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.

So, that's Ecolady, Fleudebleurgh and myself, who have all supervised children cooking meals through the Scout and Guide Association and we're being foolhardy and shouldn't be doing it, cos they're too young?

I've had six year old boys cooking pancakes for themselves. If you supervise children correctly most of them absolutely love doing it, in fact, I've plenty of them saying they'd like to do more cooking at home, but their parents won't let them.

Who's wrong?

I really don't think it's us.

Big Barn My DD now 8 and DD2 age 6 love helping in the kitchen. They even plan Come Dine with me meals and with minimum supervision make them. They start off with feta cheese dip homemade, then home made pizzas and home made mouse or fairy cakes.

they help chop veg as we have child safety knifes from pampered chef. They often get their own breakfast (cereal or eldest likes to do ready brek in microwave).

We all know are children and what they are capable of. They love the feeling of having done something so grown up themselves.

Go with it :-)

You say your kids take you for granted - how old are the others?

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

IMO making a cup of tea is one of the more dangerous things for a child to do- the risks, even if the child is sensible accidents can happen, far outweigh the benefits.

My ds's have helped with cooking/baking since an early age and are now very capable, aged 11 and 14. Saying a child who isn't allowed to cook alone or make a cup of tea at aged 7 is being 'helicopter parented' and will leave home unable to do anything is not really true either, is it?! There are many years between the ages of 7 and 18 to teach these things at the child/parents own pace.

My 7yo has been chopping peeling stirring etc since he was about 4. My 5yo also helps doing the above too but at the moment i wouldnt let her near the kettle as she is far too likely to scold herself, she is less careful, smaller, younger and not as keen to cook.

I cook everyday and they often help but only if they want to. None of this is stuff they are being forced to do.

I do everything for my kids at the moment and this includes helping them on their way to becoming independant capable beings.

You know your son best, I'd be inclined to let him try something simple. The first thing I cooked by myself was French Toast no idea of age but definitely wasn't at secondary school. Bread dipped in milk, then dipped in beaten-with-a-fork egg then fried in a pan. I think a sensible 7 year old could be trusted to do something that as long as you're within squinting distance and can do a trial run with them first.

DS1 is 8 and has been helping out with the cooking for a while. I have let him cook things like scrambled eggs for himself with minimal supervision. It something is hot or heavy I will help out e.g. taking a baked potato out of the microwave. He and DS1 helped me roast a chicken and DS1 and DH made chicken curry last night.

I don't think the OP is going to leave him unsupervised but rather leave him in charge.

DS1 loves cooking. Useful life skill which could make him very popular at Uni

We did our camp menu for May bank holiday this evening- the boys have asked if they can cook -

Pancakes
Sausage, Mash and Beans
Bacon sandwiches
Scrambled egg on toast
Spaghetti Bolognaise
Toasted bananas (with a Flake in the middle)
Jacket Potatos (salad/tuna/beans/cheese)
Apple Crumble
Rice Pudding
Beef Stew

I have great faith that i will not return home with any injured children. I have less faith that they will not give me food poisoning

YANBU - my 9 year old makes tea and breakfast etc for her sisters (her choice she asks to) and she and her 7 year old sister help me bake and cook - learning skills is never a bad thing

DD is 9 and can make a great cauli cheese, I drain the cauli for her but she does the rest. The cheese sauce is from scratch so she can pour that over cooked pasta too.
She made the parsley sauce for dinner tonight and prepped the fish - putting it in a dish, sloshing in a bit of wine and seasoning and put it in the oven, under supervision.
She does a great spag bol with minimum supervision.
Sandwiches, wraps and toast are all easy.
She's just getting to grips with the microwave as it's a bit faffy, but she can heat beans, or make scrambled eggs in it.

I've not let her use the kettle yet, but I suppose I will. Actually I might get on that this week.

I think kids need to learn these skills, and there's a vast difference between asking a child to prepare a 3 course meal for 4 and a quick meal for dinner. I adore cooking and I really want to foster that in my daughter.

