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.

I agree with that MildlyNarkyPuffin. When I splash miyself with hot water I can deal with it safely and my adult skin is tough enough to deal with it without being significantly damaged.

A child's skin is so much more delicate and even small splashes will lead to scarring.

@nannyplum, i think you have completely failed to understand what i wrote.

There is often a smallish window for teaching household skills - usually by 12 to 14 it is too late for them to learn from you (because obviously you know nothing!). The time for teaching them household skills comes before then. If you have taught and reinforced good household skills by the age of 10 or so, it might, just might, help with the teenage years. Not just cooking, but laundry, cleaning, picking up after oneself etc. And amazingly, if everyone in the house does it, if it doesn't just fall to one person, it isn't such a burden.

Have to confess that I'm a slacker though. The kids have made their own breakfast etc unsupervised for ages, and my 8yo likes to bring me a cup of tea in bed.

Agree with Maryz. Ds has co-ordination issues so perhaps I'm a little paranoid but I reorganised my kitchen last year (& threw out the tumle dryer/bought a table etc) so that he does his kitchen stuff at the opposite end of the room to where I use the sharp knives/hot cooker. We also have a couple of stools to ensure he is at the right height. I want him to learn & have fun, not be scarred for life. Considering he can't use table cutlery I'll continue to take stuff out the mcrowave and retain kettle control for a while yet too.

A veg patch is fun too! DS has asked to grow purple carrots this year. Tomatoes/herbs strawberries can be basket grown if you don't have a garden.

These pampered chef knives people have mentioned - is there a shop where I can see them demonstrated as I'm curious if one would be safe for DS to use. Not got the cash to buy stuff online that we can't use.

TBH boiling water injuries terrify me. I see no rush in teaching my children how to make me a cup of tea (although I prefer coffee ); but it is so useful that I can trust them to go downstairs and get their own breakfast - cereal and milk.

But had repeated wake up calls when he would come back from school home ec/cubs/scouts/cadet camp etc with tales of what he'd done, and was forced to realise he was an awful lot more grown up and competent than I gave him credit for.

All I can say is thank goodness for schools, cubs, scouts etc where they get them cooking whole meals at a time when the parent still thinks they are being adventurous letting them make chocolate crispy cakes-if they melt the chocolate.

You do not have to fill the kettle-you can start with just enough water for one drink!
I think that kettles are much better these days. At 8yrs I used to make my parents tea in bed some mornings and it wasn't the water that bothered me, it was striking a match to light the gas! I still did it and managed.
I don't think that I would want an 8yr old doing that, but it used to be the norm-I am a lot older than many people on here and we were given far more responsibility.

i'll be interested to see what happens when mine get older. the three year old has a habit of copying the six year old, so there is that to factor in as well. certainly she can open the microwave and try to get stuff out of it, so am in no hurry for her to attempt the same with kettles.

Belgo What age do you think would be ok to make a cup of tea then?

I do think that maturity, and sometimes size is more important than physical age per se. So I can easily see that one person's 9yo could be less ready than someone else's 7 yo.

DD has been cooking with me since she was a baby. First watching, then participating in simple things when standing on her stool next to me and now she participates in more complicated things at age 5. We always cook together, if I'm cooking she cooks with me, unless she is ill or sleeping. She started with washing and chopping vegetables, mixing, weighing, egg breaking and whisking, bread buttering etc. She was able to make a good slice of toast with me stood next to her at age 2.

These days she does all of the above plus I let her stir things on the hob, use decent knives, peelers, put things in the microwave and press the buttons, and she's competent at basic skills like whisking, folding, rice washing, egg seperating, dough kneading, rolling out and spice bashing. I also let her have creative input into dishes. It's all supervised - as yet I haven't let her do anything with the oven, kettle or grill, or take anything out of the microwave. But I will when it seems right and not at some arbitrary age. My kitchen is very well set up for a child to cook in, she has easily accessible worksurfaces, and a low oven and microwave, plus high stools for seated cooking and step for access.

I don't think 7 is unreasonable, although I can't be sure yet of course, and it's very much up to the individual child. I think the brownie and scout camps have the right idea though in general terms.

How can you fill a kettle that is too heavy for you to poor? Water doesn't get heavier when it's boiled, so it's just as heavy and just as possible to lift as when you were filling it up?

It does depend on the kitchen. My microwave is too high up to be used safely by my children.

My DCs cook meals (DS is 10, DD is 7), they have been gradually given responsibility and now have a range of basic dishes they can cook.
Start with e.g. fresh pasta and pesto, ideally use a pan with an integral drainer so they can just lift out the cooked pasta.
Move to jar sauces, eventually adding own chopped ingredients and eventually making sauce from scratch.
Casseroles are good, as long as an adult gets them out of the oven as they are both heavy and hot at that point.
My 10yo now cooks one dinner a week, with a £2 budget for the 4 of us, and use of cupboard ingredients. He loves the responsibility and has lived up to it well. Good on you OP
As for those whose DCs are "too short", we use a step.

Ladymuck - I don't know yet, but I will know when it happens.

It's like with any stage of development, no two children are exactly the same. You cannot predict when a child will be potty trained, or start to walk, or talk. But generally the parents recognise these phases of development when their child is ready.

Oh def agree with bochead regarding the veg patch! DT1 was out there planting (rather late!) peas a couple of weeks ago. Tho they tend to want to eat it all before it even gets to the kitchen. Mine kept munching the tops of spring onions all summer straight from the ground.

I do wonder a bit about all these 6, 7 and older who can't lift a kettle. My 6 year olds are average height, and I think I'd be worried if they struggled with a kettle! DT1 was straining asparagus on Sunday and DT2 was lugging in 8 x 2litre bottle packs from the car last week perfectly well! Unless there are disabilities (ds1 is 9 but can barely lift his own feet half the time let alone a kettle!) I do think a 7 year old should be able to lift a kettle!

hopsaduck - of course my dd1 can lift a kettle, when it is at her height. But she cannot lift it safely from the higher kitchen surface.

i am perfectly strong but if i had to lift a full kettle with my arm raised above my shoulder then i think i would struggle not to splash myself with boiling water. as has been explained before, i would know to put it down safely before i reacted to the pain. can't think that a kid would, tbh.

People will go from one extreme to another as if you to say to a 7 yr old-'you have seen me make a cup of tea now you can do it'.
You can do it in stages, e.g. do it with them or let them fill it and put in on and you pour when ready and gradually, when you think they are mature enough, tall enough, strong enough let them do it with you there before you let them loose.
It isn't easy-it takes time-a lot of people find it quicker to do it themselves-which it is- in the short term. I think that as parents you ought to be aiming for the long term -and start early.

I agree with exotic AGAIN. I promise I don't just follow you around agreeing with your posts

no way. if dd2 sees dd1 touchign the kettle then she'll be after it too. plus, what do i need a six year old fannying around with a kettle for? i don't get it. dd1 can bake bread, fgs, she's not an idiot, but our kettle is generally full if boiled (not huge tea drinkers, kettle mostly used for pasta) and i don't want her trying to lift it.

they both know that it is hot and burns, btw. like i say, they've been sitting beside it since they were wee, and know that if they touch it by accident it really hurts.