So Interested

Ella is so interested in everything. She has always loved to help and from a young age has helped me cook. Before she could stand I would sit her on the bench and let her watch me from very close quarters. From there she would drag over a chair to stand beside me and now that's been reduced to a little foot stool.

This week, however, she's been interested in cooking alone. We started off with pretend cooking making very interesting concoctions from the store cupboard. What she called brain food was, I believe, a combination of cooked rice, bread crumbs, various spices, tomato sauce - I lost track after that. I thought we should start focussing on things she could safely do all on her own, so yesterday she chose salad. We went to the fruit shop and she chose the ingredients herself, we talked about what made a good choice for each type of vegetable and then when we got home she prepared it, with some guidance, all on her own.

The only problem was finding a knife for her to use that was sharp enough to cut and yet not so sharp that it was dangerous for her to use. Has anyone discovered anything suitable for younger children? I can only think of the ones they use on Playschool, which look like a regular table knife only slightly more serated at the end. Something else to add to the "look for" list.