Can 3 year olds use knives?

[brigid]

I grew up in a kitchen with a parent who was a professional cook for many years, which means that a lot of very basic knife (and general kitchen) safety was burned into my brain from a young age. Never put knives in the sink. Never run with a knife. Always pass a knife to someone handle first. Never touch a knife blade. Dull knives are more dangerous than sharp knives. Don’t use a too-small knife. I even know how to hone a knife on a whetstone. As I’ve said earlier, some of my earliest memories are helping my mom in the kitchen and I don’t really remember a time when I wasn’t actively helping.

Our current kitchen isn’t very usable, for a number of reasons, so I’ve been doing the bulk of my cooking solo. Even though Niko is at that magical age where he wants to help and is capable of helping in some ways, I’ve been curtailing that because it’s just so inconvenient for me. And that’s a wrong headed attitude to have, frankly. So lately I’ve been asking him to help me load and unload the dishwasher, put his dishes in the sink, measure coffee into the coffee maker… and cut red peppers.

Yes, I’ve given my baby a knife.

A toddler stands on a wooden scaffolding called “The Learning Tower,” which raises her height to be safely able to work at a kitchen counter. Image taken from the Learning Tower website.

Several people have mentioned using things like the “Learning Tower,” which is a wooden scaffolding that costs quite a bit of money. If we had the money and the space for it I’d totally consider it, but as it is, Niko is very happy on his 2-step stepladder. We pull it right up to the counter and we practice handing a knife back and forth handle first, and then I give him strips of red pepper to slice in half.

We work on paying attention to what he’s doing, to the cutting board and the peppers. We work on how to hold the knife in his hand. We work on remembering that the blade is sharp. We work on how to hold the food steady. We work on not going too fast. And then he hands the knife carefully back to me and we put the peppers in a bowl, and he eats them all because red peppers are basically the bomb.

I know there are dull knives that people use for toddlers. There’s some plastic lettuce specialty knife that a lot of people laud for its dull blade and inability to puncture skin. I considered getting one of those, but in the end decided that with close supervision using a real knife was the better choice. Knives are sharp. I want my child very aware of that, at all times. I want him to know knife safety, and I want him to develop cooking skills that will last him through his life. If you have young children in your life you may very well make a different choice, and I’d love to hear what you have chosen or will chose. But Niko’s enjoying cutting up his own peppers, and he’s enjoying helping me, and he’s learning a lot while doing so.

How old were you when you started using a sharp knife?

Would you let a 3 year old use a knife?

What would you do?

Technorati Tags: child, cooking, kitchen safety, knife safety, parenting, safety, teaching, toddler

Mirrored from Now Showing!.

Comments

[kayote]

I could see a stepladder (well, the two solid step step we have) working well. L was climbing on chairs, which was a Very Bad Thing given he had a habit of trying to fall off/knock them over while on them. At the time we didn't have the step stool either, so we bought the tower--we have a nice wide kitchen. It fits, but is close enough we stub our toes more than I'm happy with. :P

I don't like the idea of a dull knife for cutting. Dull knives are dangerous. An not-sharp-by-design (such as a butter knife), yes, but only for doing things appropriate. I'll teach L to cut butter before I'll have him cut a pepper, for example. But I won't have him cutting peppers with a dull knife. *shudder* Requires more pushing which leads to slipping which leads to OW.

I introduced L to a butter knife after reading your last response. I don't think he internalized any of it. I like your idea, though, and will try again in a few months. I figured 2 years was a bit early, but hey, why not. He asked for it. :)

[brigid]

We have a two step ladder with a big handle across the front/top so he can hang onto it if he feels nervous and I can also tell him to put his hands there if I'm doing something dangerous/he has wandering hands.

Being exposed to how to handle knives is really good stuff! Be consistent and he'll pick up on it.

Part of the reason dull knives are dangerous is not JUST the "needs more pushing" but ALSO a sharp knife will cut skin/fat/muscle/tendon/nerve cleanly while a dull knife will mash and mangle. If you're trying to put your hand/finger back together you want a clean slice, not a mashed up mess.

I like the idea of the tower and I know a few people who have them and love them. I'm pretty sure that even if our kitchen were larger I'd break my toe(s) on it, though.

[sara]

I think it depends a LOT on temperament -- which meant that Herself didn't get to use a knife until she was eight. The boy started much younger.

[nicki]

Huh. I don't really remember. I might have been 6? That was the year we moved back to California where my outdoorsy grandfather was and I learned to fish and so to clean fish, which definitely involved a sharp knife. I know I had a table knife at that point because I remember that my brother was really starting to sit at the table instead of a highchair (he was almost 3 and, er, active) and noticing he didn't have a table knife. I don't remember ANYTHING about my cutlery before that however.

[sparkymonster]

I'm not sure when I started using a sharp knife. My brother probably would have been handed one at a younger age than me, simply because of our temperaments. He was much more careful than I was.

I know we both helped in the kitchen at an early age. I insisted on having real ingredients to work with. I think if I had a child that wanted to use a knife, I'd also go for supervision of a sharp knife rather than a dull kid's knife.

[al_zorra]

We had the kitchen stepstool -- almost all the kitchens in our world did. There was a single step stool too, which when you were 'big' you used instead of the one that had three steps up to the seat to sit or stand in order to 'help' or just, with our family -- WORK! BECAUSE YOU ARE A GIRL AND GOD HAS DESTINED YOU TO DO THIS ALL YOUR LIFE UNTIL YOU DIE AND IF YOU DON'T DO THIS AND ALL THE OTHER WOMEN'S WORK YOU WILL GO TO HELL WHEN YOU DIE.

Yeah, I just lurved me domestic WORK.

I only started to like cooking a few years ago.

So I probably used a knife first about three or four, because that's when it began. All that WOMEN'S WORK.

Love, C.