Involve children in baking but stay safe warns CAPT

CAPT has joined forces with celebrity mum Fay Ripley, to encourage more parents to start cooking with their children, starting this half term.

“It’s brilliant to involve children in cooking”, Fay says. “It’s great fun and you can teach them all about food nutrition and safety.  The key thing is to do it when you have enough time”

With children growing up eating unhealthily and becoming obese in later life, it’s no wonder there are so many initiatives in operation trying to get kids back in the kitchen cooking.

But whilst the Child Accident Prevention Trust are encouraging parents to involve their children with food preparation, they are also warning families about the potential dangers lurking in the kitchen.

An alarming one in ten children’s accidents happen in the kitchen, with burns and scalds from hot drinks, food, fats and cooking oils the most common injuries.

Chief Executive of CAPT, Katrina Phillips says: “From around the age of five there are tasks children can start learning to do under supervision in the kitchen. And as children grow and develop life skills, they can get more involved in everyday kitchen tasks.  This helps them build confidence and skills whilst learning about the dangers too.”

If you are keen to start baking with your youngster this half term, have fun but pay heed to some of the safety advice put together from CAPT.

If using any hot appliances, such as a kettle or oven, make sure children understand how this can be dangerous and keep young children at a distance.

Show older children how to use an oven glove when taking anything out of the oven and how to put it down safely on a heatproof surface.

Pick a recipe that is easy to follow and doesn’t have too many ingredients so that you can focus on supervising your child and not reading through the recipe – this also helps to keep it fun.

Before you get started, allocate tasks to children which are right for their age and ability, for example buttering a cake tin, sifting flour or cracking eggs

Supervise and show children how to use kitchen equipment safely, i.e. when grating vegetables or whisking eggs.

Always supervise children when they are using knives or other potentially hazardous utensils.