Expecting that a 7 year old could make a simple meal?

[bigbarnfarmer]

I would like my kids to start taking more responsibility, they totally take for granted all i do, like most their age i imagine. However given they are getting older i want to help them become more responsible and more independant.

My 7 year old enjoys food, like sto help in the kitchen and has been making cups of tea for a while now. I was thinking tomorrow i might let him prepare a simple meal, with minimal supervision.

AIBU? and does anyone who thinks its fair enough have any simple meal suggestions.

Make your own pizza?
You shove it in oven at the end

Might be a bit young for most bits but beans on toast is dead easy, could he not do that?

I would just get him to help out more with cooking. Get him to peel and chop the veg, daft stuff like that but he is still learning and helping.

pasta dishes easy, tortilla wraps with various fillings, spag bol

I don't think a seven year old should be using a stove unless closely supervised.

I think 7 is way too young to be making a meal. My Ds1 is 7 next week and I would not want him anywhere near a kettle, oven etc. He is not mature enough to do these things and I would be worried he would hurt himself. I would nit let him make a cup of tea, or be near boiling water. Maybe when is 11/12 I will encourage it but not yet. I do think you asking a lot of your DC at age 7.

Me either! My dd can get herself a drink and make a sandwich - but no way is she going near the cooker/kettle unattended just yet! I went to school with a girl who was badly scalded with boiling water when a child, so maybe this colours my judgement a little....

DD does peeling, chopping (under supervision), cake making/mixing etc. We make pancakes/spag bol etc etc together. She is still learning, but I wouldn't expect her to be doing it all herself just yet....

My dd will be 7 in March, and I don't even let her in the kitchen when I'm cooking....

I wouldn;t expect my 7 yo to do this. We do things together in the kitchen, we make pizza and my 3 yo joins in with that, but that's mostly grating cheese and spreading tomato puree. I do let them peel the veg as well, but not chop. I wouldn't even let my dd make a cup of tea frankly, she would be far too likely to get burned and make a shockingly bad cuppa

As long as supervised, I say go for it! I was never taught to cook as a child and I really wish I had been. I didn't learn to cook until my DP taught me aged 20!

I wouldn't let a 7 year old make tea, or anything with boiling water. I have seen a badly scalded child
If a meal is needed, they can assemble a bowl of cereal or make a sandwich.

mine could make pasta with a simple tomato sauce and grated cheese at 7, supervised. Now at age 12 she can cook anything.

Helping you, or making sandwiches maybe but not cooking a meal

7 is too young, besides you don't have kids so they can fed themselves, if its too much for you you should have thought of that before had the shag where you conceived.

Bloody hell.... When I read the initial posts I was shocked. Kids of 7 should not be using the oven/hob/kettle alone. They are kids. Let them be kids.

do you have a toasted sandwich maker? Toasted sandwiches aren't difficult.

He could perhaps do some of the stages along the way when you cook to make a start, for example mashing potatoes. If you have scrambled eggs, preparing it with a whisk and so on.

Start again, its your job to ensure your kids are fed and watered, not theirs, kids don't look after themselves they do however tidy up after themselves.

Cooking? why you too lazy?

Im a cub leader and we have 8 year olds doing all the cooking for the whole weekend at camp. They do everything from chopping to roasting.

Sorry age seven seems ridiculously young to be making cups of tea. My little boy is six and a half and it seems ludicrous to imagine in six months time I would let him near the kettle. I am all for independence but I think you are expecting a lot for child of 7 to be using a kettle/stove/oven.

How about helping you prepare the meal? My little boy helps me set the table, makes sandwiches with help, chops things under supervision, stirs things under supervision etc. he also helps with recycling, feeding our pets, putting his clothes in washing basket etc.

I don want to sound judgemental but if he pours a kettle of boiling water down himself you would never forgiv yourself.

I think they should be measuring, stirring, helping. And able to use a toaster and microwave but not oven or boiling water totally unsupervised

I agree, plenty of time to grow up, I done everthing for mine until they went to uni.

Why not? I didnt have them to do anything for me, and i worked full time too and kept a clean and tidy house, as a single parent.

fuck that making kids cook.

Jeez why don't you just shove em up the chimney as well?!

There are plenty of things you can ask a 7 year old to do so that they learn more responsibility rather than have them cooking and making cups of tea at that age. Not safe and not wise.

I would be pissed off if DS went to a camp at that age and was expected to do the cooking. A bit of tidying up after meals is one thing but they should be having fun not cooking meals for large numbers of people.

7 is too young in my opinion. I could cook pretty well by the time I was 13 though.

I don't think seven is too young to be active in the kitchen, but anything they could get hurt on should be supervised, even in a way that they don't realise they're being supervised.

But then how do they learn? Not at school if food tech is like when I was there
Helping is all part of gaining an interest in food and good for fussy eaters too
I helped in the kitchen (choice not force!) from age 5, I love cooking and eat anything going
They don't wake up at 18, head to Uni and suddenly know how to fend for themselves. I had to explain how to use an oven and washing machine to one of the lads. They lived off pot noodles and takeaway