Cooking in the kitchen with children is a great fun activity that helpseducate children about food and gives them a sense of achievement by creating something delicious out of ordinary ingredients. But this fun activity comes with many dangers and can even put your children’s lives at risk.

While teaching kids about food and cooking skills, it is important to teach children about health and safety in the kitchen. Working in the kitchen is very dangerous. To ensure your kid’s well-being, help them understand the hazards present in the kitchen that could help them avoid accidents such as kitchen fires.

In case of kitchen fire outbreaks, evacuate the house and call a fire ambulance. Your next step should be to reach out to a reputable restoration company, like  911 Restoration. We have professional staff and workers to help you deal with fire and smoke damage and restore your home for your family to live safely in again.

Before your child heads into the kitchen, make sure they follow these steps to prevent any fire hazard from occurring.

Adult Assistant Should Always Be Present

Make sure you are always close to your child when they are cooking in the kitchen. Never leave them unattended and help them handle hot pots, turn on the stoves, or use knives. This way, you can keep your child safe and help them learn new cooking techniques.

Ensure They Wear Proper Clothing

Ask your child to wear an apron and oven mitts if handling hot pots and pans. The apron would protect them from hot oil splashes and keep their clothes clean. Moreover, wearing baggy and loose sleeves or clothes could easily catch fire when cooking. To prevent fire damage to the kitchen and keep your little one safe, make sure they are wearing proper clothes.

Follow and Teach Your Kids the Following Kitchen Safety Tips

• If your child is too young to help you cook but wants to contribute somehow, make them do less risky things such as helping you arrange ingredients, or juicing a lemon, or mixing ingredients in a bowl on the kitchen table.
• Instruct younger children not to come close to the stove, and you can further emphasize this by designating at least three square feet around the stovetop and oven into which children are not allowed to enter. You can mark this area using tape. Help them understand the dangers of coming close, and you would let them cook once they grow up.
• Always turn the panhandles so they don’t hang off the stove. It is necessary if the contents are hot and boiling. If your child insists on mixing the food you’re cooking; this step would prevent your child from accidentally bumping into or pulling down a hot pot or pan.
• Child-proof stove knobs so they cannot turn them on while you are not at home.
• Do not leave kitchen towels and tablecloths hanging from an over-the-door handle. If you have infants, toddlers, and pets around, they may pull on them and could lead to fires if you’re not home.
• If your child is still a toddler, teach them they should never touch hot appliances. However, if your child is old enough to cook, teach them to handle hot appliances carefully when they’re cooking and let you take over if they want to move them around.
• Use only microwave-safe cookware in the microwave; make sure it is never tinfoil or anything metal. If your child is not sure if something is safe for use in the microwave, ask them to ask you first.
• Never leave the burners unattended. Stovetop fires cause more damage and fatalities than other home appliances. And these fires can grow out of control quickly. Taking the appropriate safety measures, especially when your child is using a stovetop, can help reduce the risk of a cooking fire in your home.
• Remind your child if a fire breaks out; they should call an adult and 911 immediately instead of trying to put out the fire themselves using water. Teach them how to evacuate the house immediately and that the firefighters would save their belongings.

When to Call the Professionals?

According to National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA), cooking-related fires or kitchen fires are the number one cause of home fires, and almost 47 percent of them are due to leaving cooking equipment such as stoves, burners, or ovens unattended for long periods.

Letting your children help in the kitchen and cooking is a great way to teach your child confidence and new skills. By following the safety tips above and educating children on the importance of kitchen safety, you can make your home safe for your family and child.

No matter how hard you try to prevent, kitchen fires can occur. In such cases of damage, call 911 Restoration. It is a reputable restoration company in Long Island, and we have professional working staff that can easily handle firehouses and restoration of the place. Call now at (516) 206-4420!