Childrens safe cutting knife

[mumofone]

Hi all, do any of you let the children cut stuff with a knife other than their regular knife? I think of read about sharp but safe childrens knives...can anyone recommend one? Thank you :-)

[BallyH]

Mine use the children's plastic ikea knives which have a little serated edge. Quite blunt when cutting raw carrots but excellant on cheese, banana and bread.

[loocyloo]

pampered chef do a children's cutting knife. it saws things rather than cuts, but does the job! My Safe Cutter : Sharpest Knife in the Drawer : The Pampered Chef, Ltd.

[FloraDora]

I use the Lakeland kiddi cutter - like the pampered chef one it saws, which is good to practise that sawing action you need when using a knife at the table anyway. It cuts all fruit ok for morning snack.

[Simona]

Pamper Chef knives for kids ...pricey but the 'best'!

[bunyip]

At the risk of being shot down in flames.......................

I firmly believe what I learnt as a child. A good, proper, well-balanced sharp knife, used properly, is far safer than a blunt one. I would add this requires total 100% 1to1 close supervision and very firm instruction on ground-rules.

I regularly encounter these so-called "safety" knifes (NHS 'healthy' food sessions at the children's centre) and dislike them intensely, mainly because of the false sense of security they engender. The nutritionists and centre staff tend to be over-reliant on the "safety" tagline, which results in inadequate supervision. The moment their backs are turned, children are waving them about and poking one another with them - and why not, when they're so "safe"?

It's all too easy to get slack and allow bad habits with "safety" knives, such as pointing at people with them. I recall with horror my own grand-daughter holding a "safety" knife in the same hand as she brushed her hair from her face, and the NHS bod 'reassuring' me she couldn't cut herself with it. No, but what is she learning about using a knife properly in that situation? Nothing but bad stuff.

Personal opinion of course, but I don't believe that teaching a child to use a 'safety' knife results in them learning to use anything other than how to use a 'safety' knife, any more than using a water pistol teaches a child how to handle a firearm safely. I imagine a good CM will supervise properly, but I hope they are only used as a first step, and with a sensible progression to a proper sharp knife.