Kitchen and Home Skills

Grades K-4About 60 minutes a week

A child who can dress himself, pack a lunch and cook a meal is capable, and he knows it. These jobs are learned by doing them at home, a little more each year, until they are simply his.

What you need

  • A step stool at the sink and counter
  • A small pitcher he can lift
  • A lunch box, a hook for his coat and bag
  • A simple recipe card and a pan
  • Paper for a shopping list

What done looks like

  • He is out the door with coat and bag and no reminders.
  • Shoes tied and milk poured with nothing on the floor.
  • The family ate a meal he planned, bought and cooked.

What to do, grade by grade

  • K: wash hands (soap, count to twenty, rinse, dry); coat on; pack his bag.
  • Grade 1: tie shoes; pour from a full pitcher.
  • Grade 2: pack his lunch and clear his plate as standing jobs.
  • Grade 3: scrambled eggs or a grilled sandwich on the stove, you beside him.
  • Grade 4: plan a family meal, write the shopping list, shop and cook it.

How to teach it

  1. Do it with him, then beside him, then watch from across the room, then leave it to him.
  2. For shoes, teach one method (two loops is easiest) and practice on a shoe in his lap, not on his foot.
  3. Pouring: two hands, pitcher spout on the cup rim, fill to a line you mark.
  4. Turn a request into a job: "Packing your lunch is your job now," and keep it every day.
  5. At the stove: handles turned in, stand to the side, you control the knob the first few times.
  6. For the meal plan, give a budget and let him check the list against the pantry first.

Safety: An adult is at the stove every time in grades 3-4. Knives stay with the adult until you decide otherwise.

Curriculum goals this sheet covers (5)

In the words of the grade-by-grade guide.

  • Washes hands, puts on a coat and packs a bag without being walked through it
  • Ties his own shoes and pours from a full pitcher without help
  • Packs his own lunch and clears his own plate as a standing job rather than a request
  • Cooks something on the stove, under supervision, from ingredients to plate
  • Plans and cooks a simple meal for the family, including making the shopping list

Goals covered: Washes hands, puts on a coat and packs a bag without being walked through itTies his own shoes and pours from a full pitcher without helpPacks his own lunch and clears his own plate as a standing job rather than a requestCooks something on the stove, under supervision, from ingredients to platePlans and cooks a simple meal for the family, including making the shopping list

All real-world sheets