The holidays are here and with this festive time of year comes plenty cooking and kitchen activity. Children are particularly excited and may want to assist parents and caregivers prepare holiday goodies. The National SAFE KIDS Campaign recommends the following tips for keeping children safe as they learn to help out in the kitchen:

• Be sure you’ve taken essential safety steps before introducing a child to cooking, such as having a fire extinguisher nearby and posting emergency numbers near the phone.
• Never leave a child unattended in the kitchen. Close supervision is essential, whether children are helping an adult cook or are simply watching.
• Never hold a child while cooking.
• Put pans on back burners and turn all pot handles toward the back of the stove.
• Use caution when heating food and liquids in the microwave. Supervise your child when he or she is near or using a microwave and never let a young child (under age 10 ) remove heated items from the microwave.
• Make sure you and your children wear close-fitting clothing when cooking.
• Never leave cooking food unattended - it is the number one cause of house fires.
• Place hot foods and liquids away from the edges of counters and tables.
• Pay particular attention to items sitting on tablecloths or placemats so that young children cannot pull hot food or liquid down and scald themselves.
• Unplug appliance cords when not in use and keep them tied up and out of children’s reach.

Since each child is different, it is important for parents and caregivers to consider the developmental level and abilities of their children when it comes to assigning kitchen duties.