To ask what age kids can make a brew?

[hawaiianhal]

Got to be getting close to it now surely 🙏🙏🙏

Accidents happen but not teaching children to do something 'risky' isn't the way to prevent accidents.

Teaching children to risk assess for themselves is.

"I was burnt so my kids will not be doing that " just moves the risk further down the line.
To prevent drowning to you never take the kids near water or do you teach them to swim?

I'll go back to my scout leader side.
When we camp the kids cook their own meals, on stoves and on fires. If we ask them for ideas of what they want to do cooking is always in the top 5- always.

The most accidents we have is with peelers. They peel their fingers, they grate their knuckles, they cut a finger. Once one has done it they all start because they begin to worry and panic and loose confidence.
Parents who are risk averse think that by keeping their kids away from sharp knives and hot water etc, they are protecting them. The reality is they are not equipping them with the skills to know how to do things safely.
Supervise.
Start with a cold kettle or tap
Get them to learn what level fill they can lift the kettle and keep control safely at so they don't over fill.

Teach them , give them confidence and the likelihood of an accident reduces.

Teach them how to treat a burn or scald if the worst happens.

Scouting teaches kids to risk assess, they learn what they can do and what they need more help with.

It isn't just doing risky things I see parents avoiding, the amount of kids with allergies who don't check before taking something or asking if it's safe or even having a basic understanding of what their allergy is is shocking to me. My dd has food allergies and she knew to always ask if it was safe before she ate anything from anyone. I have 13 year olds who still don't check ingredients before they eat something new.

You are doing your kids a disservice not teaching them basic skills.

I am with nokidshere on this. My 7 year old is desperate to make a brew like his big brother. I have not allowed him to yet because only his head is above the counter top.

@feministbias again, when you have to see your child in so much pain due to boiling water you wouldn't ever risk them or a sibling doing it again. Letting them know the risks fair enough. But boiling water can be dangerous in less than a blink of an eye and does everlasting damage. A peeler? Not so much.

@GameSetMatch

I have a huge burn on my leg from hot water as a child, I can still remember the pain and my leg is a mess I can’t wear skirts and feel self conscience in swimming gear. It’s going to be as late as possible in my house maybe 12? Even strong 8 year olds can slip or have a blip in concentration.

Even adults can have blips in concentration and scald themselves, though. Only the other day I forgot to do a hot water bottle up properly and it leaked on my foot

You don't have to let them do it alone, supervise and help them build up confidence so you minimise the danger.

I'm so surprised people are saying 10/12 years old. I was making tea and coffee from about the age of six. I thought that was normal!

My older two make tea and coffee, they’re 9 and 10. The 10 year old occasionally adds sugar to mine which is not pleasant but other than that, all good.

@feministbias again, when you have to see your child in so much pain due to boiling water you wouldn't ever risk them or a sibling doing it again.

What do you mean by ever? How much control do you think you'll have over them when they're 15? Don't you think they'll be safer if they've developed good general cooking skills while supervised before that?

In my family, we have tended to start with baking, because there is only so much damage you will do to yourself if wearing oven gloves. Then sharp knives. Then melting butter for a cake or similar. Then boiling water.

My dd nearly died falling from a toddler's climbing frame aged 2. I had to watch the consultant shake his head looking down at her unconscious little body. Did I take that as a sign that I must never let her climb anything again? I didn't. I realised that my job was to teach her to do things safely within the remits of her capability. And because there were clear issues with her body I realised I had to teach her more, let her practise more, to keep her as safe as possible.

And yes to the people who say teach them from the start how to deal with a burn or scald. I was very surprised when a toddler upturned her mum's teacup at a toddler group that neither mum or the other parents seemed to have a clue. Me and my friend had to almost snatch the child from her and hold her under cold water- if we hadn't, the burn would have been an awful lot worse.

@cory as in when they have zero need to make a cup of tea for themselves in primary school.

My youngest is 8 and makes a fab brew!

I can't remember when any of mine started making tea as I'm the only one in the family who drinks it, but I do love that my teenage boys always bring me tea in bed these days. They were all reasonably adept in the kitchen from junior school age. My youngest has multiple food allergies so he's probably the only kne that I have taught specific recipes too, the others just kind of absorbed it my osmosis. My DD did do catering GCSE so she has more technical knowledge about food than the others, but the boys wouldn't starve if I wasn't here. I agree that scouting has been good at getting them to try new things, though we are not hugely risk averse at home either.
This thread has brought back many happy memories of Brownies and Guides for me too. I think I did my Hostess badge first too. I was a Gnome, eventually becoming the Sixer - I was very proud.

