Which knife do you use for your kids?

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Dr_Jones

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I'd like to get fellow parents' take on this: Which is the perfect knife for the little ones?

Here's my experiences:

It's important that the knife is big enough to force a certain distance between the supporting hand and blade. Also, a sharp tip is a hazard and not really usable for a beginner. Finally the knife shouldn't be too dull: A dull knife is a dangerous knife because you force the cut instead of using a light, controlled movement.

I usually give my 3 year old the Fiskars Tomato Knife. It bites into everything and has good grip for the little hands.

My seven year old uses the Masahiro Mamacut santoku with rounded tip. It is an extremely versatile knife and great value for money. In my opinion one of the best beginner's knives for kids and adults who want to improve their technique.

We have, however, never tried knives specifically produced for kids (like the Opinel's or Mac's).

What's your experience / preference?
 
I'm glad I read this because my first thought was that I don't normally filet kids. :pirate1:

Our son is now 35. I think he was about 10 when I started letting him get serious about cooking. I used playdough and a table knife to teach him how to hold a knife and other safe practices.
 
My kids started with something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LWZZDNW/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

when they were toddlers.

After that I was looking for some real knife for the kids. I was also playing with the idea to buy Masahiro Mamacut santoku with rounded tip.
Then I was in contact with Watanabe and he told me that people usually buy Nakiris for the kids. As he did not have any stainless I contacted Heiji and he made 3 custom Nakiris for my 2 kids and nephew. I just asked Heiji to make all edges round (except cutting one ;) )

At the time they were 5&7.

Works like a charm. They really like the knife and they will be able to use it for the whole life, not like Masahiro which is just for the kids.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
For kids I'd use something long like 300+mm with a coarse toothy steel to cut through joints.

Or maybe a machete? Don't know, this is a weird f ing question to ask.
 
I have watched in horror a couple times as my wife has let our 4-year-old use a dull paring knife or short (180) gyuto. There is no shortage of sharp knives around, but for some silly reason she like to use dull ones ever now and then (they are crappy knives like Wusthoff parers and a Myabi gyuto that I never use, so I do not pay attention to the state of their edges). I have pointed out the irony that those are the knives she cuts herself using since they require so much force...
 
Denkaaaaa TFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTF
 
Our toddler uses a Kuhn-Rikon dog knife. (No, it's not for cutting up dogs y'all...)

He's able to cut carrots with some effort, and soft foods with little effort, but I'd be shocked if it could ever break skin.

It's a shame that there aren't some more expensive options, though, as it makes my heart ache to spend $10 on a knife. Would any of you be willing to post one with a marked up price on the BUY/SELL page here so that I can buy it and feel better?
 
Dr_Jones said:
Got to tell my wife. From a rack of excellent knives, she always grabs the mamacut :eyebrow:

Love to see photos of those nakiris...?
Click to expand...

te8CK6t.jpg
 
Making the knife look childish and dumbing it down
(to be "safer" LOL) encourages the wrong
frame of mind in the kid.

:rofl:
 
Safety wise, we learned always
use the knife as a TOOL, never as a toy.
treat the knife with the utmost respect; etc.

That's how we did it as kids

Better to use "real" knives
for this lesson (because some 'awe')

YMMV, Just my $0.02, all other
caveats apply, etc.

[PS- the above doesn't mean use a stupidly dangerous
knife design like a pro-type j-knife thats ultra thin
behind the edge etc.]
 
HRC_64 said:
Safety wise, we learned always
use the knife as a TOOL, never as a toy.
treat the knife with the utmost respect; etc.
Click to expand...

So, I get the point you're making here, but I also think it's worth chilling out a bit about this. (I realize that `chill out about knives' is not a good thing to post on a knife forum.) There are times when our 3 year old just wants to be in the kitchen helping out and doing something on his own, and if we give him what is essentially a butter knife in terms of sharpness, he can practice the basic movements of cutting on his own without us hovering over him. You can certainly object that the dullness is giving him bad technique, but come on: he's learning to move his arm up and down in a more or less straight line, not learning to make a knife glide through food in a way that minimizes effort and maximizes food release. I also think there'll be plenty of awe left when he gets old enough to try a real knife, and it's empowering doing things on your own. As for dressing up the knives to make them look childish, sure, in theory I can see the point you're making about giving them the wrong relationship with knives, but there's such a world of difference between a utensil that they use to cut bananas with when they're 3 and a real knife that I don't think this is worth stressing out about so much.
 
Butter knives for baby talk stage
is fine (of course--no debate).

6-10-12 year old kid is a kid,
and are very capable young people.
They have enough co-ordination
and social skills to play sports,
be responsible do chores, etc.

They can responsibly
use basic tools.

This is not baby talk stage kids,
and certainly not baby talk
about knives.

I'm saying this in the spirit of
experience that I think
comprises a valid perspective.

Also putting it out ther for
debate and playing devils advocate,
of course... :)
 
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