I purchased the Munchie Mug from an online retailer for approximately $16. This snack cup is designed to help prevent spills and messes when your toddler is carrying around a cup filled with finger foods (like blueberries, cereal or snack puffs).
The Munchie Mug is made in the U.S.A. and is free of BPA and phthalates, making it a safer, non-toxic plastic for foods.
Components and Design
The Munchie Mug has three components. There is the large mug section, which is simply a plastic cup (no handles). This section holds the snacks. It is made from a fairly durable plastic with a picture of an underwater scene with fish printed around the surface of the cup. The cup is available in three accent colors: blue, green or yellow.
The main component of the Munchie Mug is the screw-on lid. Rather than having a solid top, there are two overlapping pieces of stretchy fabric stretched across the top of the lid. This allows your child to push their hand between the pieces of fabric, grab a handful of snack in a fist, and then pull his/her fist out of the mug (after which the pieces of fabric snap back into place, completely covering the opening of the mug). The purpose of this fabric is to prevent snacks from spilling everywhere whenever your toddler grabs a handful of food. In addition, there’s a tall edge around the entire lid, which helps contains any messes. This edge also has a hole, so you can strap the Munchie Mug to a stroller or car seat with a toy tether, too. This screw-on lid fits tightly onto the cup component of the Munchie Mug.
The final component of the Munchie Mug is another screw-on lid. This is a traditional solid lid, however, and is designed to help keep the snack fresh whenever the Munchie Mug is not in use by your child.
Quality and Performance
The overall quality of the Munchie Mug is pretty good, especially considering it’s essentially a plastic cup with a few pieces of stretchy fabric. The Munchie Mug is dishwasher safe on the top rack. I washed it numerous times and saw no decline in the mug’s function. Although the fish print began to fade after a few washings, the mug remained serviceable without any scratches or chips. Despite regular use, I did not notice any snags or stretching in the fabric screw-on top.
When my child was about a year old, I first introduced her to the Munchie Mug. Once she learned how to retrieve snacks by pushing her hand through the fabric, she would happily carry the mug around the house. Previous “snack cups” I’d used usually meant she’d leave a trail of cereal throughout every room in my home. Although she’d lose a couple of cereal Os occasionally, the Munchie Mug definitely created less of a mess than other snack cups.
I often use an umbrella stroller that doesn’t have a snack tray, so I tether the Munchie Mug to the stroller so my child can have snacks on-the-go. This works exceptionally well. My child has snacks at hand, they stay attached to the stroller, and if the mug gets dropped or thrown the snacks stay contained. I love the Munchie Mug when I combine it with my umbrella stroller.
My Recommendation
I highly recommend the Munchie Mug to parents who want to contain their toddler’s snacks. It’s not a foolproof way to keep messes from occurring-odds are a stray bit of food will occasionally escape-but it works a lot better than most of the snack cups on today’s market.
