When Is the Best Time To Start Teaching Kids How To Cook?

While the modern era of technology has made it so that you can basically live without cooking on your own, it’s still important to teach kids how to cook. Knowing how to prepare a meal for yourself can help you live on your own when you need to, and your child will need at least a basic grasp of cooking in order to move out of your home eventually. But cooking involves dangerous objects, sharp tools, and other hazards — when can they even begin? Here’s what you should know about cooking for kids.

WHEN SHOULD I TEACH MY KID TO COOK?

The short answer is around seven to nine years old. Kids at this age already have decent enough motor skills that they can work with tools and prepare basic meals. If you’ve ever seen an episode of MasterChef Junior, you’ll know that kids as young as eight years old can make stunning meals given enough practice. Of course, you don’t need to expect your child to be the next Gordon Ramsay in order for you to teach them how to cook early.

But it’s a little more complicated than, “Okay, you’re seven now, time to learn everything I know.” There are some cooking skills and practices that a child can safely learn, and there are others that you may want to either provide extra supervision over or wait until they become just a little older. Here are some of these skills.

Basic preparation — Seven years old

At around seven years old, your child should be old enough to prepare food in a way that doesn’t involve sharp objects. In other words, they can mix ingredients, sift them, and do other simple preparative actions. These activities are a great way to bond with your child, too, so you can start teaching them recipes even if they don’t know how to prepare them from start to finish just yet.

It’s at around this age where you may want to introduce a kids cookbook to them of some kind. Kids cookbooks tend to have simpler wording in comparison to the difficult jargon that you sometimes find in adult cookbooks. This makes it easier for them to learn recipes on their own.

Cooking — Eight years old

At around eight years or so of age, you can start introducing them to basic cooking techniques. You can show them how to stir-fry, bake, boil, and more. These procedures do involve heat, so you need to be sure you’re always supervising them while they do it. It’s also around this time when you should teach them the hazards of leaving the stove on and how accidents can occur if you leave the oven or stove unattended.

Using sharp tools – Nine years old and up

Using a knife for the first time can be a scary experience, and it’s very possible that your child will cut themselves in the process. That’s why you want to wait a bit before they start learning how to cut, chop, mince, and so on. It’s important that you teach your child how to safely use sharp tools such as knives, scissors, and peelers so that they know how to use them while minimizing any risk of injury. Guide them through every step of the way and be prepared for some minor cuts.