Kids

Kitchen Safety Tips For Kids You Should Know

Kitchen Safety Tips For Kids You Should Know

Cooking is not only an important life skill but a fun way to spend time with your kids – and it can get fussy eaters interested in trying fresh, interesting, and healthy foods.

Hygiene of the kitchen may not seem as exciting to you as a bunch of cookies, but for your children, it’s important to learn.

Across the UK there are 500,000 cases of food poisoning a year and food poisoning is not as fun as you might well know. Teach your kids the fundamentals of cooking hygiene and safety to avoid tummies, cuts, and scalds from getting upset. Continue reading for the kitchen safety tips for kids.

Kitchen Safety Tips For Kids

You may think your domain is the kitchen, but that’s not true. Often they insist on being in the kitchen when you are doing your activities if you have small children in the home. So, what you have to do during these periods is to be vigilant and careful. Below are some kitchen safety tips for kids that you can adopt for your little chef. Adopting any of the following steps or safety measures in the kitchen may help to improve the safety of children in the kitchen:

1. Supervise Children

This is extremely important if you have younger kids who must always be supervised. It’s also good practice for your young chefs to be monitored – including as you teach your teen how to roast their first Sunday dinner. You’ll be shocked by how much knowledge an inexperienced chef requires.

Younger cooks require careful supervision. You’ll have to do other things for them, such as chopping and peeling. Take this opportunity to demonstrate how to keep and use hazardous kitchen equipment properly.

Kitchen Safety Tips For Kids You Should Know

2. Wash Hands

That might sound simple but that’s crucial. You should emphasize the importance of washing your child’s hands so that they establish better hygiene habits in the kitchen.

Teach the kids how to wash their hands properly. Most kids (and even adults!) don’t know the proper way to wash their faces. You should wash your hands for at least 20 seconds.

Also, make your kids aware of when they will wash their hands. Upon handling any raw meat or poultry they will always do so to avoid cross-contamination.

Kitchen Safety Tips For Kids You Should Know

3. Fire Safety Conversation

It’s important to emphasize the fundamentals of fire protection for young children.

Flames can be enticing so emphasize the importance of keeping away from open flames is important.

You should also emphasize the importance of holding panhandles away from flames and turning away from where they could get knocked.

Inform your child about calling 999 and what to do if a fire starts. Tell your kid that they should notify an adult and instantly evacuate if they see smoke or fire, but when the room is full of smoke they must crawl to evacuate the room.

4. Avoid cross-contamination

Cross-contamination is easy to avoid if you know how to do it, and what not to do. You should never wash raw meat, for example, because surfaces can become infected by Campylobacter if spilled or splashed. The most common food poisoning in the UK is caused by these bacteria.

It is important to wash all surfaces and utensils that have come into contact with raw meat.

It is also a good idea to ensure that your child is aware when meat and chicken are ready. Tell them the way a meat thermometer is used. They should insert this into the thickest part of the meat using a thermometer and wait until the temperature is constant.

5. Clean The Mess Immediately

It may be too much to expect young children to clean up the spills and mess or even teens to wash up while they go. Spills are an immense risk of slip and should be clean immediately.

Kitchen Safety Tips For Kids You Should Know

6. Teach How To Store Food Correctly

Refrigerated food should be kept between 0 ° C and 5 ° C to avoid the bacteria from thriving.

It is a good idea to teach older kids the best way to store food. There must be space between food products in a well-controlled refrigerator so that air ventilates the refrigerator correctly. Some refrigerators have special areas for raw meats and vegetables, so be sure to show your kids where it will be. These areas are meant to make the most of your food and to keep it better stored and fresh for more time.

7. Teach Basic First Aid

Tell your child where to use plasters and where to keep them, and how to treat mild burns by pouring cool running water over the burn for 10 minutes from a tap. Following this, any accessories or clothes near the burn should be removed and wrapped it in Clingfilm to keep it clean.

Kitchen Safety Tips For Kids You Should Know

8. Take Care Of Your Attire

Pull those sleeves up, put on your apron, and ready your mitts in the oven. Make sure your kids don’t have unsafe accessories or free-flowing sleeves and keep back long hair tied. Pop shoes on is always a smart idea, in case items get bumped or hot liquids are spilled.

9. Define The Off-limit Utensils And Areas 

If you believe your child is too young to use hazardous utensils or kitchen appliances, warn them of the risks and advise them to always ask an adult to assist them with these things.

10. Share Your Safety Knowledge With Kids

The basic and important safety knowledge in kitchens is not always known to children and adolescents. Therefore, when you cook or bake with them, you can take time to share your vital safety information.

For eg, kids may not be aware of that:

  • Never put metal and aluminum in the microwave because they can cause fires.
  • Plastic never will go to the oven.
  • A pan full of hot oil will never be filled with water. It may splatter, and cause extreme burns.

That’s the kind of safety awareness that’s important, but they may not be aware of it.

So, these are 10 kitchen safety tips for kids that you can adopt for your little chef.

Bonus Kitchen Safety Tips for Kids

  • Make sure there are no open outlets or plugs in your kitchen. Often, search for damaged wires or loose wires.
  • If you have medicines, cleaning products, or other similar items in your kitchen cabinets, ensure they are out of the child’s reach or in closed cabinets.
  • Make sure the matches, lighters, or something inflammable is out of the control of your child’s little hands.
  • Make sure no sharp things like scissors, grater, peeler, etc. are in your child’s near vicinity.
  • Don’t make your child sit on the kitchen shelf; serious accidents and misfortunes can occur.
  • Don’t let your child alone for a few minutes in the kitchen. This is a simple kitchen safety tip for kids. To leave them unattended implies giving them the opportunity to cause severe harm.

The above interventions will help to enhance kitchen safety for kids. However, in case of unforeseen accidents, you must keep the first aid kit handy in the kitchen.

Also Read: 10 Skills To Teach The Kids During Lockdown

 

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