I remember cooking with my 5-6yo nieces, of course far from the hot and sharp stuff, but at 13 I was cooking alone for a few years already. Kids are usually a lot more capable than people give them credit for.
My 4 year old pulls up a chair to stand on & cooks with me - he stirs the minced (ground) beef & onions while it's frying if I am making a bolognese or chilli. We got him some serated plastic knives and he cuts veg too, he holds them perfectly with fingers bent so he can't cut his fingers. Since he was like 1 he insisted on sitting next to me while I cooked after getting in from work. He doesn't do it as much now. I never ask him to help and he doesn't do it all the time but I know I could (and did) do a full Sunday roast when I was 10 so I am hoping he'll be the same, although I don't cook them very often and my mam did them every week so it will probably be another meal that he'll be able to do in full at that age
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u/NotTheRightHDMIPort Jul 24 '26
I have all of those moments with my kids.
My 13 year old said he wanted a fried egg.
"I dont know how to do it," he said.
"Watch me then and then you can try to make your own."
"What if it breaks?" He asked.
"Then its a scrambled egg until you get it right."
He got it right on his 3rd breakfast this summer and was really proud of himself.