My son was 8 when we taught him. He makes a decent brew!
My daughter has just turned 8 and I have not taught her yet; she is small for her age so doesn't feel right for her to handle the kettle yet.
She is good with cold drinks/toast/scrambled eggs though.

Oh agree re the wine! My now 10 year old is great with that, and likes to put a napkin on his arm and play sommelier!

About 9, when they are tall enough to safely manage the kettle on the counter top. One thing I always teach them is not to hold the cup with the other hand like you would with a plastic beaker, so if they miss the cup they don't pour it on their hand.

I would say 9ish with a very careful mature child. Saying that would I let mine? Nope. She's too accident prone, no trips to a & e with her ever but I know what she's like, plus it would probably taste rank 😆 She's made sausages and mash tending to the pans at the hob with my supervision and she was very good at that, but bit nervous of the gas flame. Unsupervised brew making? nooo

I've had a handful of coffees from my 15 year old but that's extremely rare purely because I don't drink that much tea and coffee. If/when I get to be an old fart then I'll be asking a lot more obvs.

DH taught DD to measure him an Old Fashioned with a cocktail measure when she was about five. Now at 8, she can follow recipes in a simple cocktail book and loves "making potions". Also really good at making a cuppa when we ask. It will eventually wear off, but we enjoy letting her take part in things that make her feel more independent.

My daughter is 8 and likes the idea of making a cup of coffee. She knows how to do it but quite often forgets to boil the kettle so I wouldnt say she's there just yet
:) xx

As soon as they can safely reach and carry the kettle. About 10 years old, depending on height.

[quote LST]@cory as in when they have zero need to make a cup of tea for themselves in primary school.[/quote]
No, they don't need to but you have to start somewhere. No wonder so many kids go off to university with no idea how to boil an egg.

I totally agree with letting children learn and take risks. But those risks must be calculated ones. Most accidents are completely avoidable, especially in the home.

A child who cannot reach the work surface comfortably without stretching or standing on something is not ready to do anything unsupervised in the kitchen. Boiling water, whether that's in a pan or kettle, is very high risk and therefore the child needs to be able to reach and lift safely. That means having elbows above the work surface and feet firmly on the floor.

Unfortunately the culture of ' it's never happened in my home before' leads people to take more risks without effectively calculating them, instead of taking a more global view. And obviously people who have experienced trauma from accidents will be more risk averse than those who haven't.

For instance, most accidents happen in the living room, but the most serious accidents happen in the kitchen. So whilst you could argue that your child is more likely to fall off the sofa, only a tiny percentage of those will sustain serious or life threatening injuries. Less children have accidents in the kitchen but a greater percentage of those will have serious or life threatening injuries as a result.

DD is 10 but she can't even walk through the house without injuring herself on a door handle/corner of a unit/stubbing her toe, battering herself on something, so I don't trust her with a kettle! Every time she leaves the room there's a series of bumps and ooowwws before she reaches her destination 😂

I totally agree with letting children learn and take risks. But those risks must be calculated ones. Most accidents are completely avoidable, especially in the home.

Of course, but you can minimise most risks.

Use a travel kettle instead of a full-sized one so they don't need to lift anything too heavy. Then, each them not to fill the kettle with more water than necessary and not to fill the cup to the brim. They could also practise pouring cold water out of the kettle into a mug or glass first.

I'm not saying just let a five year old loose with a kettle of boiling water, but at that age they can certainly learn how to put the tea bag in. An adult could pour the water, but they could add the milk and sugar and stir it, etc.

When I was younger started making them at about age 7 dad used to give 10p for every cuppa I made him. My son was about 8/9 he 12 now an makes himself a cuppa every night to dunk biscuits.

DD 13 will make us a cuppa. She uses to be too scared of the kettle after a friend got burned.

I was thinking this yesterday, surely 7 is old enough for a tired mummy 😄

@vanilandhoney where have I said I don't cook with my kids? They just don't use the kettle as my child was severely burned and IMHO it is an unnecessary risk.