Cooking Safely Around Kids

Fire & Burn Prevention at Home

Whether you are cooking for a special occasion, or letting the kids help with dinner on a weeknight, keep these safety tips in mind in the kitchen.

1. Avoid carrying or holding a child while cooking on the stove. Use a high chair, or ask a visiting relative or family member to be the designated child wrangler and lead younger kids away from the kitchen to more fun activities.
2. Use the back burners of your stove and turn pot handles away from the edge. It is important to make sure that curious little hands don’t have the ability to pull down any pots or pans from the stove.
3. Check to make sure appliance cords are coiled and away from counter edges. Those little curious hands again, but with all the blenders, mixers and food processors being used, countertop space can be limited and cords find their way close to the edge.
4. Take a minute to test your smoke alarms. Testing your smoke alarms is not just a great idea before embarking on a cooking adventure (which it is), but something that you should regularly do for the safety of your family.
5. Teach your kids how to cook safely. Use the time to explain and model safety cooking lessons for your children. It is a great start to a long life of making safe decisions in the kitchen.

To learn more, visit the Safe Kids Worldwide website and print the Cooking Safety Parent Checklist.