Curious Chef Kids Kitchen Knives Review

Features of Curious Chef Kids Kitchen Knives

According to the product website, “The Curious Chef® 3 Piece Nylon Knife Set was created specifically with kids' cooking and kitchen safety in mind. Curious Chef® kids kitchen knives feature a unique nylon serrated blade with a blunt tip that will cut through tough fruits and vegetables but is much safer on skin than a traditional metal blade. Additional safety features include ergonomically designed handles with soft button grips to ensure your little chef will have a firm hold on his or her kids cooking tool.”

This 3 piece kids knife set from Curious Chef® includes a large (10.8" L x 2" W x 0.5" H), medium (9.8" L x 1.8" W x 0.5" H), and small knife (8.8" L x 1.5" W x 0.5" H), all made in the smaller dimensions of a child. All knives are dishwasher safe and BPA Free.

Target Group for Curious Chef Kids Kitchen Knives

According to the product website, these knives are intended for children over the age of 4. From personal experience however, I have seen our daughter begin to safely use the smallest knife on soft foods as early as 2.5 years old. Depending on your child’s age and ability, it is important to note that these knives are intended for skill building rather than literal “help” in the kitchen. Parents should always offer adult supervision, guidance, and assistance when these knives are used.

The Main Benefit of Curious Chef Kids Kitchen Knives

If you desire to get your child(ren) engaged in the kitchen with age-appropriate tools, this set of kids kitchen knives is a great addition. With a competitive edge over other “miniature” kitchen tools, Curious Chef is intentional about making products for kids to use that are both safe and functional. These knives are designed as part of an overall company mission that Curious Chef has to encourage culinary learning, collaboration, and confidence with kids in the kitchen. Younger kids may begin exploring how to cut soft foods (like bananas) with supervision, guidance, and assistance. As children get older, these knives allow them to demonstrate more independence and autonomy in the meal prep process while assuming their own role and responsibilities with family meals! These knives are a good investment that have several years’ worth of use within family’s who enjoy time spent in the kitchen and the act of cooking together.

Practical Details about Curious Chef Kids Kitchen Knives

Price: $8.99

Where to buy: Amazon or the Curious Chef website

The warranty: According to the product website, you may return unused products in its original packaging within 30 days of delivery for a full refund on the final purchase price. You may return defective product any time with proof of purchase.

Delivery time: Usually ~2-8 days (with Amazon Prime or the Curious Chef website)

The Pros and Cons to Curious Chef Kids Kitchen Knives

Pros:

• Promotes culinary learning, collaboration, and confidence with kids in the kitchen
• Safe and educational way to engage child(ren) in getting ready for meal times
• More effective alternative to “pretend” kid knives
• Greater learning applications than child using a standard butter knife

 Cons:

• White silicone may stain with use
• Do not produce a clean, smooth cut when used as part of child’s practice

Alternative Products to Curious Chef Kids Kitchen Knives

Kai Little Chef Club Children's Stainless Steel Knife ($14.35): This option is a more advanced alternative to the Curious Chef Kids Kitchen Knives. With a blade made of stainless steel, this knife is sharp enough to cut. The edges are blunted so children are less likely to be injured by rolling easily off the hand as "cutting edge" and "chin". The blade is about five inches in length with a handle that has been designed smaller for easier maneuverability by kids. 

Opinel Le Petit Chef Knife and Fingers Guard ($49.95): With a total size similar to the smallest of the three Curious Chef Knives, the Opinel Le Petit Chef Knife has ~4 inch stainless steel blade. This knife kit includes a finger guard as well as a knife with a rounded tip and educational ring to help position the fingers and prevent the hand from slipping onto the blade. This knife affords kids the opportunity to learn knife skills and how to take proper safety precautions while cutting. This knife is sharp however, and thus would not be appropriate for younger, less experienced kid chefs or in any circumstance when supervision is limited.

Brisa Bonita Child Knife ($22.62): Closer in size to the largest Curious Chef Knife, the Brisa Bonita Child Knife has a stainless steel blade with a rounded tip. Reviews on this knife boasts the ability to cut like a real knife while also being designed to help beginner chefs gain experience with knife skills and safety. This knife’s blade is sharp enough to cut skin however, so this option is intended for older children and/or those with more supervision and advanced knife experience.

StarPack Nylon Kitchen Knife Set ($8.95): As a price-competitive alternative to the similar set by Curious Chef, StarPack knives sell themselves as a nylon knife option. Built in size to be used by smaller hands, this set includes three sizes similar to the Curious Chef set. The nylon blade has a serrated edge to help cut food without the safety concern of how stainless steel blades may cut than skin.

Kuhn Rikon Kinderkitchen Dog Knife ($10.00): The Kinderkitchen Dog Knife is a safe option for younger chefs with less experience in the kitchen. The blade is sharp enough to cut soft food but not small fingers. With the body designed to look like a dog, this is a cute and yet effective option when first introducing your young child to how to cut food. The blade may lack the ability to cut through more firm foods however, so this product does not specifically teach children knife safety nor allow them to grow with the item to advance their skills, as able.

Why I Chose Curious Chef Kids Kitchen Knives

Given the age of my child (now almost 3), stainless steel kids knives were far beyond her ability. I bought the Curious Chef Kids Knife Set so that she would be able to use them immediately while maintaining a safer learning experience (to stainless). While I like the introductory ability of Kuhn Rikon knives for young kids, I like how Curious Chef affords more opportunity for advancing with a child’s age and budding knife abilities. I think the StarPack Nylon knives would offer similar advantages and incentives to those we purchased.

My Final Opinion about Curious Chef Kids Kitchen Knives

As a mom and dietitian, I spend a lot of time in the kitchen. I enjoy the opportunity to have a safe way to engage my daughter in the experience of meal times by preparing foods alongside me. Starting her just after the age of two, there are obvious limitations in skill at this young of an age. That to say, the interest in food and cooking and the eagerness to learn is present and not to be postponed. For this reason, the Curious Chef Kids Kitchen Knife set has been an opportunistic investment for our kitchen. With many ways to begin knife skill development at an early age, these knives also afford open dialogue about knife and kitchen safety. I would recommend this product to any family who spends time in the kitchen and values the opportunity to supervise, encourage, and guide such skill development as that of knife skills.

Disclaimer

Veggies & Virtue received no compensation for writing this review. However, some of the links on this page are affiliate links, which means Veggies & Virtue will earn a small commission when purchases are made using those links. For more info, please visit the Veggies & Virtue disclosure page.