I won't let my 8 and a half year old make tea (although I can't wait until she's older and is able too ), and won't let her cook a hot meal, alone anyway. We do cook together though, usually cakes but I do all the oven parts. She can make a sandwich, cut cheese and salad stuff up, make toast and cereal etc. She now makes supper for herself and dd2 every evening which is usually toast or cereal. She loves having this little bit of responsibility, as she gets older then I'll increase what she's allowed to do.

My DS does breakfast for himself and his sister (ages 6 and 3) in the morning. They do only have cereal, fruit and juice though. I do leave him to be responsible for it though.

I think I'd consider letting him do toast in a toaster, or maybe something in the slow cooker, or microwave, but I would teach him first so he'd be supervised until he cracked a meal. Then allowed to do it "alone" with me just surreptitiously checking he's not blowing the house up or setting the kitchen on fire.

There is a real upside to teaching your kids their way around the kitchen.

DS1 made me breakfast in bed the other day

I reciprocated for him and DS2 the next.

Tigerlilly* my kids are 7, 5 and 3. Obviously as i said above i do everything for my dc. I have dedicated the past 7 years to breast feeding, sleepless nights and doing activities that they enjoy. I was merely interested in how many other people have young children who cook BECAUSE my 7 yo wants to, he'd feel 6 ft tall if he put together a macaroni cheese or similar. Not because i cant be arsed, far from it.

lollopybear thanks for that link. x

your OP just came across a bit differently, that's all. Maybe you meant parts of it tongue in cheek but it doesn't really read like that

Some of the responses are astonishing, my Dd 5 yo, asked me a year ago to teach her how to cook. She is INTERESTED so therefore I am teaching her. I bought her a child safe knife and everything takes 4 times as long but she WANTS to do it, she knows what a simmer and a boil is and why we do it. Isn't it just another part of their education?

Fabby, I am sorry but I just see your kids being a burden on whoever ends up living with them as you have done everything bar wiping their arse for them!

I am not meaning this to sound disrespectful or patronising but I hope to god anyone who lets their children use toasters gave told them about the danger of putting knives in toasters to retrieve crumpets etc. six year olds using toasters doesn't sit well with me.

A lot of toasters have levers that raise the contents up now.

Just found a load of mozarella needing used so think i will give my ds a recipe for pizza dough (no boiling water or anything involved) let him tackle that while i help my 2dds peel chop and slice toppings.

Thanks for all the replies.

All of mine have cooked with me from the moment they could stand on the chair next to me, as I did with my mum. My older three were all perfectly capable of making scrambled egg from about 6 or 7 and DD2 would take over cooking at the weekends from about 9 or 10. NOT because I didn't want to do it (I did, I love cooking), but because they loved doing it, and were/are very capable in the kitchen and understood kitchen safety.

DD3 (2.10) stood at the side this evening stirring risotto with me. She's very aware of what's hot and what's not, she's careful and she loves it. Obviously I am there with her the whole time, but if she enjoys it I'm all for it.

I don't think 7 is necessarily too young to make a cup of tea- my older daughter was easily able to make a cup of tea or coffee at this age. DD2 is smaller and less strong so will probably be a bit older. It just depends on the child.

Spag bol is great, followed by chilli, jacket potatoes, curry, toad in the hole.
Mostly i have done it by supervising covertly or by me being the helper.

Why on earth do people think that parents should be slaves to their children?
imo this just leads to over-entitled teenagers and adults. A family is a team and I think it is a big mistake not to let them help at the age when they want to. If ,like mine a child has been cutting veg. with a small knife (under supervision) since they were 3 or so then a meal is the next step by this age.
I'm with you OP. And it's not lazy to get them to help, it's actually more effort to make the effort to let them have a go.

I think it sounds like a great idea, i would have full supervision with minimal input at least untill they know what to do, you will need to provide some instruction other wise they will not know what they are doing.