‘Kidchen’ is a collection of food preparation equipment designed by Sam Harvey to get children involved in cooking. The kit includes a raised chopping board with storage underneath, a phone/tablet stand, a serrated knife, a non-serrated knife, a peeler and 3 small bowls.

The brief for the project was to design ‘A range of child-friendly kitchen products aimed at encouraging children to get involved in cooking’. The purpose of kidchen is to make use of the many benefits of involving children in the preparation of their own meals.

Studies have shown that children involved in preparing their own meals are likely to eat more of the meal as they feel a level of ownership over it. Involving children in cooking also helps them become aware of hazards in the kitchen and learn skills such as knife safety and a variety of simple maths concepts. Children who are fussy eaters or suffer from food neophobia would particularly benefit as they have also been found to eat more of the meals they have had a hand in preparing.

Each part of kidchen has been designed with safety and comfort in mind. The knives and peeler have been designed for the child’s hand so they can’t slip onto the blade. They have also been designed so that the child’s hand is guided into the correct position, thus teaching them the correct way to hold the tools for when they graduate to adult-sized equipment.

The majority of the collection is made from recycled HDPE milk bottles, with the drawer under the chopping board constructed from pine wood. Each set will have a ‘bespoke’ feel like the pattern and colour distribution will be slightly different.