Do your children use a knife and fork?

[anney]

Wasn't sure where to post this but will try here. We eat very middleeastern style ie. using spoon, fingers or bread rather than a knife and fork. But DD is almost 7 so am trying to get her to practice with knife and fork a bit more so she knows what to do when she goes out without us. Tonight we had steak and I cut it up for her. Should she be able to cut steak with a knife and fork herself? I really have no idea whether she should be able to do it and to "make" her do it herself or if me cutting her meat is still OK?
thanks

[Phteven]

Yasin is almost 5 and he can use a knife and for for easy to cut stuff like sausages or meat balls but steak is still well beyond him.

[Rouge]

I think at every meal its important to let them try, and then if they can't you can take over. Its like practicing. And also allowing the kids to help with chopping in the kitchen (with either a plastic salad knife or plastic disposable knife - but still supervised) also helps them to learn knife skills.

DD can use a knife some things she finds difficult but I still let her try and praise her for her efforts. I think its an important skill that supposedly is lost on our kids generation (which are known as the knife & fork kids) a few media articles have been released to suggest this. Its a skill we all need and they also need time to perfect it!

But how funny is this - my DS who can use forks and spoons well (not so bothered with knives but does chop up veg for me in the kitchen) can use CHOPSTICKS! When we go to Yum Cha he picks them up and uses them fine, and the other night when we went out for dinner at a vegetarian asian restaurant DS picked up the chopsticks and used them with preference... even with RICE! And all because when we go out we let him try. I didn't learn to use chopsticks till I was probably 10-11, before then it was the ole' rubber band trick LOL!

[PinkPalace]

DD is 2 and she uses a fork and spoon well.
She wants to use a knife but i wont let her . i will cut it up for her.

[Tinks]

I bought training knife and fork sets for my kids so they can use them well now.

That's funny about chopsticks....my DD could use them the first time she picked them up too.

[Phteven]

eh, some adults can't use their knife and fork.
I just saw the judge on masterchef eating from the wrong side of his fork.

[Rouge]

"If you want a shovel I'll get you one - It's a FORK" My granda used to say

[Olive]

we gave a kids knife to DD at around 2 to try and get used to! obviously shes still very much learning but doing well!

[Pandora]

DS uses spoon and fork.
We let him try with a knife too, and help him.

[Tobily]

DD is four, she uses a fork...if she is having steak or any meat really I cut it up for her, but she is expected to use the fork to eat the pieces.

DS is nearly 3 and he uses or a fork or a spoon, depending on what we're having. But he has *ahem* limited success with it. He misses his gob alot LOL.

[~Kim~]

Want to know something funny? I don't like eating meat off a bone, so if I ever go home and they're having say cutlets, my mum always without asking cuts my meat off and cuts it up lol. and I'm over 30...
jokes aside, what Cai said. We let Darcy practise both with dinner and when she's helping in the kitchen. That way she isn't 'on show' and trying to do it right. That said I would never expect a child under about 9 or 10 to cut steak with their own knife.

[smiles4u]

(Kim ... my sis is the same, she goes white as a ghost at the very thought of eating meat off the bone )

... DD3 uses only fork & spoon, strangely i haven't felt the need yet for her use a training knife (probably cause we don't have one) but having said that i should let her have a go at least now )

[Visitor8]

my boys have been able to cut their own food for the last year Encourage her to do it, wont take her very long at all!

We eat a lot of food with hands too, things like curry etc

[Mummmy]

My son's two and a bit and he wants to use a knife already. He doesn't have the strength to cut through steak yet of course but we let him try anyway. There's no set age for 'when' kids should be able to do things. It comes with practise. I didn't know how to use a knife and fork til I was in high school because we never needed to. We hardly went out to eat and we always used chopsticks or spoons.

I'm amazed that some kids here can use chopsticks so young! Do you mean proper chopsticks use or the 'crossed sticks' or 'poking' action? I've bought mine some training chopsticks for the time being. They work great and are much more pleasant to take out than the rubber band trick