Kids in the kitchen – tips to get going!

Here are some tips that mummies can use when they have their little ‘first time’ chefs helping them out in the kitchen. 

•  First and foremost, always be with them – never leave them alone. Never let your child cook alone.

•  You will need the utmost patience and teaching skills, so that all of you can enjoy the whole process! 

•  Never assume that the child will know how what works. It could be that the child has watched you use a certain equipment but give gentle instructions when the child is using it on his or her own for the first time. They pick up really fast! 

•  Take the time to explain how each ingredient also works in the recipe. 

•  If you have a fire extinguisher, explain how it works. Explain the fundamentals of fire safety. 

•  All of you should wear short sleeved clothing in the kitchen. Long sleeves have a chance of catching fire or falling into hot grease or boiling water.

•  Wear aprons. Aprons help protect clothes and add extra padding in case of spilt hot water, splattered oil, etc.

•  Use oven mitts. Never use a towel to move hot pans because the loose parts of the towel can fall onto a hot burner and catch on fire. Oven mitts are safer because they help your children hold onto the handle of a hot pan more securely.

•  Wash your hands and their hands before cooking, while cooking! Hands carry germs and can contaminate food.

•  Keep pan handles facing IN and over countertops. Pan handles should never extend over the hot stove and definitely not out towards the floor where someone could bump the handle and spill a pot of hot food on the body.

•  Never leave cooking pots unattended. Unwatched pots can spill over, causing fires and other kitchen situations of panic.

•  Clean up all spills immediately, on the kitchen counter top or the floor. Serious injuries occur when others slip and fall because of wet floors or foreign objects, so make sure your children understand the importance of cleaning up a spill as it occurs. Always have a mop/ rag / kitchen paper towels handy.

•  Explain the importance of simultaneous clean ups. Teach your children to clear up while they wait for the next stage in preparing the food – if the soup is on the boil, they can wash up the used utensils in the sink or wipe wet pans or keep the bottles of ingredients used back on the shelves etc. 

•  Do not allow your child to taste raw meat or poultry. Raw poultry can lead to food poisoning because of the presence of salmonella. Show them how to keep raw food separate from cooked food. Never place cooked food back on a plate that once contained raw food.

•  Wash surfaces where raw meats and poultry touched. Surfaces touched by raw meat should be cleaned before placing another food product on that surface to prevent cross contamination.

•  Metal and microwaves do not mix. This needs to be emphatically explained to the children. Any object that contains metal or aluminum should not be placed into a microwave because doing so could cause a fire.

•  More importantly, refrain from bringing toddlers in the kitchen with you when you are teaching the older kid to cook in the kitchen. In case your toddler does crawl in and puts something in the mouth while you are busy with the older kid, and begins to choke, distract the baby and firmly remove the larger bits of food. It could be a cookie, or carrot or apple piece, dry beans or spaghetti.