When most parents plan a new house or a major remodel, they spend a
lot of time on the kitchen, trying to make sensible choices from the staggering
number of cabinet door styles, countertop materials and appliance models
available.
In most cases, though, little thought is given to who will be using
the kitchen. Will it just be Mom and Dad, or will the whole family be cooking
together? Making a new kitchen user-friendly for kids is surprisingly easy.
Child-friendly
materials
For countertops, experts recommend engineered stone, such as
Silestone or Zodiaq brands, because it is nearly impossible to scratch or stain
and it’s easy to keep clean.
For cabinetry, finish is more critical than style or material, A
darker stained wood is more forgiving because it tends to conceal dirt, dents
and bruises. Lighter cabinet colors are more revealing and show dirt, but consideration
for more natural light would make a smaller room feel larger.
For flooring, I recommend linoleum because it is shock absorbing;
fragile dishes accidentally dropped on it are less likely to break. Slate and
tile are harder; things dropped on them do break.
The lack of shock absorption in tile and slate can also be hard on
the parents. If you cook dishes that require you to stand for long periods at
the stove, you may find your legs beginning to ache.
Counter
height
If you want your children to help with the cooking, you might want
to consider a lower work surface. Standard kitchen counter height for adults is
36 inches; kids need a work surface that is about six inches lower.
When ordering new cabinets, you can incorporate a section of lower
counter into its design, and this will make some cooking tasks easier for you
long after your kids have grown and left the nest.
A lowered counter should not add to the cost of a new kitchen,
because most cabinet lines offer both 30-inch- and 341/2-inch-high cabinet
boxes,. In any case, a lower counter is ergonomically advantageous for adults,
too, because an adult’s arms will be straight when leaning over it. This allows
adults to use their entire upper body strength to knead dough or mix
ingredients and put more weight on the rolling pin for pastry dough or pizza
crust.
A lower counter is handy for tall appliances and toasters, when
blenders and food processors are lowered, it’s easier to peer in and see if the
food is blended or minced.
Counter
size and location
Cooking and eating areas are typically separated in most homes. But
for teaching kids to cook, integrating the two is advantageous because most of
what kids learn about cooking and healthy eating is by observation.
Cooking together will be a family activity some of the time, but
they are watching you every day, A social area within the kitchen also helps to
reinforce the idea that cooking is not merely providing nourishment but is also
“a wonderfully social activity,”
If you plan to use the counter for eating and casual socializing as
well, you’ll need one that’s at least 48 inches wide with a depth of 26 inches
— “Enough,” Grey said, “to feel like you’re sitting at a table and not a shelf.
This is especially important when the lowered counter faces into the kitchen.
You need to have a space in front of your face to talk to people, whether they
are sitting next to you or standing at the sink across the room.”
Storage
Store everything you don’t want your children to use high up; store
everything you want them to use lower down. A practical way to separate the two
is a floor-to-ceiling, 12-inch-deep bank of cabinets,.
To make it easy for them to help with chores such as unloading the
dishwasher and setting the table, rearranged the contents of their cabinets.
Items normally stored up high, such as dishes and glassware, were kept in the
lower cabinets, along with the cookware that his children used. Also rearranged
the drawers of a drawer base, moving the silverware drawer to a lower position
so that his kids had easier access.
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