Little ones making their own food and drinks?

[Hunneybeez]

My 7 year old relys on me (or dad or nana etc) to prepare all his food and drinks. This might be completely normal, I don't know.

My oldish memory struggles to recall at what age I was successfully making my own cereal, sandwiches and other easy snacks/meals. My earliest memory of making a jacket potato is approx. 12 years old but that's not to say I didn't do it earlier, I just can't remember.

Don't misunderstand me. I'm a happy mammy when I'm preparing dinner for the family as I throughly enjoy cooking but I don't want to raise a sloth. My husbands mother did everything for him right until he moved out and for 4 years until we met, he lived on micro meals and store bought sandwiches!! Some might argue that's just men for you but he admits it was because he never had to do anything before and felt too long in the tooth the learn (that sharp changed when we moved in together and he's now a very confident cooker and enjoys sharing the cooking responsibilities) but I digress.

I've tried to encourage my son to join me in the kitchen while I prepare dinner, help with washing the veg, mixing the salad, stirring the soup etc. to get him used to the kitchen and all that comes with it but he's not interested at all. I half wonder if it's because I don't let him loose but I'm still weary at the idea of him around hot pans and sharp knives.

Do you allow your children to make snacks or easy lunches, such as sandwiches, for themselves? What age did you allow it?

Drinks too. He made his own juice yesterday and when I checked the bottle he'd used a good quarter of the bottle!! Thankfully it wasn't the double concentrate stuff but i could just imagine the strength of the stuff making its way through his system! Any tips or advice would be appreciated :)

Keep a jug of made up juice in the fridge and start with him making sandwiches. Mine were helping out in the kitchen by that age. They were also allowed to (carefull) stir a pan of food, plus help me make cakes. Being wary around knives is a good thing, but taught properly from a young age means he'll be sensible with them.

My 7 year old makes his sisters drinks (usually water from the tap!)
He gets the breakfast things ready most days (cereal and toast) as I'm faffing about with little dd. He can spread butter although usually waits for me. If he's getting snacks for everyone, he gets a step and knows where to look.
He likes to be my 'sous chef' in the kitchen and chops (with a butter knife) and stirs pans for me with supervision. He's known about sharps and burn safety since age 3/4.

My ds1 is 7 he has just started to make his own drinks I did it with him the first few times then he was ok to do it himself, he has tried to make a sandwich again I did it with him at 1st now he will have a go himself ( he does make a bit of a mess but he's got to learn at some point) he can also get cereal himself. He is very good and will get himself and ds2 (aged 4) a drink &a snack if I'm busy feeding/changing ds3 (2.5 weeks old). I wouldn't allow him at this age to make anything hot or use sharp knives but think it's acceptable that he has got the independence to feed/water himself as needed.
My bil is 21 and has only just learned how to make tea and toast as fil has molly coddled him even now fil will still make him cereal and take his empty dishes away etc. I don't want my kids to be like this when they're older.

Lol lexiloub that was pretty much my hubby until we met!! Useless because he was Molly coddled from day 1!

Thanks everyone. This really helps put things into perspective for me and some ideas to help get him going on the road to independence :)

DD (8) makes toast and cereal herself. She has just learned how to make a cup of tea (carefully!). DS (5.5) can get his own drinks of water or juice (can't manage squash though!).

Ds3 (8) and ds1 (19) can get their own drinks (water or Juice) and can make toast, a sandwich or fetch snacks from the cupboard or fridge. Ds 1 can also microwave a Rustler burger, make pot noodles and can use the phone to order a takeaway. Ds2 (17) can make a great red Thai curry and a lemon cheesecake amongst other things. He just cares more about food than ds1. None of them can clean up after themselves to my standards.

whenever mine (8 & 6) sort it their own cereal I end up mopping up half a bottle of milk . so even more stress for me, it's easier to do it myself.

They cook sometimes, weigh, chop and mix etc.

My eldest stepson has dyspraxia and his mum likes to be a martyr so he is less sufficient than I would expect a 9 year old to be but he's started cooking more with me. Both boys have taken a long time to convince of their capabilities.

DS is two and sits next to the hob stirring his own porridge. If someone comes near he says "hot" and does the baby sign for danger. He'll no doubt be doing everyone's packed lunch by the time he's four

Dd 7 gets her own drinks from the fridge, cereal, makes toast and sandwiches and helps herself to snacks from the cupboard when told she can. Ds 10 does all this plus use the microwave to warm stuff up and can heat beans to go with the toast or heat soup.

My 10 and 8 year old made tomato soup from scratch and homemade croutons the other day.
I literally just set the food processor up for them,and got the baking tray out of the oven.
It was delicious too.

I found it was a real incentive to get a couple of cook books aimed at children.

Good grief yes.
Pre-schoolers are expected to be able to pour their own drinks and spread their own toast, so he certainly should be by 7.

If you want to interest someone in something like cooking though, you have to start with the yummy things - make some cakes together, etc. to get the 'cooking can be fun' thing going.

Then get them on things like heating up some soup or making beans on toast to give them some independence, then the meals will follow.

I expect that he isn't interested if you are going to hover over him!

