:51 PM on March 29, 2015

I use these in my toddler's lunch (and mine sometimes): Kids Konserve Stainless Steel Containers with Leak-Proof Lids. They're great, have perfect sizes, and never leak.
posted by JenMarie at 5:18 PM on March 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

If stainless steel is your thing:
Stainless Steel Airtight Food Containers, available online at Life Without Plastic
(What a frightening notion)
Smaller sizes are:
8.5 X 4.5 cm (3 3/8" X 1 3/4"), 182 ml (6.2 fl. oz.)
10.3 X 5.6 cm (4 1/16" X 2 1/4"), 400 ml (13.5 fl. oz)

They're built like small tanks, and passed my "carry water around in my bag for a day" test with flying colors. It's your basic gasketed seal, but they work well because of the precise tolerances and heavy-duty closure mechanisms.
posted by Jack Karaoke at 8:25 PM on March 29, 2015 [1 favorite]