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Original poster

When can children make tea?

42 replies

JojobaFromOctober · 11/12/2021 11:50

My eldest is 6 and a half. She likes doing some of the steps to making a cup of tea, putting in the tea bag, filling the kettle, switching it on, adding the milk afterwards. But I don't let her pour the boiling water yet. She is quite little and has to stand on a stool to pick up the kettle and it just doesn't seem like a great idea yet.

What is an average age that you would trust a child to safely make a cup of tea all by themselves? Or does it depend more on height? Just wondering when I can start profiting on my investment in bringing her up

OP posts:

RhubarbAndMustard · 11/12/2021 11:53

My 9 year old makes tea but has only been doing this for the past year I'd say. I wouldn't trust my 6 year old just yet but he isn't as sensible as my eldest.

Peanutmnm · 11/12/2021 11:56

My dd has been making mine expertly, and coffee, since 6. She's amazing. My now other 6 yr old ...nope, wouldn't let her. Different kids.

Important to note though we have a boiling water tap. I think that's a bit safer than a kettle that would fall with the child if they got a burn and jumped.

Camomila · 11/12/2021 12:54

Maybe 8? - I think it's part of a Brownies badge.

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DustyMaiden · 11/12/2021 13:00

One cup water dispenser makes it a lot easier.

5thnonblonde · 11/12/2021 13:04

Got very excited thinking you meant ‘dinner’ not just a cuppa. Imagined living the bloody dream rolling in from the school run and feet up while my 6yo knocks up enchiladas or similar, wipes down all the surfaces and loads the dishwasher... yeah probably a few years, right...

Thetwomutts · 11/12/2021 13:07

Depends completely on the child and the equipment available

I would let a 6 year old on a stool make a cup of tea or coffee with a one cup and a lid to go on the mug before they took it off the side

With a kettle and an open cup I would want them to be able to reach easily and independently without using a stool (seems safer than trying to balance, carry and pour a full kettle and take the cup off the side while getting down

TheLeadbetterLife · 11/12/2021 13:13

@Camomila

Maybe 8? - I think it's part of a Brownies badge.

I remember this badge. It was called the Hostess Badge in the 80s, I assume it’s not now! I would have been 7 or 8 I think. We had to make a cup of tea and present it to our mothers on a tray with a daffodil in a vase.

GTAlogic · 11/12/2021 13:21

I think it depends on the strength of the child as well as their maturity. My 9 y old tried to pour (cold) water from the kettle the other day but it was too heavy so just did the other steps instead. My 10 y old has an issue with his upper body strength and can't lift the kettle yet either.

HPandTheNeverEndingBedtime · 11/12/2021 13:27

I think appliances like kettles and irons say from 8+.

DD would make tea from a small teapot at 6 but obviously I'd poured into the teapot first.

I bought a dolce gusto to use instead of a kettle so you just press the button and fill the cup up with as much hot water as you need. I tend to drink herbal tea so it works great and avoids having to lift and pour a heavy kettle (pouring accurately is quite a skill and requires dexterity and strength not all LO will have).

MushMonster · 11/12/2021 13:27

Mine from 12, she can use the kettle and toaster.
I let her prepare it sometimes if I was there with her from 8.
Also done some cooking from 8. Now she can fry quite confidenty in a frying pan.
Still getting there with putting things in the deep frier.

JustLikea · 11/12/2021 13:31

My DD first made tea age 6 and I nearly had a heart attack when I walked into the kitchen and she was pouring boiling water from the kettle into a cup.

Being a wilful child there was no stopping her so I just explained exactly how to make a decent cuppa and she's been at it ever since scald free

luverlybubberly · 11/12/2021 13:32

Depends on lots of factors.
I have a one cup hot water dispenser so no picking up heavy kettles. I buy plant milk which comes in a 1 litre bottle so a fraction of the weight of a 6 pint container. My dd was making tea from around 8. She has a steady hand so fine walking from kitchen to me

Smartiepants79 · 11/12/2021 13:34

My Dd was taught how in Brownies at about age 7. I’d say 7/8 for most kids.

AlohaMolly · 11/12/2021 13:36

Five year old DS likes to ‘make’ me breakfast occasionally. He brings me a little bowl with an apple and a satsuma and he’s really proud of himself

Yesterday he said to me ‘mummy I want to make you breakfast but I can only bring you an apple and an. Orange. I want to bring you something better ’

Me too, mate. Me too

Original poster

JojobaFromOctober · 11/12/2021 13:37

@5thnonblonde

Haha that really would be the dream

I've just now remembered an incident when I spontaneously tried to make tea for my mother and decided that the hot water from the tap would be hot enough, no need to bother with the kettle. She didn't drink it! I think I was about 7 or 8 when I tried that so my daughter at least has a better understanding of the principles.

OP posts:

Thatsplentyjack · 11/12/2021 13:41

After having an 18 month old scalded with a cup of tea (not in the kitchen) I have seen the devastation it can cause and wouldn't let a child younger than 12 near boiling water.

HPandTheNeverEndingBedtime · 11/12/2021 13:54

@alohamolly Dd liked to do breakfast when she was small. I bought a cereal dispenser (to limit mess from pouring from a box) and kept a bowl under it, Dd then had to just twist the knob to get cereal then she had a milk bottle she could use so it wasn't heavy and easy to pour (I just decanted some milk from a large bottle into one of those small milk bottles) and then Dd could make us both breakfast independently.

NotTheOriginalFeargalSharkey · 11/12/2021 14:00

I don't think mine ever will. We don't drink hot drinks here.
Friends dd started about 10. She is the youngest of 4, so had plenty of people to learn from.

Hen2018 · 11/12/2021 14:06

I can’t remember the first time I made tea so I must have been young.

I would say about 4 here. They were definitely standing on a chair helping with cooking by 5.

blablablack · 11/12/2021 14:16

Oh I'd imagine maybe at least 8 or 9. I'm going to have a read through the responses.

My little girl is 4 and loves to "help" make the tea too. I've wondered what age wld it wld be safe also.

BlankTimes · 11/12/2021 14:21

If she'd love to do it, an Uccello kettle should be safe for her to use. It's on a counterbalanced stand that rocks, so you don't have to pick the kettle up to pour the boiled water. I can fill a mug with boiled water only using a fingertip's pressure.

santasmuma · 11/12/2021 14:26

I think my eldest was about 15 before she made a cup of tea. DS is 18 and has never made one. Why would a young child need to make tea?

lynxca16 · 11/12/2021 14:34

For me it would be, unsupervised at the very earliest 11/12yrs even then depending on the child.

Younger brother suffered horrible burns from a not boiling but cooling kettle despite immediate attention he still bears the scars.

I will never forget his cries when the dressings were changed daily:)

mildtomoderate · 11/12/2021 14:37

I was around eight. And I haven't stopped since. 😈😈😈

TheCreamCaker · 11/12/2021 14:56

My grandchildren are 10 and 7, and the eldest one makes tea at home. I don't let her/ask her to do that in my house, though. If she should scald herself, her mother (son's ex) would go mental.

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