by Joyce Slaton posted in Products & Prizes

Getting meals on the table when you have little children can be tough, very tough. They don't want to sit quietly in the other room playing -- they want to follow you right on into the kitchen with the fire and the knives and the 10 million ways to hurt themselves.
When you've got an infant, your best best is to set up the bouncer in a safe corner and give the baby some potato peels to play with. But as soon as your child's fine motor control develops to the point when he or she can grasp and use objects (somewhere around age 2 or 3), you have another option: child-size kitchen tools. There is no kid distractor that works better for the "I do it myself!" age than setting a child up at his own workstation with a job to do -- and with tools sized and adapted for a young child, so that he can safely chop, pour, and stir right alongside you. But don't shell out for a set of "play tools" -- dull plastic tools don't get the job done, and your child will soon want to steal your sharp, dangerous tools instead. Instead, search out real tools made of metal and wood that are small and safe. Stores that outfit Montessori classrooms, with their emphasis on real-world experiences, are often a good source. Here are 10 of our favorite kid-sized tools.

1. Wavy Chopper: Kids love to cut things, moms don't love handing a knife over. This wavy cutter is sharp enough to cut most fruits and vegetables, yet not so sharp they'll ...