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Age Appropriate Tasks -
Know How to Lead and Not Push
Know How to Lead and Not Push
In his book, “Amusing Ourselves to Death,” Neil Postman states that the attention span of
humans is decreasing as modern technology, especially television, increases. Study after
study as proven that excessive exposure to media (television, video games, iTouch, etc.)
stunts brain development. As parents, we should seriously consider the value or detriment
television and video games have on our children’s brain development.
Too much TV has a detrimental effect on the attention span in children, and on their ability
to concentrate at length. Television is a continuously changing medium hopping from one
topic to another to gain and retain viewership. Insert in a few commercials and you are
fortunate if any one, continuous, focused stream of thought stays the same for more than
a couple of minutes! We scratch our heads wondering why our kids’ attention span is so
short. Why would we remotely expect our children to develop critical thinking skills, or
focus and stick with anything to completion, when TV reinforces immediate gratification with
no effort required in thought processing?
A healthy alternative is getting your children’s hands dirty in the kitchen. However, one
must consider two critical elements when getting your children actively participating in the
kitchen: 1) Attention span and 2) Age-appropriate tasks/functions.
Attention span is divided into two categories – focused and sustained.
Focused attention is a short-term response to a stimulus that attracts attention such as a
doorbell or telephone ringing or the noise made when something is dropped. Focused
attention span is very brief and is often measured in seconds. The child will typically look
away, then return to his or her previous task, or think about something else.
To produce consistent results in a given task over time, sustained attention is required.
For example, if the task is slicing something, then an individual showing sustained attention
will likely stay on task, not cutting themselves, but a person who loses focus might wind up
cutting themselves, as I have done on several occasions (such as answering my wife’s
questions). To lengthen and sustain a child’s attention, they must be either interested in
the activity or have some motivation for performing the activity. If your children see you
cooking and enjoying it, they are more likely to want to cook as well. If you don’t like
cooking, find another venue in which your can explore his world.
As a general rule of thumb, a child’s attention span is approximately one minute for every
year of his life. Considering this, our children’s school teachers have a huge daily
challenge to keep their subject matter fresh and continually engaging in order to maintain
the sustained attention required to learn long-term life skills such as reading and
mathematics. Fortunately for me, a chef/instructor teaching children to cook, most kitchen
activities are relatively short and sequential, thereby providing great opportunities to
develop sequential or “order of operation” processing, as well as offering the child
something fun to do. Teaching your child to cook is significantly easier than teaching him
long division or sentence structure. Why? The reason is cooking is a kinesthetic and
visual learning experience (vs. auditory, abstract and theoretic), making it easier to deal
with attention span.
The information below comes from Janis G. Hunter, HGIC Nutrition Specialist, and
Katherine L. Cason, Professor, State Program Leader for Food Safety and Nutrition,
Clemson University. It will serve as a guide to help you know what skills you can
reasonably expect your children to master.
Age 2: Two-year-olds are learning to use the large muscles in their arms and can help with
these activities:
Age 3: This age level is learning to use their hands and can manage all of the above, plus
jobs such as:
Ages 4 - 5: Kids in this age group are learning to control smaller muscles in their fingers,
so offer experiences such as:
Ages 6 - 8: This age level has mastered all of the previous jobs and is ready to learn tasks
such as:
Ages 9 - 12: Children at this age level still need adult supervision, but they can manage
jobs such as:
Teens: By adolescence, kids are making most of their own decisions about food and are
capable of:
The greatest motivator is you and the quality time that you spend with children. Never let
self-doubt or worries creep into your child’s mind. Teach what interests him or her the
most. A child allowed to pursue his/her interests is prone to enjoy studies as well. If
cooking is not their thing, but go-cart racing fascinates them, then become a go-cart
enthusiast and join in. You will not only create memories lasting a lifetime, but you will also
develop a common ground both of you can return to when the adolescent tough times
come.
Blessings,
Chef David Hall
humans is decreasing as modern technology, especially television, increases. Study after
study as proven that excessive exposure to media (television, video games, iTouch, etc.)
stunts brain development. As parents, we should seriously consider the value or detriment
television and video games have on our children’s brain development.
Too much TV has a detrimental effect on the attention span in children, and on their ability
to concentrate at length. Television is a continuously changing medium hopping from one
topic to another to gain and retain viewership. Insert in a few commercials and you are
fortunate if any one, continuous, focused stream of thought stays the same for more than
a couple of minutes! We scratch our heads wondering why our kids’ attention span is so
short. Why would we remotely expect our children to develop critical thinking skills, or
focus and stick with anything to completion, when TV reinforces immediate gratification with
no effort required in thought processing?
A healthy alternative is getting your children’s hands dirty in the kitchen. However, one
must consider two critical elements when getting your children actively participating in the
kitchen: 1) Attention span and 2) Age-appropriate tasks/functions.
Attention span is divided into two categories – focused and sustained.
