Increasing Independence In Children – Cutting
by PlanningQueen on April 30, 2009 in Child Development, Children's Activities
Over the next month I will be presenting a series of simple activities that can help increase your child’s independence. These activities are aimed at children aged two and above.
Last week I went through the example of juicing oranges. Today it is teaching your child to cut using a child sized knife.
Equipment:
- 1 child sized knife
- 1 chopping board
- Soft food items to cut like bread, cheese, banana, lettuce, melon etc
When To Do It:
I find this a great activity to set up for the preschooler when I am cooking. They can work along side me with a purpose. As they have something important to do (cut up their own food and then eat it!), I find that it allows me to move through my cooking quite quickly with fewer interruptions.
What To Do:
With all these practical life tasks I give a display of the activity first without words, allowing the child to take in the actual hand movements required. Too much talk can distract them from observing how the task is done.
- Display how to hold the knife correctly in your hand.
- Point out where the fingers should be on the knife.
- Position the other hand on the food item, highlighting its distance from the knife.
- Begin cutting the food with slow movements.
- Avoid taking over the task for the child. Children will not always perfect this skill the first time, so we can help them build up the skill, by allowing them to practice regularly.
- Finish the activity by having the child clean up . This could be as simple as placing the dishes in the dishwasher and food scraps in the compost or you can have them hand wash all the materials used.
EDIT: I have had a number of people ask about the knife used in the photo. It is ours and I bought it from a toy catalogue as part of a fundraiser. It is a Kiddie Food Kutter Knife.
9 comments...read them below or add one
That’s some great tips – I really should start encouraging more independence in the kitchen, but as I hate being in there myself I try and spend the least time possible. I probably shouldn’t pass that on to my kids hey?
Of course do you have any tips for teaching a left hander when you’re right handed? *sigh* That’s where I fall down – I have no idea how she should do things.
We have all right handers so far, so no tips on how to teach to a left hander sorry!
My kids all LOVE to help cut mushrooms when we have chicken and mushroom pasta. For littlies I cut the mushroom in half first then they can cut it into little bits easily, even with a butter knife. Once they have mastered that there is no turning back.. fruit salad is a huge fav too!
Fruit salad would be a great idea, thanks for the suggestions Kate!
My 4 year old loves helping me in the kitchen. His favourite thing at the moment is helping me put the rice on. Is that a picture of your own childs knife? If so can I ask where you got it from? Thanks.
Hi Nellbe, It is our knife and I bought it from a fundraiser catalogue. I can’t find the name of it right now, but I will get back to you when I can find the name.
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