Cooking at 7 – is it too young to start?
A few weeks back my son asks me if he can learn cooking – the whole complete meal. I probe him further what he
A year back, during Mother’s Day, daddy gave them an opportunity to cook Mummy breakfast – The Big Breakfast – bacon, sausage, eggs, mushroom, baked beans, and toast bread that sort. However, it wasn’t what he meant by the ‘complete meal’. Maybe because I don’t normally cook breakfast and we normally just have bread with peanut butter, jam

Reluctantly, I say we can do this as
The week heading to Sunday
So the whole week towards Sunday, we talk a lot about knife safety and also how we will also need to be careful as he has a 3 and 5 years old sister at home. We also discuss on the menu for Sunday night and also time planning as he has drawing class and his sisters have ballet class in between.
One of the evenings, somehow everything on the dining table seems wrong. What’s typical of their favourite food is somehow not what they want to eat on that day. All 3 of them was on food strike that night that I have to give them a naggy lecture about food wastage and also the time and effort I place to cook them their dinner. In my mind, it’s just the right time and right place because this coming Sunday, he will learn that cooking ain’t just a finger snap.
Sunday
We have our usual Sunday morning breakfast and then I took the opportunity to bring him for marketing and allow him to choose ingredients. Prior that week, he told me that he wants to cook soup, vegetable, eggs and his
As we will be out of home between 930am till
He couldn’t wait to get home. After lunch, it was his sister’s ballet class and he
We start our dinner making at
This for me is worth mentioning. Hopefully, it would give confidence to other parents to continue to monitor from far and allow the kids to explore themselves.

Sunday Dinner
Sunday dinner was definitely a success. He indeeds cook a complete dinner, which I was very sceptical at first.

Top (L to R) : Potato chicken, Broccoli with carrots and meat
Bottom (L to R) : Scramble eggs and soup
The next morning, I asked if he enjoyed cooking the dinner and if he would want to do it again. He told me he really likes it and would want to cook again the following Sunday. I ask him which dish he likes the most and he loudly exclaimed “potato chicken”, which I ask him to write down the recipe so he could refer it next time. The following weeks, he cooks potato chicken without supervision and just by referring to his ‘recipe’.

Love that:
- He took initiatives to ask to cook Sunday dinner. It goes on for a few weekends until recently he asks to learn to do sewing instead as Sunday activities.
- He finds ways to improve how to peel large potatoes.
- He thinks of his sisters when he chooses what vegetables to buy.
- He took pride that he didn’t want to just cook one dish, but he wants to cook the complete meal.
- Super love that now they understand cooking ain’t just a snap on finger and without trying the food and say “I don’t like it” would only hurt the person who spent their time cooking for them.
Learning from this experience:
- I need to learn to accept that at this age, they’re really like a sponge. Absorb everything in lightning speed – so don’t think that even they’re at primary school age, they’re learning too much.
- He would be a good role model for his sisters too. The following week, his 5 years old sister picks up using the knife and his younger sister helps prepare vegetables.

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