Mark the stove's "hot zone" with painter's tape
Kristin's simple visual cue keeps her kids safe in the kitchen while letting them stay involved:
I have a three year old, two year old, and 12 week old. They all like to play in the kitchen when I am cooking, and with all the baking I am doing this time of year, we talk a lot about staying back when I have the oven open or hot pots/pans on the stove.
I put a blue "box" on the floor with painter's tape and they know that if the light is on, they need to stay behind the line. It allows them to still watch what's going on -- they are very interested in cooking -- and works better for us than just repeating "stay back" a thousand times! I also know that when I have the oven door open, the line is far enough back that they can't reach over and get burned.
Related: Getting kids cooking
(or any Amazon link at Parent Hacks), you throw some change into our tip jar without any extra steps or cost to you. Thank you!
That's a really awesome idea. I'll have to remember it if/when we ever move into a house again!
(We're living in a small small apartment right now, so basically the whole kitchen has to be off limits when the oven door is open. Even when it's closed, I don't like having my 2 year old in the kitchen with it, because he trips and falls anywhere in that kitchen, he's going to hit the oven. It's made it very hard to get him into cooking with me.)
Posted by: stacy | 07 November 2008 at 10:47 AM
We use that blue tape all over the house to mark "no-no lines." It works great -- my son won't argue with something "official" like a no-no line the way he will argue with Mommy or Daddy. Haven't used it for the oven, though -- that's genius!
Posted by: Daffodil | 07 November 2008 at 11:55 AM
After my son got clobbered in the eye while my daughter was Wii bowling, we established the "Wii area". Don't go in there when someone's playing, don't leave it if you're playing.
It's nicely set apart by furniture, but I've been meaning to put tape on the floor, mostly to establish a "keep back 3 feet" zone - I hadn't thought of blue! This expands my horizons to other uses too!
Posted by: Harmzie | 07 November 2008 at 01:37 PM
Great idea! Thanks for sharing!
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Posted by: Just Plain Joy | 07 November 2008 at 08:00 PM
I have a three year old, two year old, and 12 week old.
And you have time to send in a hack?! Well done! I'm buggered with two under two... but I guess I'm still online...
Posted by: Sam | 08 November 2008 at 03:04 AM
I did this idea a couple of years ago and it works GREAT. One word of warning though. DO NOT USE MASKING TAPE. You will never get it off the floor. Ohhhh how I have tried. :-)
Posted by: Katte Judd | 08 November 2008 at 07:23 AM
We've done the same thing outside -- a nice chalk line around the grill when it's on the driveway (or deck), a jump rope 'line' on the grass around the grill at a friend's house.
Posted by: Saderchick | 08 November 2008 at 08:43 AM
A great hack. If there is a stage manager or other theatrical technician in your life, you could also use something called "spike tape" which is designed to be put on a stage and walked (or danced) upon. It still comes up cleanly, but it lasts a lot longer.
Of course, I guess you DON'T want the safety line to be walked upon, do you?
Posted by: Boundary Bay | 09 November 2008 at 02:10 PM
Oh my god, that's brilliant! Seriously how do you people think of these things? I'm lucky if I can think of what's for dinner.
Posted by: | 10 November 2008 at 12:25 PM