At 7, DS1 can do his own breakfast (get cereal from the cupboard, get bowl and spoon, get milk from the fridge and put it all together).
He can butter bread but I haven't really instructed him in the use of sharp knives so can't make a sandwich that doesn't involve a spread yet.
He can get his own drink but has to have help opening new cartons of juice or milk; he can get water for himself.
He doesn't use the toaster but then we don't, often, in general. I haven't yet started him on using the gas cooker - he's too day-dreamy and gas is more dangerous than electric.

When baking, he'll whisk the eggs, help stir stuff together, rub butter into flour etc.; but he hasn't wanted to use the electric mixer yet.

DS2 is only 2. He's barely allowed to eat by himself - no, he is, of course - but he has to sit down when he's eating, I can't bear children trailing crumbs all over the place.

This year, I will start doing more with DS1 as 7 is a good age to start. I'm worried he'll cut his finger off though through not paying attention (a besetting fault he has). I was cooking bacon and eggs and fried bread by the time I was 7 though, so in reality I think it's time.

Meant to add - DS1 has been putting his own plates/cutlery into the dishwasher since he was 5 and has been emptying the crockery from the dishwasher since he was about 4/5 (can't quite remember, probably nearer 5, when he was a bit stronger). It's his Job, along with laying the table.

I have no truck with the idea of mollycoddling - MIL was one of those as well and, while DH has learnt to do some things, he still has an expectation that they will be done for him a lot of the time. I can't be doing with it and I don't expect future DILs will either!

I don't think it matters this young. Let kids pour drinks if you want it everywhere! Do you know any adults unable to use a tap/make a drink?

The food - personally I wait until they are tall enough to use the work surface/hob properly.

It's one thing letting them have a go for fun (I do) but be careful if expecting more than that - ie actual help. I do know someone whose 5yo got a nasty burn cooking.

It's like bum wiping - no adults can't wipe their own bums but people are so gloaty about 3/4yos being able to do it and get crap everywhere.

Thank you all for your comments, advice and tips. Some of them have made me laugh (in a good way) this was my first question here and I'm thrilled at how helpful everyone is and ultimately non-judgemental too. Thanks again all ??

DP learned by himself how to cook eggs on him own on the stove at 4y old. He would get up before his mum and get at it. She freaked out at first, thaught he would burn the house down, but eventualy realised he was quite good. My parents taught my brother (6) and me (7) how to cook oatmeal on the stove top. We loved it and felt so proud the first time we got up real early and showed them our skills by pringing them berakfast in bed. DB made his with curry.

We all love to cook as adults.
Since we were really small our parents taught us to be carful when around the stove and knives.

Must add parents were relaxed about cleaning up. We learned how to clean up but it took a while before we got the hang of it.

My ds is almost 7. He makes his own breakfast most days as it's just pouring cereal and had done for years. I do decant cereal into those plastic boxes to makes it easier to pour. At the weekends we often make pancakes and he can pretty much do that now.

I was a parent helper at beavers and they were chopping fruit and salad and turning Welsh cakes on a skillet. He did that so really week and i have been meaning to let him do more like that.

My DS has just turned 7. He can get himself a bowl of cereal, make toast and make a wrap (cheese is grated and kept in a box in fridge so he just uses that and some ham) We have a butter knife which is rounded at the top so not very sharp, he knows to be careful with it. My problem is getting him to clear up afterwards!

My DD is almost two and she can spread her own crackers and pour cereal from those variety pack boxes into a bowl.

I used to make hot drinks from being about 8. And toast, pasta, scrambled eggs etc. My cooking skills haven't developed a great deal since

WitchesAbroad- I'm intrigued: where does your DS put the crockery when he's taken it out of the dishwasher? I think DD would love to do this when she's just a bit older (she's really interested in the dishwasher) but our plates all go high up, and even bowls etc which are in a low level cupboard need to be stacked correctly. Is all your crockery stored easily at a low level? Or have you taught him how to get up to cupboards safely?

DD is only 2, but always pours any milk being used, and stirs my tea - mainly because like all 2 year olds she really, really wants to do EVERYTHING! We had a few milk spills at first, but when I explained about watching where it comes from, she got it, and now rarely spills. If the bottle is very full and heavy, I do support it underneath. And I'm VERY alert and close while she stirs the tea! She's naturally careful and cautious though, so I'm influenced by that.

Last night, she wanted to get her own night time water, and she took her cup to the bathroom, turned on the tap herself, rinsed the cup (with prompting, but no help), filled it, and turned the tap off again! Proud (and surprised!) mummy

I have a step-up stool in the kitchen, and one of the kitchen unit baskets had plastic cups, plates and bowls in it. So they could help themselves to water, frut, cereal, bread etc, and the fridge independently from being quite young, around reception. DD was more adventurous than DS.
Hot food kicked in later, around 7ish.

Having some prepared stuff is a good idea, grated cheese and sliced bread means that ham and cheese toasties or simple pizza is easier.
Our kitchen and sitting room are next to each other, so later on, I could watch TV or read and respond to queries without hauling my arse off the sofa.
Which means I was there but not hovering when they'd got past the stage of needing me to.
Well done Strawberry, you sound as if you've got it sorted! Step by step and she'll be so chuffed with herself!