I’ve carried Swiss Army knives for years – I have two in my purse right now. My daughter has been fascinated by those little knives, especially the one with the translucent green covers on my keychain. She’s been asking for her own knife since she could talk, but she had to wait until her middle school “graduation” to get one. If you have a toddler that’s fascinated with your pocket knife, you can give her one of her own that you know is safe. ThinkGeek has the Kids Swiss Army Knife. This is an official Victorinox toy with 6 plastic tools. There’s a spoon and fork (big enough to eat with), a saw blade and knife blade, a screwdriver/can opener that can pry apart plastic building blocks, a plastic magnifying glass, and there’s a small carabiner. The Kids Swiss Army Knife is $7.99. For ages 3-7.
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{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
very bad idea
Am I the only parent here that almost had a heart attack when I saw a little girl sticking a knife in her mouth…
Seriously, teaching kids to stick pocket knives in their mouth?
Would you rather have them stick a pocket knife in YOUR mouth?
Seriously, though — I agree. Not wise. Kind of like filling empty vodka bottles with water for the kids…
Hmmm… I like Swiss Army knives and have carried one for years. However, buying one of these for the grand kid with the Quaker, peace activist father would get my grandparent privileges revoked. I agree “very bad idea.”
My goodness! That picture looks so WRONG!
As cool at it might be…that’s just so wrong!
Safe against cuts or not, That is not safe practice. Kid now thinks it’s ok to put this in it’s mouth. Kid now find parents REAL knife. Results?
Like making a lifelike gun that shoots icecream out the barrel. What does the kid do with a real one?
Geez, I’m the most over-protective mother you’ll see, and I don’t have a problem with it. And Andrew Baker, they do make lots of toy guns for kids – some of them lifelike. This is really no different than the toy guns, toy bows and arrows, toy Bowie knives, toy hand cuffs, etc. you’ll find in every toy store.
Janet:
But 3 years old? 5 — maybe. 7, Yes, but THREE? I think THAT is the issue.
Think about it — would you serve your 3 year old water from a cleaned Clorox bottle? An adult (or even an older child) might find it amusing… but a 3 year old might find a REAL Clorox bottle and take a few sips…
Jhon, I never would have given my child water from a Clorox bottle, or a vodka bottle, or anything else mentioned. But then again, I never let my child chew on my car keys (a source of lead) either, which I see every time I leave the house. I didn’t let her play outside near the busy street unattended, I never left her unattended in the car while I ran in the store. Heck, I quit my job and stayed home with her after she came home from daycare with an unexplained bruise on her arm.
I just don’t see how this toy is so different from any other toy weapon.
Have any of you ever used a swiss army knife? Show me a 3 year old that can get one of those things open and I’ll eat crow.
And if your kid happens to get her hands on your open swiss army knife, Victorinox aren’t the ones doping something wrong
Daz:
I own a mutli-tool and swiss army knife.
I would give neither of them to my 3yo to play with, chew or even attempt to open. And if my 3yo happened to pick one of them up, I would take it away.
Nor would I give a look-alike. I think that would send mixed messages.
Janet:
If this thread (and me) appear to be attacking your parenting skills, I don’t think that’s intended — particularly not from me. I take issue with the minimum age for something like this. It makes me feel very uncomfortable giving something like this to a 3yo.
I wouldn’t give a 3yo a toy gun, either — not that I consider a swiss army knife the same type of “weapon” anyway.
But why?
Even if you can look past the safety issue as pointed out by numerous readers and go “blah, blah, blah…it’s a free country…let them call child protective services on me…from my cold dead hands…,” consider the cruelty of subjecting your child to a horrible utensil: a lump for a handle that barely fit an adult hand let alone a child hand; the imbalance of that lump in said hand as its main purpose is not the pleasure of the meal but to conceal the blade that’s crudely shape into something that the manufacturer think they can call a spoon.
Life is too short to eat with a cheap spoon, let alone a horrible one.
Meister Vu:
Heh… I never got past the “I wouldn’t use this because of ‘Y’” to even consider how PRACTICAL it is… Good point.
To those worrying about a little girl putting a knife (even a plastic one) in her mouth, she’s not she’s using the fork to eat.
She’s using the fork to eat with not the knife.Open your eye’s people it’s plastic!Has anyone ever gone camping?Idiots!!
Frank/Gary:
So give your real swiss army knife to your local 3 year old.
I’ll pass. But I thank you for the label of “Idiot”, Frank. It’s nice to know how you feel about those with differing opinions!
@frank and Gary
Its rude to call people names because you disagree…it would be like me calling you a moron who doesn’t know anything about infants and toddlers…I wouldn’t do that because it would be rude to call you a moron.
Here’s the deal, I’ll use small words ( not calling you a moron, you know):
Infants and toddlers stick everything in their mouths and noses…as well as other places.
This is why so many of them go to the ER every year.
Giving one a toy knife to stick in their mouth invites them to do the same when they find daddies real knife.
This happens with guns as well…how often do you here of kids getting hurt or killed when they find a real gun instead of a toy.
My daughter had one of these knives, and I told her to only use pretend food with it…because it is a pretend knife.
Over protective? Maybe…but who enjoys going to the ER?
everyone here who is saying its wrong..ITS NOT!!!!!! its a great idea. i wish i got my first knife at that age. i got my first at 9 and i still carry it with me today for protection. who knows maybe if the worst happened there could be a chance your child could get kidnapped (hopefully not!) wouldn’t you feel safer if they had a knife? buy this and teach them to stab!! it WILL help
everyone here is just an over-reactive parent except me :L
Chill out overprotective parents. The kid is using the fork blade on the knife. Do you not use sharp metal forks at home? Teach them that knives deserve respect and watch your kids instead of trolling the internet for comment sections and noone gets hurt. IT’S PLASTIC.
Avid outdoorsman and I just bought one for my 4 year old.
so did anybody realize she is using the fork attachment? i had utensil “swiss army knife” type thing for scouting. hmm. it’s kind of what it’s for…i actually, gasp!…stuck the fork attachment in my mouth MANY times. woa…scary.
Give me a break people, she has the fork in her mouth!
Wow, it’s a fork not a knife. This is where school shootings start. Over protective parents making rejects out of their kids.