Focused attention is a short-term response to a stimulus that attracts attention such as a
doorbell or telephone ringing or the noise made when something is dropped. Focused
attention span is very brief and is often measured in seconds. The child will typically look
away, then return to his or her previous task, or think about something else.
To produce consistent results in a given task over time, sustained attention is required.
For example, if the task is slicing something, then an individual showing sustained attention
will likely stay on task, not cutting themselves, but a person who loses focus might wind up
cutting themselves, as I have done on several occasions (such as answering my wife’s
questions). To lengthen and sustain a child’s attention, they must be either interested in
the activity or have some motivation for performing the activity. If your children see you
cooking and enjoying it, they are more likely to want to cook as well. If you don’t like
cooking, find another venue in which your can explore his world.
As a general rule of thumb, a child’s attention span is approximately one minute for every
year of his life. Considering this, our children’s school teachers have a huge daily
challenge to keep their subject matter fresh and continually engaging in order to maintain
the sustained attention required to learn long-term life skills such as reading and
mathematics. Fortunately for me, a chef/instructor teaching children to cook, most kitchen
activities are relatively short and sequential, thereby providing great opportunities to
develop sequential or “order of operation” processing, as well as offering the child
something fun to do. Teaching your child to cook is significantly easier than teaching him
long division or sentence structure. Why? The reason is cooking is a kinesthetic and
visual learning experience (vs. auditory, abstract and theoretic), making it easier to deal
with attention span.
The information below comes from Janis G. Hunter, HGIC Nutrition Specialist, and
Katherine L. Cason, Professor, State Program Leader for Food Safety and Nutrition,
Clemson University. It will serve as a guide to help you know what skills you can
reasonably expect your children to master.
Age 2: Two-year-olds are learning to use the large muscles in their arms and can help with
these activities:
- wiping table tops
- moving premeasured ingredients from one place to another
- playing with utensils
- snapping fresh beans
- breaking cauliflower or bread for stuffing
- rinsing and tearing lettuce and salad greens
- scrubbing and dipping vegetables and fruits
Age 3: This age level is learning to use their hands and can manage all of the above, plus
jobs such as:
- pouring liquids into a batter
- mixing ingredients such as muffin batter (Use an extra large bowl to contain mess.)
- shaking a milk drink in a covered container
- spreading soft spreads, such as peanut butter on firm bread (This may be messy!)
- kneading dough and simple shaping
- wrapping potatoes in foil for baking
- putting trash in the garbage can
Ages 4 - 5: Kids in this age group are learning to control smaller muscles in their fingers,
so offer experiences such as:
- setting the table
- mashing soft fruits (bananas) and cooked vegetables with a fork
- rolling bananas in cereal for a snack
- forming rounds shapes with hands
- measuring dry and liquid ingredients
- peeling loose-skinned oranges and hard-cooked eggs
- beating eggs with an eggbeater or whisk
- cutting parsley, green onions or dried fruits with dull scissors
- cutting with a blunt knife (e.g. fruit on a cutting board)
Ages 6 - 8: This age level has mastered all of the previous jobs and is ready to learn tasks
such as:
- cleaning surfaces before and after use
- gathering utensils and ingredients
- greasing or spraying baking pans
- light chopping
- peeling onions and garlic
- grating cheese
- opening cans
- washing fruits and vegetables
- advanced measuring (e.g. measuring liquids and spooning dry ingredients into
measuring cup and leveling off) - kneading dough
- breaking eggs
- melting butter
- crushing crackers in a bag with a rolling pin
- washing dishes and putting away ingredients and utensils
Ages 9 - 12: Children at this age level still need adult supervision, but they can manage
jobs such as:
- planning and preparing simple meals and snacks
- following a recipe, measuring accurately and preparing a product
- reading and interpreting ingredient and food labels
- operating small appliances like blenders, mini-choppers, juicers, and microwave
ovens - moderate chopping, dicing and cutting
- sautéing and pan frying
- steaming, broiling, boiling and baking
- handling and storing ingredients and finished products safely
- cleaning up, knowing how and what to hand wash or wash in the dishwasher
Teens: By adolescence, kids are making most of their own decisions about food and are
capable of:
- performing tasks that require multiple preparation steps or close timing
- creating new flavor combinations, shapes or decoration
- planning and preparing whole menus for meals or entertaining
- making shopping lists and shopping for ingredients
- helping younger children learn about food and how to prepare it
- enjoying cooking with peers
The greatest motivator is you and the quality time that you spend with children. Never let
self-doubt or worries creep into your child’s mind. Teach what interests him or her the
most. A child allowed to pursue his/her interests is prone to enjoy studies as well. If
cooking is not their thing, but go-cart racing fascinates them, then become a go-cart
enthusiast and join in. You will not only create memories lasting a lifetime, but you will also
develop a common ground both of you can return to when the adolescent tough times
come.
Blessings,
Chef David Hall
Copyright 2010, Thyme for a Chef, LLC. All rights reserved.
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