We use the ubiquitous Munchkin kid cups (http://www.munchkin.com/multi-cups) and just assign each kid a color for the day. They're far better at remembering their color than we are, so there's rarely an issue.

We use a cup with a lid so it doesn't spill when it goes back into the fridge!

The instant my son was old enough to be trusted with real glass, I ditched the plastic-ware (there is TOO MUCH primary colored plastic in my life!), but my system is even simpler: I just put a different colored rubber band* around each persons glass so they know which is theirs for the day.

*nice thick ones in different colors come on various produce from the grocery store. IIRC, purple is on organic broccoli, yellow is organic leafy greens, green from the cashier when they secure a deli container, etc.

Am I the only one that cares about germs and etc,? Or the possibility of flies and other things contaminating the cups/glasses? I'd rather wash extra cups as opposed to attending to a sick child.

I love MADE. She's so creative!

Man, if I had kids, they'd be drinking out of the garden hose all summer like we did! No extra dishes and they build up a tolerance to BPA or whatever the hell we were ingesting back then. Kids today are too soft with their "drinking cups" and "uncontaminated water."

But seriously? Just wash their cups.

Bad idea to put magnets on things that go into/near kids' mouths! Unlike BPA and other stuff that takes ages to damage you, a magnet in your stomach/intestine is going to make a big mess.

I have notoriously bad luck with hot glue guns when it comes to non-permeable objects staying glued to other non-permeable objects. I'd be worried about somebody (child or pet) swallowing the magnet that an unexpectedly clever/dextrous/determined child managed to pry off the cup.

If your kids get bored then can play quarters off of the refrigerator.

I saw this post and made these cups for my kids. Because they are "sticking out", everyone accidentally knock them off, and the plastic cup from Target didn't last long in our house. I didn't work for out household...

I agree with OUTERDOCK, BKHOMEBODY and FISHGREASE. The 1st thing I thought of when I read this post was the dirty handprints on both the cup/glass and refrigerator. Kids love dirt.
Yup, just clean them or even better..I like the 'drinking out of the hose' idea!

I immediately liked this imagine and how efficient it could be but not so sure about magnets on an eating/drinking object no matter how carefully adhered. So so dangerous if swallowed. We color code our cups as well.

Seriously, germs from not washing out the cups? Unless you are drinking a lot of juice and soda (bad idea anyway), it won't hurt kids to reuse their own cup over and over during the course of a day.

And as a mother of 4 kids who always has a large amount of empty, used cups laying around and me being the only one who does the dishes, I think this is a fantastic idea!
Thanks for sharing!

Yeah, the germophobia thing seems pretty silly (as always); as long as it is water and not juice/soda/milk, I think it is pretty wasteful, of time if not resources, to wash a minimally-dirty cup again and again. If it IS juice/soda/milk, any kid over 4 should be capable of giving a cup a quick rinse after using it before putting it back so that it doesn't get nasty/full of bugs, so maybe give your kid some credit and show them how to handle it.

I agree with others, though: color coding seems a lot more practical than this.

Seriously, stop with the germ fear. Kids NEED germs. It's how they develop a healthy immune system. I just read about a study where kids who have pets in their homes have fewer colds because of the germs they bring into the environment.

Great idea in theory - Probably gets lots of compliments when people see it - But those better be some seriously strong magnets to not get knocked off of the refrigerator by kids OR adults. Also, what if there's some drink left in the cup? Kind of defeats the purpose. How about color coded cups, and a tray in the kitchen to keep them corralled?
I like the rubber band around the glass idea.
Thanks for sharing the tip though, it's nice to know I'm not the only mom going a little nutzo from all the cups in the sink ;)

We do the one cup a day method. Maybe all kids don't go through 1000 cups a day, but mine will use every.single cup in the house in one day if I let her. She's 3.

This is why Europeans laugh at us.

First, read the tutorial before you post about the magnets ending up in tummies -- she said she tried hard to pry them off but couldn't. Second, your child using the same glass over and over throughout the course of the day isn't going to harm them germ-wise. And worrying about flies on the cups? Really? Why do you have flies in your house? And what other things do you think are floating around in the air that would contaminate the cups? Couldn't these same things be in your cabinets, where you presumably keep your cups? (FYI, the air in your kitchen is the same air in your cabinets... And yes, there is dust in cabinets too!!!) Also, wouldn't you be breathing in these same airborne contaminants? Maybe you wear face masks I guess...? I'm baffled by some of these comments.

A recent study showed that children who attend daycare and get sick on a regular basis (i.e. are exposed to GERMS!!!) are significantly less likely to develop asthma and allergies than children who don't attend daycare and aren't sick as often (i.e. lower exposure to germs). Developing a tolerance to germs is a GOOD thing. Although I'm still baffled why this applies here since the child would be using their own cup, not someone else's, thus only being exposed to their own germs.

I saw this at a pal's house and have since adapted it to my house, I made coasters with the kid's initials and they put their glass there when done. My pal used a cork board and drew rings on it for each family member's name/glass. Oh and as to the germs, I replace their cups when I see icky fingerprints and guess what, they hardly EVER are sick. The key is clean hands!

@Yonella - Bahahahaha. You win. :)

We just use a cup with a lid. She keeps it in her special spot on the counter and uses it all day. I'm not comfortable with magnets on her cup.

We used personal water bottles (either in different colors or with labels) when my siblings and I were growing up. I still do it since it keeps the number of drinking glasses to a minimum (they only come out during meal times) and I don't have to worry about forgetting which glass is mine. Anyway, you can make a rule about making it your child's responsibility to refill and/or clean his/her bottle.

Before the BPA scare, my mom would take us weekly to get Gatorade as a special treat. We each had to pick a different flavor so we'd have different colored labels. We would daily wash and reuse the same bottle in the fridge with the lid on for our waters which was all we were allowed to have other than at meal times.
I had a friend growing up whose mom was really green. Her mom would bring their sweet tea and cool-aid in old syrup containers and dawn dish soap bottles to the pool.

Kids can know which name or design is theirs on a cup and just have a designated 'home' spot for it in the kitchen. No need for magnets on cups. If the kids are serving themselves, might not hurt to use a marker & designate the portion level they're allowed per serving (eliminate full but barely sipped glasses).

What about plastic coated magnets? that would insulate it against whatever you'd think of.

I got tired of the build up of water glasses throughout the house from the adults in my house! I got a different colored glass for each person (here). Love the rubber band idea, too.

I can't help but laugh a person who uses 'fishgrease' as a user ID is afraid of germs.

Germs are GOOD for kids, and if they are using the same glass all day, what are they going to catch from themselves? If you are worried about the kids touching the glass with dirty hands, they would be doing that on a clean glass as well.

Didn;t work for us either....kept knocking the glasses off....i prefer designating a glass/place on our counter per person. Another good idea is to use chalkboard glass markers - just like the wineglass markers!!

Why not just use water bottles? I drink out of the same water bottle all day long at my computer, then put it by my bed at night.

i was tired of doing every single dish in the cabinet as well. so i packed everything up and everyone got one cup, one plate, one bowl, etc.it was amazing how easy it was to do the dishes after that. never a full sink.
the rest of the dishes were put away for when we had guests. best idea i ever implemented.