Cub scouts allow them to use knives at around 10. DS has been handling knives since then. He can cook basic stuff in the kitchen unsupervised. He can boil water for pasta, but I wouldn't want him moving the pot anywhere. He's not the most physically capable. DH was a chef, so he's working on his get more capable in the kitchen. My 8 yr old does nothing more than puts knives away from the dishwasher. He enjoy helping me bake though and we always talk about safety and cleanliness when he's working in the kitchen. I imagine he will be chopping soon.

My son is 9 and had several cooking lessons. He started using knives at 5, supervised. But really just started unsupervised cooking at 9, by his choice. Boiling water, he still asks for help if the kettle or pot are heavy.

Knives you can start really early - my almost 2.5 year old can independently cut most soft fruits, veggies like mushrooms, cucumbers etc. really pretty effectively (like I give him the small cucumber to cut for the salad and I don’t really assist) using the Curious chef kids knife set. I obviously am right next to him cutting other things so keeping an eye on him. But we’ll probably move to supervised sharper knives in a couple years (watch kids eat in color Instagram for inspiration!). Also like others have said I happen to have a kid really interested in it which may just be his personality. We let him stir hot things with supervision. Boiling water I’m sure you’re talking about older kids and I can def see being really cautious with the straining of the boiling water.

I feel like knives and completely managing boiling water on your own are very different - like with the curious chef knives there is really not a ton of risk. Even with sharper knives, the risk of a cut vs large scale burns is totally different to me.

I agree with the posters who talked about pouring boiling water. I have a small pot with an indentation in the side that acts as a spout. I would let a child who is old enough that they don't have to reach above their shoulders for the pot, use that pot to boil and then pour into a colander or soup bowl. I think boiling an egg or similar that can be fished out, child could be younger if they are responsible.

For a responsible kid, a knife can be okay at a young age. Nephew shocked us all by independently getting a cutting board, a pear, and and kitchen knife and cutting the pear up at age 3. Obviously, he was told not to do that again without adult supervision and he is a bit unusual, but certainly a 6 year old could learn.

I learned to cook very young from necessity (9 for doing all parts on my own) and burned myself badly a few times. Generally because things were unexpectedly hot (eg metal spoon resting too close to burner, removing tray from oven with mitt too thin or damp) or unexpectedly heavy (boiling water). I would avoid letting a kid do those things until they were older.

There are noodle packets (knorr makes a bunch) where you boil water with milk/butter then put the packet in. Then turn it off and wait a few minutes. These would be better than trying to make regular mac n cheese.

agree with others that boiling water for a big pot is not great for younger kids, especially if your family is really short, like mine, the kids just can't get up there to lift a full pot onto the stove.

but using a skillet to fry eggs/make pancakes is easy and something that many kids can do at age 8 or 9.