Six safety hacks for cooking with kids
Cooking is a brilliant activity to do with young children. It helps develop communication and motor skills, builds confidence and even introduces basic maths concepts. These kitchen safety hacks show how you can give kids 'real' jobs to do when you're cooking together, without worrying about accidents.
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1. Scissors are your friend
Instead of knives, a simple pair of kids' scissors can be used for all sorts of fiddly tasks like cutting up herbs and slicing spring onions or tomatoes. Putting your ingredients inside a cup or bowl will also help keep things under control. For tasks like this, it's a good idea to work at a table rather than a counter if the height is more comfortable for your child.
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2. Use your hands
Wherever possible, let your little ones use their hands for mixing, rolling and tearing. As well as being an efficient and safe way to get things done, it's also really fun for kids to get stuck in, and exploring how ingredients feel and smell really helps them to engage with new foods. Just make sure everyone thoroughly washes their hands before you start and between handling different types of food.
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3. Oil painting
Delegate the job of greasing the tin with a pastry brush to your little one. It's an easy and fun task that will hold their attention while you get on with the trickier bits of cooking.
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4. Removing hard boiled egg shells
Peeling a hard boiled egg can be quite difficult and messy. Try this technique and let your little one have fun shaking the box. Take the cooled boiled eggs and put them in a tight lidded sandwich box ¼ full of cold water. Put the lid on then shake the box so all the shell falls off.Ìý
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5. Whipping cream without a whisk
If you don't have a whisk at home this hack is a quick and easy way to whip cream. Pour the whipping cream into a jar, make sure the lid is on tight and shake the cream in the jar until it goes stiff – you'll know when the cream is stiff because the noise inside the jar will change.
6. Add eggs one at a time
Cracking and whisking eggs is a really fun job for little ones, but they can occasionally get a bit over-enthusiastic! Add eggs one at a time to a recipe, so that if anything goes wrong with one of them (like lots of crumbly bits of shell!), you won't have wasted the whole lot. Always remember to wash your hands thoroughly after handling raw eggs.
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Find more articles about cooking with children
Discover some top tips for having fun with food with your little one,Ìýfive ways to make food fun for kids.
Find interesting recipes from around the world with theseÌýchild-friendly recipes from My World Kitchen.
Encouraging children to take a more active role in choosing, preparing and cooking simple meals can help them eat a wider variety of foods, read more about cooking and baking with children.
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