This Christmas, Norwegian children’s brand Stokke is helping to bring families closer together when sharing their festive meals.
Thankfully, this year Irish families can plan to meet and dine together without government restrictions when congregating in one another’s homes.
The only question is who will host the bumper family Christmas dinner? For those parents who invested in a Tripp Trapp chair from Stokke, the seating plan will be one issue they won’t need to stress about.
The ubiquitous nature of social media and the trend to create clever ‘hacks’ to solve common problems has seen novel ways shared online to extend a family’s dining capacity for Christmas. However, using garden furniture, ironing boards, and even taking a door off its hinges as a mock table-top, offer a somewhat questionable solution to seating a large family.
This year, sustainable Norwegian brand Stokke is keen to highlight the life-long use of their Tripp Trapp chair, from infancy to adulthood. Making it a practical solution to get everyone around the Christmas dinner table. Babies can enjoy the convivial nature of sharing a mealtime with the family at eye-level height by using the Tripp Trapp baby set accessory pack, while infants under 3-years can be seated right up to the edge of table with the baby rail in place.
Older children will enjoy the freedom of climbing on and off the chair with its anti-topple features, and since the chair has been tested for use up to 136kg, it’s the perfect solution for adults too. This isn’t a ‘hack’, simply use the supplied hex key to loosen the bolts down the side of the chair to allow the seat and the footrest to easily slide out, then swap the child seat baseplate with the footplate for a wider seat in adult use. The bolts are then tightened after the plates have been readjusted for comfortable and ergonomic seating.
“Christmas is such a joyous occasion where we all look forward to feasting together as a family. Of course, having your loved ones from near and far visit is wonderful, but it can present challenges to the host.”
“I love how the Tripp Trapp chairs from my own three children can still be used to seat both young and old. There are no highchairs in our house, the flexible nature of the Tripp Trapp chair means it is used at the dinner table, in the home office and at the homework desk in my children’s bedrooms. They’ve paid for themselves a few times over at this stage,” parenting expert, Laura Erskine, commented.
Making sure Christmas dinner is special for every member of the household, the award-winning Tripp Trapp chair has teamed up with Irish family-feeding expert, Siobhan Berry of Mummycooks.com to create some stress-free, make-ahead festive recipes for little ones including any fussy eaters.
“There’s no reason why little ones shouldn’t partake in all of the festive food fare on offer. My Brussels Sprout and Pea Purée can be mashed for older children, and when made using small sprouts and petit pois peas, the sweet taste makes it palatable for everyone. It’s actually the bigger sprouts that can make for a bitter taste for those exploring new vegetables.”
“My Christmas Gravy can also be enjoyed by the whole family, and it’s better for everyone too because of its low sodium levels. Commercial gravies tend to be high in salt and are unsuitable for little ones. The holiday season can also be made more baby-friendly with my Seasonal Stuffing. It’s a great finger food recipe for your weaning tot and it tastes delicious dipped into our Baby Gravy.”
“The whole family will really enjoy baking my perfectly spiced, delicious Gingerbread Cookies for Santa or as a fun activity over the holidays. Little hands will love the sensory input from kneading the dough to rolling and cookie cutting. While the decoration of the cooled cookies can provide hours of entertainment and weaning babies from 12-months can enjoy their texture and flavour. When I make these with my girls, we make a small hole at the top of each cookie for a ribbon, and we hang a few on the Christmas tree,” family-feeding expert, Siobhan Berry, commented.
