Cooking Skills by Age

Match your kids' skill levels with various tasks for safe kitchen fun. Here are some suggestions for age-specific tasks:

• Wash fruits and vegetables
• Stir ingredients in a bowl
• Tear lettuce
• Pour liquids

• Grease pans
• Open packages
• Peel oranges or hard-cooked eggs
• Snip fresh herbs with dull scissors
• Mash bananas with a fork

• Measure ingredients
• Cut soft foods with a blunt knife
• Set the table
• Garnish food

• Help plan the meal
• Roll and shape cookies
• Beat ingredients with a whisk
• Find ingredients in a cabinet or spice rack
• Make a salad

• Open cans
• Use a microwave oven
• Prepare simple recipes with few ingredients
• Use an oven (with supervision)
• Use a knife (with supervision)
• Shred cheese and vegetables

• Prepare recipes with multiple ingredients
• Prepare recipes independently