Getting children involved in the kitchen is a brilliant way to connect with them and teach a skill for life. For any parent or foster carrier, sharing the job of making a family meal can be a source of real pride and fun. As you show them how to follow a recipe, it’s the perfect time to weave in the essentials of kitchen hygiene. Making these simple checks and habits a normal part of cooking means they will learn how to handle food safely, not just in your home but for the rest of their lives.
Clean Hands, Clean Start
First things first: handwashing. Explain in simple terms that hands can pick up invisible germs that can cause tummy upsets if they get into our food. Show them how to do it properly – a good scrub with soap and warm water for about 20 seconds is what’s needed. Singing a quick nursery rhyme or the ‘Happy Birthday’ song twice is a fun way to make sure they wash for long enough. Before you get the ingredients out, also get into the routine of tying back long hair and rolling up sleeves. Give your worktops a wipe down with a clean cloth and an appropriate antibacterial spray, and do the same again once you have finished.
The Colour-Code Rule for Chopping
This is all about stopping germs from raw foods, like meat, getting onto food that’s ready to eat, such as salad ingredients. The easiest way to teach this is with coloured chopping boards. You could have a red one for raw meat, a green one for vegetables, and a blue one for fish, for example. This visual guide makes it very clear for a child which board to use. Stress that after touching raw meat or fish, everyone must wash their hands, the knife, and the board straight away in hot, soapy water before touching anything else. If you are short term fostering a child, make sure to take any food allergies into account during this step.
From Hot Cooker to Cold Fridge
Children need to know that some foods must be cooked all the way through to kill off any harmful bacteria. With things like chicken, burgers, or sausages, teach them to check that the meat is piping hot in the middle with no pink bits left. For an older child, using a food probe to check the temperature can be an exciting and grown-up task. It is also important to handle leftovers correctly. A good rule to introduce is the two-hour rule: food that needs to be chilled should be cooled and put in the fridge within two hours of being cooked. This is also a great moment to show them where to find and how to read the ‘use-by’ dates on food packaging.
Creating Lifelong Habits
Building these simple steps into your kitchen hygiene routine will make them feel like a normal part of the cooking process. By making food safety a habit from a young age, you are helping your child understand the ‘why’ behind the rules. Any parent or foster carrier who takes the time to do this is giving a child the knowledge and confidence to cook safely and well, a gift that will serve them for years. Visit Betweencarpools.net for more details.
