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Healthy
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Safe Cooking With Children
Cooking in the childcare setting can be a fun and educational experience for young children. Children learn many valuable lessons from cooking experiences. Here are just a few examples:
- Children learn new words like whisk, knead, spatula, and grater.
- Children learn language concepts from the words in a recipe.
- Children learn social skills as they plan, prepare, and eat food together.
- Children learn math concepts like: half, a tablespoon full, and three minutes.
- Children gain science knowledge through observing, investigating, and predicting.
- Children learn social studies as they explore what food is used in different cultures.
- Children develop small muscles as they squeeze and stir.
- Children learn about nutrition and safety, too!
There are many more examples, but you get the idea. Cooking can be great for learning! But cooking also can pose dangers for young children. Knives, electrical appliances, and hot stoves can be hazardous in the childcare setting. But there are many safe ways to involve young children in cooking.
Activities for Children
Preschool children can help select menus, shop with you for the ingredients, carry unbreakable supplies, rinse fruits, break bread into servings, scrub vegetables, dip foods, tear lettuce, shuck corn, break broccoli into pieces, peel bananas and oranges, mash bananas or potatoes, pour cool liquids, mix and stir batter by hand, spread butter and other soft food, knead and roll dough, string beans, beat eggs, snap fresh peas, shake mixtures in covered containers, measure ingredients with spoons and cups, create table decorations, set the table, serve food, and help clean up!
Of course, some children can only do some of these things and others can do much more depending on their ages and abilities. Select and assign tasks that each child can complete successfully and safely for cooking experiences.
It is important to be familiar with the individual children and their abilities as you make decisions about who uses what in addition to following formal guidelines, such as those in Caring for our Children, 2nd edition. Also, teach children how to properly use kitchen tools. Even if you are using the tool yourself, you can talk about proper use as you demonstrate it.
Tips for Cooking with Children
Help prevent food-borne illness by always washing hands before cooking. Wait until the food is thoroughly cooked before tasting, and do not eat foods with raw eggs or raw meats. Have children stand at the level of the activity. Use a sturdy stool, if necessary. Use cooking supplies that will not break (such as plastic measuring cups and stainless-steel bowls). Use plastic knives or butter knives for cutting.
Younger children may be happier and safer using limited tools (spoons, for example) and creating single servings of foods for themselves, rather than working as a group on food preparation. With older preschoolers, encourage them to work together and share cooking responsibilities.
The use of sharp kitchen tools (knives, peelers, graters, etc.) and electrical appliances should be limited to older children, and they should remain sitting with a supervising adult when using them.
Provide constant supervision. Always watch children when they use knives, mixers, or appliances. Closely supervise the use of ovens, stoves, and other kitchen appliances. Remind children that stoves, ovens, pans, and dishes can be very hot. Keep electric appliances unplugged when not in use.
Foods for Cooking Activities
Recipes should be easy, short, familiar to you, and nutritious. Since food prepared during cooking activities with children may be used as snack or part of a meal, it is important to follow the U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations and any other menu guidelines your program follows.
Food safety also is a concern. Because children under four years of age lack muscle control to chew and swallow very well, it is important to avoid sticky, slippery, round, and hard to chew foods. Avoid foods that could cause choking for children under six years of age: popcorn, hard candy, spoonfuls of peanut butter, marshmallows, nuts, seeds, peanuts, fish with bones, raw peas, whole grapes, raw carrot pieces or whole, ice cubes, dried fruit, large chunks of meat, or hot dogs.
Here are some ways to make foods safer: cut hotdogs lengthwise and into small pieces; mix applesauce with peanut butter and serve on crackers rather than bread; grate carrots into small pieces; and cut grapes in half lengthwise before serving to children.
Remember, raw meat and eggs or batter containing raw eggs should never be tasted by children or adults of any age. Another safety consideration is potential and known food allergies of the children and staff; reactions to foods such as peanuts, shellfish, or dairy products can be serious or even deadly. Also, wash foods well (e.g., fruits/veggies).
Sanitation
Of course, washing hands is critical for sanitation, even if children are only responsible for carrying supplies or setting the table. Routine hand washing also helps build healthy habits for young children. Make sure it is step number one for all cooking activities; it may need to occur more than once throughout the cooking experience. For example, you and the children may need to clean up spills as you cook to help keep the area clean and to prevent accidents. After cleaning a spill on the floor, you should wash your hands again.
Where Cooking Activities Take Place
The following guidelines about kitchen use in Caring for Our Children, 2nd Edition should facilitate safety:
- Infants and toddlers should not be in the kitchen at any time; and preschoolers should not be allowed in the kitchen area when hot foods are being prepared.
- Close supervision is necessary at all times, even with school-age children. The “cooking” space for cool foods may not be in the kitchen, but sanitation issues should still be considered.
Cooking with children can be a health and safety challenge, but it also can be a valuable learning experience. So give it a try and remember the fun! That is the best part, but it is only fun if everyone is safe and practicing healthy habits.
Connie Jo Smith, EdD, Early Childhood Education Specialist, Training & Technical Assistance Services, Western Kentucky University
Resources
Food and Nutrition Information Center, National Agricultural Library, 10301 Baltimore Ave., Beltsville, MD 20705-2351; 301-504-5719; www.nal.usda.gov/childcare/Recipes/index.html
Internet resources
American Dietetic Association, www.eatright.org
Caring for Our Children, National Performance Standards, Guidelines for Out of Home Childcare, nrc.uchsc.edu/cfoc
California Department of Health Services, www.wicworks.ca.gov/education/nutrition/kidsRecipes/cooking_safetyTips.htm
CHIPR Nutrition Activities, www.childhealthonline.org/SampleActivities1.htm
Cooking with Kids, www.kidsfood.com
University of Idaho, www.ag.uidaho.edu/feeding/
National Food Service Management Institute, www.nfsmi.org
National Resource Center for Health & Safety in Child Care, nrc.uchsc.edu/CFOC/HTMLVersion/Appendix_R.html
Team Nutrition, www.nal.usda.gov/childcare/Safety/index.html
U.S. Food and Drug Administration, www.foodsafety.gov
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