Our kids like being helpful and useful around the house and they want real tools, not just toys.

While we love and encourage pretend play, my kids also want to use real tools to make real food. Our kids quickly got bored with play kitchens and wanted to use the real kitchen. These tools are functional, sturdy, fun, and fit smaller hands well.

I’m a big believer in letting kids help shop for and make their own food, along with helping during the more boring preparation and cleanup. It’s an easy authentic way to teach about healthy eating habits and household management.

We live in our kitchen and show our love for each other by cooking and eating together.

I don’t assign chores or use checklists or charts. See how I motivate here. We all work together cheerfully to keep the household running smoothly.

These are our favorite kids’ tools for children to help with household chores.

Kuhn Rikon Knives were a huge hit for our kids. They loved the fun design and could really cut veggies, helping in the kitchen.

They’re sharp enough to chop carrots, but don’t slice into little fingers.

Peelers are appealing to kids and these bright fun ones are perfect for little and big hands!

We also like this spiralizer for all sorts of uses!

Toaster tongs are a great safety tool to keep little (and big!) fingers from getting singed by hot toaster parts. Toasted breads are an easy item for kids to make!

Even when they were too small to use the oven, my kids loved having their own oven mitts.

They would often just help by holding a corner of that cookie sheet to bring it near the countertop.

Silpats are great for nonstick baking and can also be used on the countertop for nonslip use when rolling out dough or kneading bread.

Immersion blenders are handy (almost mess-free) tools for whipping up sauces, scrambling eggs, and blending soups.

One of the first things our kids learn to cook is scrambled eggs and we love these pans for their quality, sturdiness, and nonstickiness.

This is my absolute favorite silicone whisk for so many jobs!

Electric kettles keep boiling water in a safe container rather than an open pot on the stovetop. The kids love helping to make tea!

Cleaning supplies made for smaller hands are great and my kids loved having their very own kid-sized items to help clean up!

Reusable cloths help get any cleanup job done with pretty colors and without harsh chemicals.

I love this fun mop, broom, and dustpan.

My kids each had their own Schylling set. The bright colors are really fun and they’re the perfect size and very sturdy.

Pretty soon, my kids are using the same tools I do and we’re dancing around each other in a lovely choreography as we make meals together.

You can see many of these tools in action here!

See all Kids in the Kitchen posts.

You might also like my Kitchen Essentials List.

What are your favorite kids tools?

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