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.

Helping butter bread, put cereal in a bowl with milk - yes.

Kettle and hob - no.

What is the hurry?

I had my hostess badge at brownies too, and had made my Mum coffee tons of times, still burnt myself, and as a result am a bit wary of letting the DC use the kettle. I am aware this is probably irrational, as grownups can also have accidents and burn themselves.

I think maybe it depends what you mean by 'cook a meal'? Beans on toast is completly different to spag bol, but both are meals!

My nearly 7 year old can just about make a sandwich, no way I would let him use the oven etc, he occasionally uses the microwave but doesn't understand not to put spoons/foil etc in (as I found out when I caught him about to switch it on!)

7yo DS enjoys helping in the kitchen but its just that...'helping' (grating cheese, stirring/mixing,supervised chopping, decorating cakes etc).

If it became full-on preparing and cooking a meal I think any enjoyment on his part would go out of the window TBH

I can't imagine him preparing a simple meal, even with supervision, unless its a sandwich

she said (further down) cheese sauce + pasta - to make macaroni cheese for instance

sorry that was to needanickname

Given the choice, I'd rather watch paint dry than 'helicopter parent' my child but I have to supervise her because she demonstrates on a daily basis that she;; has no interest or awareness of basic safety.

Yesterday she pushed her little sister into the road. Unfortunately, I'm one of those neurotic overprotective types who doesn't let her kids out unsupervised so she sadly wasn't able to learn her lesson by killing her sister under the wheels of a lorry.

My 9y has been making meals at home for quite a long time. We started with full supervision and me doing all of it and her just helping, to now she is more than capable of preparing a few meals without much help. I do still help when dealing with boiling liquids, hot ovens, etc. as I would rather she didn't burn herself. But she is supervised and she does it. I am just around to help as required.

I don't get DD to make tea although she has done on occasion, with supervision. I just don't like the idea of a heavy kettle of boiling water. She has been making coffees via the Tassimo for ages though, as less chance if spillage.

I don't make DD cook. It isn't one of her "jobs." But she likes to and does on occasion, through choice. I like to encourage her and she is getting good at it.

moveslike when i say high expectations i eman that i have him doing all sorts around the house, he has jobs and chores that i pay him to do, he also has jobs that are expected of him..for which he does not get paid.

As my boy showed interest i kinda took him up on it. He enjoys helping out and doing his bits, but i stay at his side the whole time, i never leave him alone.
I want to instill a love of cooking (becuase i feckingwell hate it) and he is so far. Its beyond baking with toddlers, its giving him responsibility in a safe environment i spose.

my 7 yrs old (turned 7 last Oct), makes her own sandwich and also for her little sister (she wanted to), and also able to use the toaster to make fabulous toasts for her and her little sister .

Now the thought of her making her own tea is impossible....she prob would have a go but prob be all disaster!

She doesnt make me a cuppa cos i panic too easily

What a good idea.They do need to start somewhere and will gain confidence as they have more experience. Part of your training will of course include handling boiling water and sharp knives -sharp knives are said to be better than blunt because if there is a slip a blunt knife causes greater damage.

This site is great for tips

and good for you not succumbing to bubble-wrap parenting

DD did both her cook and advanced cook at age 8y through Brownies.
She made a mousakka with minimal help.
We tend to cook rather than bake. I prefer cooking, not keen on baking. I think teaching them to cook is a more useful skill than baking too.

When I was seven I joined Brownies. The first badge I did was hostess badge where I had to make a cup tea/coffee and a sandwich on my own.

My dd is 5 and helps me in kitchen by peeling and chopping.

bigbarn I think you're getting a bit of a harsh opinion on this subject mostly because of the tea-making.

My daughter is 8. I wouldn't let her make me a cup of tea. But she does make a good spag bol, a great salad and she puts the oven on for me. I'm always around. She's learning about turning temperatures up and down, how to hold the pan when she's stirring, etc.

Teaching a degree of self-sufficiency from an early age is ideal.

