How to Teach Your Kid to Slice, Dice, and Chop, According to Strategist Parents

Yang has never used anything special purpose because she prioritizes proper cutting technique and hand positioning so that her kids will be sufficiently wary of sharp blades. “My 10-year-old, who I probably started having cut things at the age of 5, mostly uses our Victorinox paring knives to cut up carrots and cucumbers,” Yang says. “If she needs something for a bigger job, she’ll use a 20-year-old version of thisShun Santoku knife, which is a good size because its shorter blade doesn’t feel as intimidating or scary as the one on a full-size chef’s knife.”

Jen Trolio, whose other kids’ knife choices I detail below, also keeps a Victorinox paring knife in the house. While she has a couple of other designated kids’ knives, she thinks this is a great option for learning with a real blade.

This was a first-step wooden knife for Corsillo’s son, which he got at around 18 months and used to practice cutting soft foods like bananas (or even nonfood stuff like Play-Doh). “It’s a beautiful object and he loved using it to ‘help’ me in the kitchen,” she says. Though she does warn that it isn’t a very precise tool and would get sticky or crusty pretty fast, so she would have to rinse it immediately.

Meanwhile this cutter has had longevity for Corsillo’s son: She bought it for him a bit later, when he was 2 years old, and now at 3-and-a-half, he still asks to use it all the time. She always supervises, but the shape of the handle allows him (and reminds him) to hold it up top with two hands and only requires one motion to be successful. “We have used it for all kinds of things, but most often he uses it to cut mozzarella cheese for homemade pizza nights,” she says. “Because it has a metal blade that looks sharper than it actually is (and its own sheath), it makes him feel like a big kid.”

Trolio calls these plastic Zulay knives fantastic starters for young kids just getting in the kitchen. Two- or 3-year-olds can handle them easily because they won’t cut skin, so long as they use them on the right (mostly soft) stuff. “One of my kids absolutely loved slicing mushrooms with them as a preschooler, even if she would never ever eat a mushroom,” she says.

For something more advanced, Trolio bought this Misen kids’ knife (that Corsillo says she plans to get soon, too). It is, in fact, very sharp: Trolio’s 8-year-old has no trouble cutting through an apple with it. Still, it has some features that sets her mind at ease as a “stepping stone toward the big guns,” she says, like the Victorinox paring knife and eventually something even more advanced. It has a blunt and rounded tip, a hand guard, and a thumb dimple.

Tuber bought this plastic set for her daughter when she was just over a year-and-a-half old. They aren’t strong enough to cut cleanly through firm foods like carrots (especially when wielded by a toddler), but they’re still sturdy and work on medium-firm foods, like cucumbers, much better. “I’ve never been worried about her cutting herself while using them,” Tuber says, “and she also enjoys using them, which is the biggest plus.”

At this point, Tuber is ready to find something a bit more advanced to introduce, too — and she wants it to be metal but still kid-safe. In the meantime, she often defaults to butter knives. Hers are this line from Ginkgo, which she says “are very sturdy, cut well, and the handles are thick and round, which seem easy for little hands to grab tightly.”

Not only are these knives very cute, but Kitchens says they work well. Her 4-year-old was gifted them by a friend a couple of years ago and has been using them since. She started with the straight edge when she was learning how to hold it properly, then graduated to the serrated, which Kitchens says is a bit more effective. It’s sharp enough to cut foods like sausages, pancakes, and fruit, but she can still wield it safely. And the chunkiness of the handles makes it easy to form the right grip.