What age can kids make tea or coffee on their own?

[Sweetlordjesusonajetski]

I mean, on average :) I know it'll vary a bit between individuals. Looking forward to the day I don't have to brew my own tea anymore :P

[Iggly]

Mine will be cooking meals by 11, so certainly before then. Ds is 5 and already trying. Have to keep a watch out for him!
He's promised me a roast dinner once he's 13.

[LowryFan]

Am I underestimating my DC abilities?

I cannot imagine DS (currently 10) cooking a meal aged 11. Or any of his friends. He helps with stuff but I don't think he has the... Not sure what exactly... Spatial awareness? Dexterity? Height/strength? Common sense? Concentration? Nouse? to cook a meal safely.

I'd rather he sorts the laundry while I do the cooking!

[MehsMum]

About 7 or 8. Likewise basic stuff like frying eggs.

I find that the desire to make cakes comes years before the desire to cook a balanced meal...

[Titsalinabumsquash]

Mine can cook pasta with a pre made sauce (made by me for the cook from scratch brigade )

They can do jacket potatoes, beans on toast, porridge, cereal, scrambled eggs etc, I figure that's fine for them for now, they'll pick up bits as the see me doing them or as they help me in the kitchen.

I really was one of these 8 year olds cooking huge Christmas dinners for the family by myself, it wasn't a great thing tbh, it didn't make me any more amazing at life than other kids my age that weren't.

[girlsyearapart]

I was hugely looking forward to dd1 doing hostess badge age 7 and a half. Gutted to find out hostess badge no longer involves tea making!!

[ShatnersBassoon]

8 unsupervised. An unslippy tray is essential for transporting the drinks.

[AdoraBell]

Mine can do lot's of food prep and cooking, but as I said, 13 yrs old. It's all gone out the window. TBH though homework doesn't help. DD1 has an average of 6 hours worth each day

[Mrscog]

About 7/8 ish to use a kettle I think. Although my 3 year old can use the Nespresso machine with supervision! (I didn't realise how much he took in when watching me, and one day I came in to find a cup of coffee in the final stages!).

[BossWitch]

Girls - hostess badge no longer involves tea making?! You've broken my heart!!

[dotty2]

My 9 year old can competently make a quite complicated cake on her own, but would struggle to do - say - a simple pasta sauce without supervision. Like PP said it's partly desire (proper food seems like more of a chore?) but I think it's also timing. We (I) take the simple timings involved in frying an onion until it's soft, adding tomatoes, knowing when to put the pasta on, for granted, but all of that is quite complicated when you're a beginner. Plus lots more scope to burn/undercook at any of the separate stages.

[dotty2]

And AdoraBell - 6 hours?? At 13? Is that normal? How depressing.

[ShelaghTurner]

DD1 is 7 and doesn't yet. Niece, now 12 has been making tea for a couple of years and it hinged on whether she could lift the kettle of boiling water safely. She found it heavy and her arm shook which made it unsafe. So I'm waiting with baited breath... :)

[crapfatbanana]

I can't remember at what age I was first allowed to use the kettle...

My eldest is nine and has not been allowed to make hot drinks yet, but I think is probably sensible enough now to learn.

[toptomatoes]

Eek - need to train DS (8) up then! He fills the kettle for a hot water bottle but often fills it too high. He can make his own toast but we haven't tried progressing past that yet!

[Fleecyleesy]

Another strange MN thing. An 8/9yo doesn't drink tea/coffee. Why are MNers obsessed by getting kids to make tea/coffee for them? Completely bizarre. I'd say when they are old enough to be drinking tea/coffee then they can make it if they wish.

[Amrapaali]

My 9 year old drinks coffee on and off. She made me a brilliant brew on Mother's Day. With the perfect amount of coffee, sugar and milk. Just the way I like it. I was very impressed...

[ArcheryAnnie]

Mine started making tea for be about 9. He's now 13, and the tea has improved (he's got a wee bit more patient so lets the teabag sit for more than a nanosecond). He's got a heavy hand with the milk, which I like.

He can do bugger-all else in the kitchen, though, except make his own toast.

[iseenodust]

DS is 10 and he made a cup of tea last month but really struggled with the height/weight of the kettle (and he's quite tall) so we agreed I'd continue to deal with the boiling water for a while yet.

[StarOnTheTree]

10

[Titsalinabumsquash]

On the flip side of these, my 14 year old niece has taken to just running the hot tap for s few seconds to make coffee/tea for anyone rather than boiling the kettle, in a hope that we won't ask her again!

[MumSnotBU]

My dc's do drink tea and coffee-from age about 8 roughly. They make tea and toast. They do all cook at school from age 11.

[dotty2]

Not 'obsessed' - just that it's quite a nice thing if someone makes you a cup of tea or coffee.

[MrTumblesBavarianFanbase]

For me it's about when they are tall and strong enough to lift the kettle safely from whatever work surface it lives on, and pour the boiling water, without needing to stand on a stool or step. Also about when they want to/ feel ready.

DD was 8. DS1 is already bigger at 7 than she was at 8 so I'd let him/ teach him if he wanted, but he doesn't drink any drink involving kettle boiling and is nervous of using the kettle so only suggested it once half in jest and he's never tried.

Coffee using a 1 cup pad machine can be made by a 3 year old as long as you're standing with them - I frequently have to have coffee when I want tea because my 3 year old loves making it but obviously can't use the kettle