Do you have young children in your home curious about their surroundings? If so, you may notice that they want to be a part of all family activities, including preparing meals in the kitchen with the rest of the family. Although this may concern you as a parent, you do not have to worry when you design your kitchen with your child’s safety in mind.
Our designers at Columbia Kitchens will be able to assist with your kitchen designs that will help you safeguard your children from being injured in the kitchen. Kitchen Cabinets and countertops can be used in a range of ways to help enhance the safety of your children, while they enjoy preparing food in the kitchen with the entire family.
Read to learn about kitchen design tips you should include when remodeling your kitchen to accommodate young children in food preparation. Designate what they can have access to in the kitchen and what they must be restricted from using.
It is important for a home with young children to have a designated kids’ zone in the kitchen. Young children have a desire to explore the world they live in, but their coordination, balance and dexterity are still developing. Young children do not have the full reasoning skills and ability to pay attention to safety at all times in the kitchen. When a designated kids’ zone is created in the kitchen, access and safety need to be equally prioritized.
To start planning out your designated kids’ zone in the kitchen, you should first clarify what age and which children in the household should be included in the food preparation. Make a list that includes each child’s duties, according to their age, so that they know where their boundaries are, and what they are restricted from doing or accessing. You can add in more responsibilities throughout the year, and take out restrictions on their birthday.
Remember, every time you increase access for young children in the kitchen, you also increase their vulnerability to potential risks in the kitchen.
When setting an area for younger cooks in the kitchen, you must integrate that designated area with the work and traffic patterns of the overall kitchen space.
You should install cabinets and countertops in the kids’ zone in relation to the children who will be using this space heights and sight lines. Pay attention to the specific items that they will need to use and store them in a specific area that is height friendly to them. This will help prevent large messes, since they will be able to reach items that they will need. At the same time, it will prevent any hazardous accidents from occurring.
Here are a few design tips you should consider using in your kids’ zone:
– Store food preparation items and table setting items in base cabinets.
– Install an under counter refrigerator and child-friendly faucet in the kids’ zone. Children will have easier access to cold foods, that are specific to their diet (and allowed to have), and will have a designated sink with a specific faucet that will prevent any accidents from occurring. The child-friendly faucet should include anti-scald and motion sensor controls.
– If a microwave is needed in the kids’ zone, make sure it is at a safely accessible height for the children who will frequently use it. A freestanding microwave placed on a shelf or countertop can work wonders. However, including a built-in microwave in a base cabinet would be much more ideal for their height since it will be directly in front of them, and out of the way of the cooking surface. It is also safer and out of the way of the prep and cooking area.
– Install a school lunch station to store lunch boxes, bags, snacks, or anything else needed, so that the school age child can access these items on their own, and even make their own lunch. Make sure to include a trash pullout for waste and recycling as well.
– Install pullouts or lazy susan carousels in any cabinet that is hard to reach so that they do not have to worry about using a step stool, and potentially harming themselves. These can always be removed or changed, as your child continues to grow.
– Make sure to set lockout features on ovens, cooktops and dishwashers. Install locks on cabinets that you do not want the young children to have access to.
– If you need more information on kitchen safety for kids and want to learn more about how the kitchen provides a family fun environment for all, read our article on Family Benefits of The Kitchen .
When kitchen safety for children is needed, a child-friendly design is too! Let us create a kids’ zone in your kitchen today!
Here are our Kitchen and Bath Remodeling Services:
At Columbia Kitchens we offer stock builder grade cabinets for immediate purchase or you can choose from our semi-custom and custom lines which are all displayed in our beautiful showroom. When you arrive, we will also show you our vast array of custom countertop options which include: Laminate, Corian, granite, marble, Vetrazzo (recycled glass), Silestone, Cambria, Zodiaq, Caesarstone, Eco, Hanstone, Swanstone, and cultured marble. Columbia Kitchens offers all this plus FREE estimates, FREE design services, and FREE in-home measuring all done by our friendly, creative staff of professionals. Let us create the design of your dreams today!
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