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You can start way before 12 with cooking. My son made scrambled eggs a day before his third birthday. (I just put the stuff out and told him what to do -- he
by wheels 8y ago
You can start way before 12 with cooking. My son made scrambled eggs a day before his third birthday. (I just put the stuff out and told him what to do -- he put the butter in the pan, turned the stove on, cracked and scrambled the egg, and poured it into the pan. The only thing he struggled with was getting the egg out of the pan fast enough that it wouldn't burn, so I helped with that.)
In the kitchen he can peel garlic, fill ice trays, make bread dough into rolls ... and again, he's just turned three. He's much slower with all of those things than I am, but if I time things right, he's actually a (small) net positive. For example, he'll make one roll, and I'll make the other 7, or I'll give him 4 cloves of garlic 10 minutes before I need them.
- Ntrails 8y agoThe very early cooking memory for me is making mince pies. I'd cut out the shaped tops (a variety of christmas trees, stars, bells etc) whilst mum did the bases and filled them and I'd put the covers on and glaze them. Slightly later I'd get to roll the pastry as well. Much like making our own pizzas (putting the toppings on) - you had entertained children whilst also being productive. I wouldn't have described this as "chores" though. (they came later)
- dpatru 8y agoMy wife makes cooking videos with my three-year-old. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_suiznE4hpPUaR0UJci6eA https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_suiznE4hpPUaR0UJci6eA
- specialist 8y agoNicely done. My son's first cooking task was washing the vegetables. Side benefit is he'd eat anything he had helped cook. He didn't like mushrooms. But he ate them without me asking.
- sp332 8y agoI'd be very careful with kids under 4 because they don't have all their reflexes yet. I know it sounds weird, but that reflex where your arm pulls itself back from something hot doesn't exist at that age. Little kids make up a huge proportion of burn victims for that reason. 5+ should be OK though.