Cooking with Kids: Kid Knives
Trouble is, Iris has had the toy for almost two years, and she's getting bored with it. What's the next step? I have just the thing.
Recently Iris and I went over to a friend's house and helped prepare lunch. We were making the Sichuanese noodle dish called Ants on a Tree, which gets its poetic name because the bits of ground pork (the ants) cling to the sticky cellophane noodles (the tree). Normally when I let Iris help in the kitchen, we're making cookies, and I let her measure the flour and sugar, maybe crack an egg, and do the sprinkles.
"I wonder if this comes in other colors," I mused while Iris chopped.
"Like pink?" she asked.
When we got home, all ten fingers intact, I looked it up. It comes in pink. And it costs nine whole bucks. This is going to be the best stocking stuffer ever.
How old were your kids when you first let them play with knives?
About the author: Matthew Amster-Burton lives in Seattle. His work appears frequently in the Seattle Times and Seattle magazine. He also maintains the blog Roots and Grubs. His favorite food is pad Thai.
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13 Comments:
Izzy started playing with the Melissa and Dougish knives at 18 months or so (we had a similar set but different brand) and began to "play" with real knives when he was three and a half. He cuts regularly with a small serrated knife and a paring knife. Is this Rikon knife any safer than a typical paring knife. I couldn't zoom in..
izzy's mama at 3:32PM on 11/12/07
My mom let me take a marinated pork tenderloin out of the fridge and stick it in the oven (while she was at work, so dinner would be closer to done when she came home) when I was about 10, so I'd have to guess that knives were either already in use if I was using the oven. But I had been using butter knives to frost cookies since I was two :)
LizNYC at 7:01PM on 11/12/07
izzy's mama, the paring knife doesn't have any safety features other than the sheath, which only helps when you're not actually using the knife.
mamster at 8:32PM on 11/12/07
Anna started slicing mushrooms with a butter knife when she was around 2 1/2 years old. I desperately wanted her to like all the cute toy stuff like the pots and pans from IKEA, but the Kitchen Aid lever called to her instead.
LearP at 12:00AM on 11/13/07
True confession time: My guy has only just started handling a chef's knife or paring knife, and I'm really nervous when he does. He's 15. (I know: the shame, the shame). But believe me, he is a total and complete klutz. It might be that some people should just not be around sharp things. And hot things.
Dee at 8:26AM on 11/13/07
My grandson Zack, who just turned four, has always liked to hang around in the kitchen and "help" me cook. He even enjoys the lesser aspects of meal prep that we take for granted, like getting things, unwrapping and wrapping, setting the table and cleaning up.
Zack can measure, pour, stir, and of course, taste. He can wield a butter knife, and has a little serrated plastic knife that can chop through vegetables but not draw blood.
Lately he's begun hinting he would like to use knives, but I worry about his concentration. He likes to "help" in the kitchen at home too, but with a one-year old also underfoot his mom sometimes wouldn't have time to supervise Zack's developing knife skills.
We'll have to talk about it before Christmas.
srhcb at 8:41AM on 11/13/07
My 7 year old son has been using a 6" chef's knife under very close supervision since he was 5-1/2 or nearly 6. He's allowed to cut green peppers, celery, and tomato so far.
My daughter is 5 now, and we've promised her a knife of her own very soon. She's much more interested in cooking.
CrispyGirl at 10:13AM on 11/13/07
One good solution would be a finger guard.
I'm really hoping
[URL=http://eyedeashop.com/viewProduct.aspx?id=765&category=63]This link[/URL] works; no way to preview it, but if it doesn't, just copy and past from http: through 63 in your browser.
Curlz at 11:17AM on 11/13/07
I'm with Dee. My son is 13 and I cringe when he reaches for a sharp knife I need to just give in and supervise him a few times to make sure he knows what he's doing.
AuntJone at 11:52AM on 11/13/07
I'm so glad you posted this for so many reasons (Izzy's Mama, I should have known I'd see you here ;-)). My daughter just turned one and loves to "play" with me in the kitchen, and the whole spatula-bowl routine is getting a little old. I wondered about those Melissa and Doug sets you talk about (and have even bought them as gifts before), but wasn't sure if they'd really appeal to kids. So it sounds like we've got a gift to add to the Christmas list!
Also great to read where you all weigh in on kids and knives in general. srhcb, I'd love to know where you got the little plastic serrated knife--is it just like a take-out knife?
By the way . . . if you haven't already, please stop by www.generouspour.com to help me raise money for Share Our Strength towards ending hunger in America. You don't have to buy anything, pay anything or even do anything -- other than download a cool song by Corinne Bailey Rae and pick up some new holiday recipes (and a nifty widget for your blogs if you're so inclined). Thanks for your support!
swirlingnotions at 3:34PM on 11/13/07
The rounded knives that are sold with jack o'lantern carving sets are very kid-friendly and can be used year-round for other fruits and vegetables. They're not a bad option if you don't need precision.
www.hundredthings.com at 4:20PM on 11/13/07
A pumpkin-carving knife is a great idea. I was skeptical of them for a while, but now I pick up a bunch every October. They do tend to bend and fall apart pretty quickly.
mamster at 7:05PM on 11/13/07
I began cooking all the meals for my family - hacking poultry, chopping veggies and everything - when I was 13, and had been in the kitchen cooking with my grandma with a long paring knife since I was 8. If you teach good knife safety and supervise the first few weeks, a mature kid can easily handle themselves. I got my share of nicked thumbs and chopped fingernails, but that's how you learn.
hreisig at 5:05PM on 12/17/07