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Wednesday, December 3, 2008
What age can kids really start cooking?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Today I am starting a cooking class for some of my son’s 5th grade classmates. I promised one of the parents, who has triplets and hates to cook, that I would teach her kids how to make dinner for them.
Although my 5th grader, Jack, is incredibly adept in the kitchen (far more so than my 8th grader) I wonder how far to let the kids go. While Jack is an expert omelet maker and has skilled knife techniques, I am sure some of these kids have never been near a stove or maneuvered anything more than a bread knife. When their parents say they “like to cook” it usually actually translates to “likes to make chocolate chip cookies.”
While I obviously will use extreme caution while directing them at cutting and stove top use, and I have picked recipes that avoid much of that, never the less, I still am concerned that some parent’s vision of safety is more restrictive than mine.
About what age do you think is appropriate for kids to learn how to use a sharp knife by themselves? What about cooking in a hot skillet, or transferring things too and from the oven? While most agree kids should be made welcome in the kitchen with age appropriate tasks, I wonder, when do you feel kids can actually begin to cook for themselves as long as an adult is nearby?
Here’s a great link to encourage you to get your kids cooking. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/09/health/09well.html
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