Tips for cooking safely with your children

You’ve probably met people who moved out of their parents’ house at 18 years old and still couldn’t fry an egg. That’s a shame, because children – especially when they’re young – absolutely love helping in the kitchen! As long as you do it safely, they can start at quite a young age, too. Here are our tips for cooking safely with your children.

What are the benefits of cooking with kids?

There are many good reasons to cook together with your children. It’s fun and your child also learns essential ‘life skills’. In the long term, your children become independent adults that can take good care of themselves.

For young children, it’s a fun way to develop their fine motor skills and stimulate their senses. By calling all the ingredients by their names out loud, you can teach your kids a lot: how certain things taste or what things look like before and after you bake them. Later, they can learn how to read a recipe or even use cooking to express their creativity.

One major benefit that can’t go unsaid – it’s been proven that children eat better if they have helped cook the meal. Especially if they’ve been involved in the process from the beginning! Let your child choose what you are going to eat and go to the supermarket together. A child will always be a child, but maybe they’re so proud of their meal that they finish their entire plate.

Tips for cooking safely with children

When you’re going to cook with children, safety is key.

• Always keep a close eye
• Be careful with hot pans, boiling water, burning gas burners and hot hobs
• No (proper) knives under the age of six
• Place your pan with the handle to the back, so your child can’t pull it off the stove
• Make sure your child is always standing or sitting firmly
• Prepare everything in advance, so you don’t have to turn your back on your kid

At what age can children learn to cook?

Your child can start cooking earlier than you think, but it’s important to do this with care. For example, your child can help you wash vegetables and stir from the age of two. The more often you cook together and teach your child how to do everything safely, the better you can assess what is safe and what they can and can’t do.

Teach your child how to cook by age

A baby won’t be able to help you in the kitchen yet, but will undoubtedly enjoy sitting close to you (at the kitchen island) to observe what you are doing. When it comes to what they can and can’t do, it depends a bit on your child and their age.

2-3 years

Once your child starts to develop some motor skills, from about two years old, they can help wash vegetables or fruit or tear lettuce. If that’s going well, they can also mix batter and dry ingredients. Let your child name and count the ingredients as an exercise to develop their speech and knowledge.

3-6 years

There are special children's knives that your child can use to help cut from the age of 3, without you having to worry about them hurting themselves. They can also cut herbs or remove the leaves and seeds from vegetables or herbs, help sieve flour, string fruit, vegetables or meat onto a stick for skewers and help with marinades and sauces.

6-8 years

From about six years old, your child can do a bit more. For example, they may slowly be able to help cut with a blunt knife or paring knife. Start with softer things, such as a banana, to get a feel for it. They can also help peel potatoes or other vegetables with a potato peeler. If your child can already read and count a little, you can teach them to read a recipe and have them weigh the ingredients on the kitchen scale.

8-12 years

If all goes well, you can gradually let your child do a bit more and let them cook more independently. From this point on, it’s a good idea to let them choose what they want to make themselves. Stay close by to keep an eye on things. At this stage, you can introduce your child to kitchen appliances such as the blender, mixer and food processor.  Pay close attention to the dangers of these types of appliances and show them how to use them safely.

13+ years

If your child has already gained experience in the kitchen, they should now be able to cook on their own. But if it is your child's first time in the kitchen, explain to them how everything works and stay nearby to answer questions.

Don’t get angry if something goes wrong. Your kid might lose confidence, and not want to or dare to cook anymore. It’s not the end of the world if something gets burnt, if they make a mess or if it doesn’t taste that good. We all had to learn at some point, and there’s no better way to learn than from trying and making mistakes. Try to be encouraging and don’t be shy on compliments.

Do you also want to cook safely together with your kids? With the BoosterMe, your child can sit safely on their Stokke Tripp Trapp chair at the kitchen island and help you out in the kitchen.