4 Tips for Creating a Kid-Friendly Kitchen

IT IS A STRONG HOPE of mine that sooner rather than later, my children will become fairly self-sufficient in the kitchen. Don’t get me wrong, I like to cook, but I’ll also be happy to share the daily responsibility with two more people. They have always helped with special stuff – like baking bread and of course, cookies. We recently added their own “dinner nights” – they each help plan and prepare a meal once a week. But it was the constant requests for snacks and water that were really getting to me: in our small kitchen, they couldn’t reach the things they needed themselves. So we did a few things to make it easier.

1. Non-breakable dishes. We’re not fond of plastic, so we got some very-hard-to-break Corelle dishes - dishwasher safe, microwave safe, kid safe.

2. Within arm's reach. Our fridge on top, freezer on the bottom set-up makes it a little harder to keep things the kids need within reach. We keep milk on the lowest shelf of the door…and aspire to keep containers of carrots, cheese, etc. on the lowest fridge shelf where they can reach them. Sometimes it actually happens.

3. The stool is now always out. Yes, it annoys me and I frequently knock my shins on it, but I can kick it out of the way, and they can reach the sink handle and hoist themselves up to the countertops to find things when necessary.

4. DIY snack station. The best innovation was this little shelf (pictured above). It keeps cereal (my kids’ favorite snack) and crackers within reach, and also bowls, cups, even a small container of silverware. The top surface is just the right height for my 4 year old to use as a countertop. On it sits a water jug (since we don’t have a fridge that dispenses ice and water). And the whole thing is on wheels – so we can move it out of the way (or next to the dining room table as a sideboard.) I built ours, but most any small shelf would work, with wheels added or not.

I still spend a lot of time serving snacks and packing lunches, and most mornings I DO get up to make breakfast. But this holiday weekend, I’m definitely looking forward to sending the kids out to the kitchen to take care of it themselves - at least once. 

I’d love to hear any more ideas!

Check out another post full of great DIY ideas for kids by Jessica Cochran: 7 Ideas for 7am - or, how to keep kids busy when you want to sleep in.