Ad hoc “wing” handles built-in to Tetra-Brik juice boxes (from: Baby Zone)
As long as we were just talking about how Tetra Brik side flaps are sometimes compared to ears or wings, consider this latent function for Tetra Brik side flaps: hidden handles.
Parents of toddlers have long noted a problem with this type of juice box. In the hands of young children the container is often squeezed too hard and the contents squirt out the straw like a geyser.
One solution that is practically an internet meme, is the idea of using the container’s side flaps as integral handles.
1. As Baby Zone (whose butterfly-wings/juice-box photo is shown above) puts it…
“This popular internet hack stops your kids from squirting juice everywhere by teaching them to lift their juice boxes with the side flaps!”
This same tip has been repeated on many websites, further highlighting both a drawback to the Tetra Brik juice box’s design, and a secret, built-in solution to the problem.
(See 8 more examples, after the fold…)
2. From Brady Lou Project Guru “Tuesday Tip: No More Drink box Spills”…
To solve this rather annoying problem, just flip up the tabs on the juice box and teach your kiddo to grab them instead of the box. My 3 year old Rylan caught on right away so no more spills for me!
…Rylan calls the flaps “ears”
3. From and babies don’t keep “Toddler Tip” on how to avoid juicebox spills…
Grab a juicebox. Turn it to the side. See that flap? Lift it. Then lift the other side. It should look like your juicebox has wings. Now hand it to your toddler by the wings. Instruct him or her to hold the wings. You can call them dragon wings or butterfly wings or just juicebox flaps, depending on what your kid will get into.
4. From That’s Country Living! a “simple, no-mess juice box trick”…
There are few things that I hate more than handing a juice box drink to Lily Bean because I know that no matter how careful I tell her to be, the juice will end up squeezed all over everything. Herself, the dog, the rug…
So here’s the trick to mess-free juice boxes. Ready?
Fold up the little flaps on each side of the juice box. Have your kiddo pinch the flaps to hold the juice – voila!
5. From CampClem “Solving the Juice Box Squirt Dilemma {Hot Tip}”…
The bane of many a preschool mama’s existence… what, do the makers get some sick, twisted pleasure out of spring-loading those little boxes to squirt sticky apple juice old-faithful-style the moment my preschooler grabs hold?
There is a solution. A built-in, fast, easy solution: THE FLAPS. Simply fold up the flaps at the top sides of the box and have your preschooler hold his drink by the flaps. Voila! No more juice box geysers!
6. From While wearing heels “Two Tip Tuesday” (coincidentally featuring the same brand of apple juice as shown in #5)
Want to avoid the spills that come from squeezing a full juice box? Lift the flaps on the side of the juice box. Instruct your child to hold the juice box by its ears. You’ll have no more spills resulting from squeezing.
7. From Food, Fam, Crafts, Fun “Juice Box Trick: No More Squeeze Messes”…
Unfold the flaps of a juice box so little ones can use the flaps as handles. No more squeezing out the juice!
8. From advocarecourtney “Hold Your Wings”…
I honestly don’t remember where I first saw this idea to give credit. It’s certainly not my own, but good to share. I’m out eating lunch with the babies and got a strange look because I’m reminding them to “hold their wings”. Hate when there’s a mess with a juice box and they launch juice out of the straw by squeezing too hard? Maybe that’s just my OCD kicking in. But fold out the top two flaps on the side. Teach them to hold the wings. No mess.
9. From {Junk in their Trunk} “Juice Box with Wings!”…
I was seriously to the point where I refused to buy juice boxes. It didn’t matter how carefully I explained the correct way to hold the juice box. “Just hold right here at the top like Mommy.”
Then BAM… their little chubby hands grab it and juice comes streaming out! Well, a friend was over recently and I brought out juice boxes (it was a special occasion so I had splurged). I overhear her say something to her daughter about holding the wings. “Say what??”
She then proceeded to present the most genius idea I had heard of! Pull the tabs out at the top of the juice box like this. Then tell your child to hold their juice box by its wings!!
It may seem like an awkward and not very ergonomic way to hold a juice box. The flaps only exist as an artifact of the Tetra Brik® manufacturing process.
Tetra Pak certainly did not design the flaps to be used as hidden handles.
That so many toddlers are willing to delicately pinch the flaps of a juice box by their fingertips is a testament to their cooperative spirit.
The take away for packaging design?
However, counter-intuitive this idea may seem —using the small triangular flaps as handles— people are already doing it. It’s a thing.
How smart would it be for some juice company to claim the idea as a product feature?
As long as kids are already being asked to hold the juice box by its wings, why not go ahead and make the package design specifically zoomorphic? (as suggested by, say, Mats Ottdal’s 2010 “Birdy Juice” concept)
See also: 10 Videos of Babies Unpacking Groceries
Great point regarding updating the packages to have actual handles. I’d definitely buy those juice boxes:) And nice roundup of all the “hidden handle” posts out there. Here’s one more for the list – a hint I just put together on four juice box hacks, which includes a link to your post above:) http://hintmama.com/2014/10/27/4-juice-box-hacks/
In Japan, there are juice box holders that can be purchased from 100 yen shops (dollar store) that prevent the spills. The holders have handles for the child to hold onto. When they are done, the holder can be folded flat for storage.
An example of a juice box holder http://100yenshopping.com/daiso-folding-drink-box-holder/
When I was a kid I used those as toys. I’d put them all the way up and then squeeze the juice box so it could stay up but of course I didn’t do that while it was open!
Love it