My PIL's were going on holidays and their DD was housesitting. We called to wish them a "happy holiday". MIL was writing a note and put it in the cutlery drawer. It read "be careful, some of the knives are sharp". Her Daughter (my sil) is 44. We are still laughing.

Fair enough oflip I agree it's great to get them involved. My 7 year old loves to potter about with me in the kitchen but his head is far too full of light sabres and ewoks to trust him near a kettle or cooker.

Unforunately my 7 yo dc is around the size of a ten year old so too big to get up our chimney. Pity though as would save me £50 twice a year.

My dh was never shown how to cook when he was a child and so really struggles in the cooking dept, i was and i love cooking. My children so far are showing an interest so why not.

I don't want my 7yo to make me a meal because this will save me doing it. TBH it would be easier and have a better result if i did it myself. I offered that he could do it as a TREAT!! And he really is over the moon! I really didnt expect a flaming from the majority but as someone rightly pointed out, it is rather reflective of just how incapable many young people are these days of coping without Mummy.

You can encourage a knowledge and love of cooking without sending small children off to make you coffee/knock up a spag bol you know!

Oh thanks ZZZ I didn't see that bit IMO there is too much boling water involved, ie moving the saucepan to drain it.

The OP said with minimum supervision not no supervision. There is a real difference.
I'd let my 13 year old cook from scratch, but not my 10 year old. Simply because she is a bit short to drain pasta or pour our kettle without the risk of splashing herself in the face.
DD1 isn't allowed to use the gas job unless an adults in the house, but that's because it needs replacing and has attitude. She'd be perfectly safe with a modern cooker that didn't need matches and didn't go out at the slightest excuse.

DD (6) makes toast/crumpets etc in the toaster.
She chops mushrooms/peppers/brocolli etc and can peel and chop carrots.
One thing she does like is if I make some couscous she chops veg and chooses the ingredients to mix in it e.g. cheese, pesto, raisins etc.
She will pierce potatoes with a knife and put them in the microwave and set it going-I take them out.
And on lazy dinner days she will get baking trays and put fish fingers and chips on them, open a tin of baked beans and put them in the saucepan and put some frozen peas in a bowl. However I do the actual putting in the oven and stirring the beans etc. She can put pasta in a saucepan and knows how to measure it out to ensure there is enough for everyone. Again I turn the hob on and take it from there.

She is not allowed near the kettle.

I don't expect this of her. She asks what I have planned for tea and is interested and wants to help-not every day but most. Its a nice way to spend time together and we chat and she learns about cooking, food preparation, flavours etc. She built up to this level slowly and I am just starting with her brother (2) who loves to pull the frozen chips out of a bag and arrange them on a baking tray and pod peas etc. His main obsession is the washing machine however.

I think it was the points made about the children taking her for granted and making them more responsible that most people found a bit odd. That makes it sounds like going beyond them wanting to help and making them cook a meal whether they want to or not.

Why not just get them to help you with it doing tasks you know they can do safely and then as they get used to that and grow up increase the amount of help they give.

I've just had a look at the Brownies Cook Badge (here). The badges are not unreasonably easy and Brownies start at 7yo.

I think it is a great idea to introduce your DS to cooking, but some of you ideas sound a bit ambitious.

well back to your request for simple meals. It is not bad to learn to make a nice salad (as opposed to some limp thing dripping with water or swimming in olive oil), prepare the vegetables, make a dressing and arrange it attractively. Depending on the ingredients, it could make a nice light meal, all you'd need is some rolls perhaps. At the weekend for an evening meal maybe if you had a heavier meal like a roast for lunch?

Garlic bread is not difficult to prepare and wrap up in foil. He might like doing that. He could make that perhaps with soup. Easiest soup is probably a simple vegetable one which would involve butter, onions simmering with a lid on and then adding all the chopped vegetables, pouring water/stock over, seasoning and bringing to the boil, turning the temp down to simmer. I realise I am saying the obvious here but if you think about it, there is not much to it.

My 8 year old makes scrambled eggs and porridge in the microwave. Yes, let him cook a simple meal. That would be great. You will be educating him on the risks in the kitchen too. Much better than shielding him from all risks and keeping him ignorant.