Curious Chef Knives - safe for childen to use in the kitchen?

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Faiaoga

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I was reading a short article about teaching children to be grateful for what they have. The author, who has a website evaluating toys, had a section titled "If Kids Cut the Veggies, They Will Eat Them" and recommended having children prepare the meals. I think the article is a good one, and I am interested that she recommends Curious Chef Knives. Apparently, they are serrated knives made of nylon that can cut food but re safe for young children to use. Their website shows serrated blunt tip knife for $3.99. It is listed as suitable for children ages 4 and up. Does anyone have experience with these - they might be useful Christmas gifts.

Article is "How to Teach Kids to be Grateful: Give Them Less" by Jenn Choi. The Atlantic (www.theatlantic.com) Education, November 7,2014 :strawberry: www.curiouschef.com
 
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The knife looks like BS to me. The ad copy says it is to "chop" food, but it is serrated. Serrations are for slicing, not chopping. Plus if it is so safe as to not cut your child, how can it then chop vegetables?

I start kids in the kitchen with simple tasks in baking. Next comes boiling water and hot dogs. Then it's hot dogs in the broiler, moving to pancakes or french toast on the griddle. I start kids with a small swiss army knife for knives. Then, when in the kitchen, I give them a small paring knife (fits their hand), demonstrate and watch while they cut.
 
I have a small "kids knife" in my kitchen. It's serrated, but does a good job in cutting basic veggies, their sandwich in half, etc. My sons are 5 and 7, and sometimes they're really happy to "cut their own food." Other times they don't care, but that's normal kids. :) They're still to small and nuts for me to trust them with anything sharper then a butter knife, but the kids knife works well when they want to help in the kitchen.
 
Get a paring knife from St.Vinney's or Goodwill, you could easily get 10 for $1. If it isn't already really dull, go ahead and dull it yourself by cutting directly into a stone or ceramic mug or plate, etc. Now you have a child-safe knife that will still cut better than that nylon-gimmick, and can still be restored to useable sharpness when they get older and more responsible :thumbup: My 5-yr-old and 3-yr-old both prefer their "real" knives to the plastic/nylon toys.
 
Counter intuitively, a small & narrow blade is hard to see and it also can easily steer potentially in unwanted directions. A 9-10cm blade x 4cm wide nakiri is easy to see and assure straight cuts while keep cutting edge below knuckles & claw fingers tips. LOL - my kids prefer 24cm plain edge 52100 bread knife (narrow nakiri - I guess) for most ITK usage.

First knife I used at 4 yrs old, probably a ~600gr chopper. Chop here and there ever since. ITK at young age would be 15cm - 27cm knives. IMHO - Young kids & knives are virtually no hazard when compare to cross a street. Teach 'em one/twice/thrice good for life.
 
Vicotrniox paring knives are not only kid proof, but commis chef proof too. Just teaching them the gravitas of the tool without scaring them so they psych themselves out is pretty much it. Just don't take you're eyes off of them and walk them through every step. GO slow and have fun! Skils to last them a lifetime.
 
In my OWN home, I gave my children sharp knives and real guns and showed them how to use them. I did not allow unsupervised use until they were obviously mature enough to handle the responsibility. Btw, I still cut myself occasionally. I think giving any kind of knife to someone ELSE'S child is a BAD idea. And toy knives and toy guns are also a poor choice. It does not engender the proper respect for the real thing. Just my two cents.
 
Mark at Chef's Knife to go actually built a safety knife. The knife was a combination of many elements. Tether to secure it to the station, rounded point and heel and other features. If I had a child it would definitely be a consideration. My opinion comes from a backround with firearms. I'm inclined to teach young people lest they learn on their own.
 
I remember seeing these knives for children on a Japanese chef knife store, they were blunt tipped and stainless.

The world is much different than the days of my childhood, we had sharp knives and I had to cut myself to respect the blade haha.
 
my grandaughter is 6yrs old and i let her use a mini santuko about 6"..and taught to hold proper over the blade..this gives her great control and not holding just the handle her muscles can push down and slight forward and not get her other fingers..her mother{my daughter} was so impressed as she did celery onions peppers{sliced lenght then ends} and i sliced the carrots length wise{to hard for her} and she chopped the ends....she cannot use pairing this way and she really liked it as she felt safe...jeff
 
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