Recipe for a Kid-Friendly Kitchen

Just like at any party, everyone ends up in the kitchen on a day-to-day basis. Kitchen can be wonderful places for family bonding, but are also dangerous for younger children without proper child-proofing. However, with a few key ingredients, your burgeoning cook will be a welcome addition.

Safety and Supervision

Toddlers love to help, and this especially applies to the kitchen. This makes child-proofing especially crucial in the kitchen: knives, glassware, and poisonous products need to be located out of reach and/or behind a locked cabinet. Safety First has a range of cabinet locks including slide locks and flex-locks that are simpler to use and more effective than traditional under-shelf locks. Whenever possible use the back burners on the stove with pot handles turned back to safeguard wandering hands from getting burned. More extensive safety products such as oven locks, fridge latches, and knob covers are also widely available.

All of these precautions are not fail-safe, however, and it's important to keep an eye on children at all times. Similarly, talking with children about what they are and are not allowed to do in the kitchen - and why - is critical. Even two-year-olds can understand they have to stay away from the oven and stove because it is hot. If they understand why you tell them something (they could get burned), they are more likely to listen.

Kid Drawer

What is in the kitchen is sometimes as important as what is not. Giving children a drawer or cabinet they can play in without asking goes a long way toward encouraging them to leave others alone. For example, if the family junk drawer is filled with coupons, take out menus, pens, and scissors; the kid junk drawer is filled with plastic spoons, bibs, napkins, and snack cups. The Tupperware drawer is a valuable addition to any kitchen, as are pots, wooden spoons and plastic ladles, and empty oatmeal containers.

Well-Stocked Freezer

Nutritious meals that can be made quickly are important to every family. A full freezer saves valuable time and mental energy trying to figure out what to make for dinner. Frozen vegetables and shrimp make easy stir-fry dinners, casseroles can be defrosted, and pre-prepared meals such as Birds Eye Voila dinners are an every freezer must-have. The occasional frozen pizza will feel like a treat, especially when topped with shredded carrots and other vegetables. Children can help participate in the dinner-making by taking out frozen foods, pouring the vegetables into containers, or even pushing start on the microwave.

Drawing Table

Time together in the kitchen often creates a safe talking space where children and parents can talk about what is going on in their lives. If possible, a space for children to work or play is a great asset in the kitchen. To tie in with the meal theme, young children can decorate paper placemats for dinner and older ones can create the evening's menu. Or children can do homework, read, or work with play dough. A dedicated table - whether it doubles as the breakfast nook or just play space - encourages children's participation and presence in the kitchen. Consistent meal preparation time also encourages this interaction as children learn to expect they will have the opportunity to talk and relax with their parents.

Encouragement and Participation

A love of healthy food develops early and growing up in the kitchen is a wonderful way to foster cooking curiosity in children. Children of all ages can help in the cooking process - tearing lettuce for the salad, pouring cans of beans, sifting flour - and when they are involved in meal preparation there's a greater chance that they will eat it and be more excited about healthy eating. Similarly, they can help with dishes and setting the table.

The kitchen truly is the heart of the home. Creating a safe and welcoming space for children increases opportunities for family bonding, aids the logistics of getting dinner on the table, and helps instill an early love of food and cooking in children.