With Thanksgiving around the corner, cooking safety is of utmost importance and we’ve got just the right tips to help keep you and your children safe around the kitchen:
- Avoid carrying or holding a child while cooking near the stove. 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 like playing with their toys.
- Use the back burners of your stove and turn pot handles away from the edge. Thanksgiving tends to make you use every single cookware product you have in your house, but 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Teach your kids how to cook safely. Thanksgiving is first and foremost a day for family and coming together. 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 te a kid-free zone. Teach younger children to stay at least 3 feet away from your cooking space. Place babies in a high chair outside of the kid-free zone where you can see them.
Of course, these aren’t the only ways to keep children safe while cooking. For additional tips on holiday safety, click here or view this cooking safety checklist!
This post was prepared by Safe Kids Georgia Intern, Annie Ndolo.
Donate to Safe Kids
