We are using tools, not toys, in the kitchen

The first day of cooking camp I hold up my nylon serrated knives and ask everyone “is this a toy or a tool?” Everyone, of course, says “tool” but I still need to put the dots a little closer together for kids by stating that knives aren’t swords, laser, lightsabers, face scratchers, or devices to annoy their neighbor.

We follow the rule that we don’t touch a tool that is in front of us until instructed to do so by myself or another adult in charge. And, our tools never leave our individual cutting board or workspace for cleanliness and safety!

 Everyone washes their hands

It sounds obvious, but most kids don’t think about cleaning their hands after picking gum off their shoe or digging for nose gold in their left nostril. We wash our hands, keep them to ourselves, and don't touch or faces, hair, shoes, etc while cooking in the kitchen.

If they forget, it’s no worry, they’ll just need to rewash their hands! Kids begin to get this concept when I ask them if they want their litter sister's boogers mixed up in their meal. The answer is usually “no” (unless they’re actually the little sister).

 Hot surfaces are only to be used accompanied by an adult

Until age 12 (or can prove competency in the kitchen) At cooking camps, we are using industrial sized equipment, and opening up a hot oven is still a shock to me sometimes.

Kids need to supervised while using anything hot in the kitchen, and pot handles need to be facing the back of the stovetop when not in use.

 Learn the two basic skills first

Yes, my son started cutting with a six-inch Shun Santoku knife by age six, two years after starting knife training with me!

Teaching your child how to properly hold a knife while cutting, and how to use two hands to stir a pot with an “awkward elbow” (video instruction coming soon!) are the only skills I think are necessary to directly teach.

The rest of their fine motor skills will come from emulating YOU in the kitchen. No pressure, your kids are going to think you’re a culinary genius regardless of your skill level!

This age is the cutest, and sometimes the most challenging, to have in the kitchen with you! The good news is their attention spans are short, so you won’t likely have them for a full recipe.

I tend to try to pull these kids back to the kitchen for “cool tricks” like seeing how the pizza dough doubled in size while resting, or parts of the recipe I think they will find interesting like turning on the blender.

The best part about this age is that you can assign them tasks that don't really need to be done to complete the recipe, (Shhhh! Don’t tell them!) like lining up all the strawberries for shortcakes, spooning flour from one bowl to another.

I even keep sugar packets on hand, and have my littlest chefs organize them by color at the end of the counter! Your biggest hurdle is to keep them busy and make sure they feel their tasks are important to the overall recipe!

• Washing vegetables/fruits in the sink

• Heck, washing ANYTHING in the sink!

• Stirring/whisking wet or dry ingredients

• Sprinkling salt and pepper, or any other ingredient in the recipe

• Spooning ingredients into measuring cups

• Placing chocolate chips one by one into the bowl from the measuring cup (anything that takes up time!)

• Assembling anything by placing ingredients where they belong

 This age group is fun because kindergarten-age kids and older have much longer attention spans (thanks to the long hours they are expected to hold attention in school). Also, with their new-found knowledge of reading, kids really enjoy taking the time to read the recipe step by step, and then look for the specific measuring cups/spoons the recipe is requesting. For instance, can they identify the ¼ cup measuring cup in the sea of options? With more complex motor skills, this age is the sweet spot for uni-taskers (sorry, Alton Brown) link to uni-taskers like hullers, garlic presses, avocado slicers, egg separators, citrus presses, etc.

• Everything listed above in “Pomme Frites” and ….

• Pouring and measuring liquid ingredients

• Measuring dry ingredients

• Using a rolling pin, butter knife, cookie cutters, and non-sharp uni-taskers like hullers, garlic presses, avocado slices, egg separators, citrus presses, etc.

• Cutting soft and medium density foods (mushrooms, bell peppers, onions, cheese, pineapple, avocado, jicama, chicken, sausage)

• Cracking an egg

• Using scissors

 I love having older kids at camp with me, mostly because they are able to follow a simple set of instructions without major assistance from me. Kids this age LOVE the idea of taking the wheel for part of a recipe, and you can see how seriously they take it if you make a big deal about them being “unsupervised” (However, I’m always secretly looking over their shoulder to make sure 1 tablespoon, not 1 cup of soy sauce ends up in our marinade!). I have no problem handing over my food processor (something with sharp blades) to a responsible child of this age to make the salad dressing portion of a recipe. Not only does it teach them valuable cooking skills, but it also makes them feel good that an adult is trusting them with a tool younger kids aren’t allowed to use without major supervision. Kids this age also love to work with fractions used in measuring. For example, when a recipe calls for 1 cup of flour, I will give each child of this age group a different cups (1/8th, ¼, 1/3, ½, 2/3, ¾, etc) and ask them to figure out how many of each cup they would need to complete the recipe.

• Everything listed above in “French Fries” and….

• Continuing in knife skill training with real knives

• Cutting harder foods such as carrots, celery, squash

• Using sharp tools such as a box grater, micro plane and vegetable peeler

• Using tools to stir, flip, turn foods over a hot surface

• Making portions of a recipe with little assistance

• Using all small appliances in the kitchen with little support