Most food preparation is not light on fluffy stuff though, it usually involves fire and knives. Admittedly it goes against my instinct to give my three year old a knife, but when Little Miss chops up the red capsicum and tops and tails the green beans she learns so much. There's hand eye coordination, size and proportion, inside and outside, colours and contrast, plus the smells and flavours.
B loves to flip our sunday morning pancakes and he knows the pan is hot, he knows its a bit scary, but it adds to the thrill and learning, that fire is to be respected. Heat causes so many chemical reactions in the kitchen, pasta goes from hard to soft, an egg goes from runny to firm, a liquid batter turns into a pancake, pizza dough turns crispy. These are fascinating learning experiences for us. Yes, we have had near misses and B has cut himself on a sharp chef's knife, but as his skin repaired itself the lesson that knives can cut you has remained with him to this day. A lesson that teaches him to be careful, which is the best lesson of all.
Call me crazy if you like, but am I alone here? Do you let your children play with fire and knives?
Get into a world of play at childhood 101
7 comments:
I love the photo of your little girl cutting the beans, look at the concentration on her face :-) We haven't done anything with fire yet but we let our oldest (3 year old) cut with knives as well, I agree it's best for them to learn to respect and use 'dangerous' items properly if they are capable.
When she first showed interest we used to help her cut things hand over hand, but now she can do it by herself and always says "fingers away!" before she pushes down (meaning she checks to make sure her fingers are away from the blade). Like you it's always under close supervision, the best way to learn is to do I think!
Interesting post! I think that so often we're busy, and the easiest way to keep them safe is to keep them out of the kitchen and away from the 'real' cooking. I know I really dislike my little ones underfoot when I'm getting dinner ready. But I wholeheartedly agree with the principle of preparing our children and helping them navigate the dangers. I read somewhere that in England (where tea is a daily part of life) children and babies are rarely scolded by tea pots - because they have that experience of tea pots on the table all the time - they've learned to respect it.
I'm going to do some cutting with my kids this weekend. Thanks!
I agree with you regarding the need to expose your little ones to use of hazardous things like fire and knives. It has to come one day, better it to happen under supervision.
This wasn't the case when I was younger, however the rite of passage was of course the need to own your very own penknife. This fold up device was useful for sharpening pencils, making bows and arrows in the woods and for numerous other activities boys got up to many years ago. Naturally fingers were cut, and if matches were secreted from the house fingers would get burnt. Life was such fun then!
Supervised preparation and cooking is great, but make sure it really does get exciting. However I still want to know where the missing knives and spoons are that you and your siblings took outside to play with!
Here is another "thumbs up" for letting children play with fire and knives under supervision.
Joseph has been cutting up apples with me since he was 3. He is 4 1/4 now and respects the knive and uses it with great skill.
Excellent blog post CF!
Hugs
Peggy xxxx
At almost three, I let Immy cut soft vegetables like zucchini with a knife that we were actually given as part of a cheese set, it works really well. She will come and stand near me (on her stepstool) near the stove if we are making playdough or pikelets or similar, so that she can see but I have not yet let her touch.
I'm with you 100%! I believe in teaching them and supervising and not completely sheltering my children. I want them to be self-confident and feel like they can do anything they put their minds to. I can see how proud my sons are when they do things for themselves.
I love the focused, determined look on little miss' face as she cuts. wonderful!
Love it, agree. Have a look at Gever Tulley 5 dangerous things you should let your kids do Ted talk. Pleased to say my boys had done them all
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