There is a company out there called Front of the House - they make a completely melamine and BPA free product. It is made of 100% bamboo. I found mine through a restuarant supply company. It is called platewise and drinkwise. I love mine.

Corelle plates & bowls are very nearly unbreakable (and I've done some serious spur of the moment, although unscientific, testing).

Ditto Corelle, it's very hard to break, microwave and dishwasher safe and made of glass, not plastic or melamine.

Third on Corelle! I pick them up at the local thrift store for $0.10 each and love my ecclectic collection.

Corelle. When it does break, I've never seen it outright shatter...just breaks into large pieces. My mom's dishes survived many many kids dropping them left and right.

Goodwill always has a bunch scattered amongst the dishes. Sometimes I'll see entire sets taped together.

What is melamine and what's the problem with it?

I would second the Correlle suggestion. My mom bought me a set for college years ago and after 4 years of dropping them, heavy use - I didn't have a single scratch on one. So they were passed on to my sister who also used them for 4 years. Now my baby sister is in her 3 year of using them. When it can stand up to college-kid abuse, I think it can stand up to a few outdoor picnics! :)

Correlle dishes are also pretty lightweight, so not so bad to carry and in and out of the house.

If you really want unbreakable, how about metal?

You could go with good old campware like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Coleman-12-Piece-Enamelware-Dining-Blue/dp/B0009PUSPS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1305146551&sr=8-1

Or invest in stainless like this:
http://www.amazon.com/LunchBots-Childrens-Stainless-Dish-Set/dp/B003KN27QO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1305146551&sr=8-3

Or I actually think these are kind of cute:
http://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Steel-6-Compartment-Mess-Tray/dp/B000UBBBEI/ref=sr_1_7?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1305146643&sr=1-7

Bentley cups and plates are unbreakable, not melamine, don't craze, dishwasher safe and last forever. I have some cups that were my grandmother's! http://bentleyboutique.com/

I've got a set of vintage aluminum camping plates. I think you could probably also use enameled steel/tin camping dishes, though I don't know if they are dishwasher safe.

Thank you - LOVE the Corelle idea - knew there had to be something. And I need to pick up some Duralex glasses anyway for around the baby.

just be mindful that as the article said, Corelle shatters into hundreds of pieces if it falls on tile--as we've suffered many times in our current house. I bought them when we lived in a house with linoleum kitchen floor and hard wood dining room floor. Good luck.

Seconding the enamel ware. I have 12 large plates and we use them all the time in the summer, and quite often the rest of the year. I love them!

Yes, they are dishwasher-safe.

Only downside is the enamel can chip, which sometimes leaves sharp edges (I just file it down). Also the steel can rust without the enamel. A few of mine are like that -- I call it "patina." :)

Ok - I'll have to think about Corelle shattering. We have a flagstone patio (with cracks of grass in between) so shattering into a hundred pieces would be a problem - especially if it happened near/in the pool. Will look into camping dishes as well.

These are all such great suggestions - thanks again

I love Corelle. Ever since I had my first child we've used Corelle dishware. Our dishes are 13 years old now and only one has broken, and even then it just split in half without any other chips. Clean down the middle.

The Corelle dishes have been dropped on tile, hardwood floors, even the concrete garage floor and they still look fantastic.

I have the melamine plates pictured above from PB and love them. Even though they say to use only the top rack, I've put them on both top and bottom dishwasher racks and haven't had any issues.

I loved the look of metal enamelware, but that chips really bad in the dishwasher (in my past experience).

We have a picnic nearly everyday and I always bring along my Coleman enamelware. It's definitely dishwasher safe. I went through this dilemma last year and tried both Corelle and enamelware- my kids shattered one of the Corelle bowls on our patio and it was impossible to find all of the pieces. If the dishes are for kids, one other idea might be to try the Ikea Kalas line of plastic kid dishes. They are dishwasher safe and BPA-free. Here's some info: http://mommyfootprint.com/bpa-free-or-bpa-in-ikea-products/
Good luck!

Corelle is really great, but if you buy new make sure to get the vitrelle version and not the livingware line which is not the strong tempered glass that is so difficult to break.

what are the plates in the picture, and where can I buy them?