Babble Best Picks:
Kitchen Tools for Kids
Teaching a child to cook can be a lot of fun, but it can be really dangerous, too. There are few other places in a home that offer so many potential dangers. In the kitchen, a child improperly prepared or supervised can fall, be burned or cut themselves in a matter of seconds. With that in mind, having the proper kid-friendly kitchen tools can truly be a mom's best aid for kids-in-the-kitchen success.
There are hundreds of companies that have created kitchen tools with children in mind. From shopping bags to step stools, cutting boards to cookbooks, it seems there is a product for every need a mama might have in her kitchen. But which of these products are the best? Which products offer unrivaled quality, innovation, effectiveness and price? Rather than spend your time and money batting around for the most worthwhile kitchen tools for kids, we've searched, narrowed down and tested more than 100 products to find 20 favorites. Each of these products make cooking with a kid a safe, fun experience.
TESTING:
The following products were tested along with many other kitchen tools by 3 moms, 2 dads and a handful of children, ages 3-12. Each product was tested for durability, safety, ease of use and real-world usefulness with special considerations given for price, design and creativity. Because there are so many aspects to the experience of cooking with children - shopping for healthy ingredients, preparing the meal, cooking and ultimately enjoying the fruits of good labor - tools that aid and benefit each stage of the preparation process have been included in our list of favorites. The authors of this article were given products for review but not paid by any manufacturer. All opinions offered are honest reviews by the parent and kid testers.
Toddler Tools | Fabrikators Toddler Flatware
Created by Danish designer Josephine Bentzen with a toddler's grip in mind, these colorful utensils from Fabrikators have a chubby, round shape, perfect for the whole-handed grip most youngsters use when learning to eat with utensils. Moms will especially appreciate the food-safe, BPA plastic. Our testers loved the bright colors and ergonomic design, not to mention the easy clean up, since these utensils can be tossed safely into the dishwasher. If we had to pick a downside, it would be the steep price point, though, the high quality of these products indicates they'll last for a long time to come. Best for children ages 6-months to 4-years-old. Available in pink, orange, blue and green.
Budding Chef | Playful Chef Deluxe Set
Any budding chef has to begin somewhere, and the Playful Chef Deluxe kit is an ideal starting point. This kit offers a plethora of essential kitchen tools in kid-friendly colors, including measuring cups, spoons, a pint-sized bowl and cookie sheet, an apron, a variety of cooking tools and laminated recipe cards. While the recipes included on the cards require adult supervision to cook, kids will easily learn how to measure with color coordinated instructions that match ingredient amounts with the kit’s measuring cups and spoons. Available through the Chocolate Cake Club, a website devoted to bringing parents and children together in the kitchen.
