Child-Proof Your Kitchen Cabinets With This Clever Wooden Spoon Hack

You may never really know how childproof your home is until you have a toddler running around your house. A curious child will find areas of concern in your home that you never quite imagined. They will also get into anything and everything, and one of their favorite things to do is open doors. Luckily, there is a simple way to childproof your cabinets using just a wooden spoon and a hair tie.

The kitchen is one of the most important areas that needs to be childproofed. Keeping kitchen cabinet doors off limits to small children is vital. Typically, chemically laden cleansers, bleach, and detergents are often kept under the sink. However, when you have children in your home, it's actually better to keep anything dangerous in higher cabinets where they can't reach. 

Even if you don't keep anything hazardous in the bottom cabinets, children can still hurt them with seemingly innocent kitchen items. They can also accidentally slam their fingers in the door. There are, of course, several door safety latches sold all over, but if you ever need one immediately or don't want to purchase one, you can keep your kids safe with items you already have.

This popular TikTok video makes keeping your kids safe a breeze. All you need to do is close your kitchen cabinets tightly. Then, place a long wooden spoon through the door handles so it is evenly set in the middle of both handles. Next, take a medium-sized hair tie and fold it over one side of the spoon. Finish it off by stretching the other half of the hair tie and slipping it on the other side of the spoon. The spoon prevents the cabinet from opening, and the hair tie keeps it in place. It is important to note that this trick would not work on cabinets with knob pulls.

You'll want to make sure the hair tie is large enough to stretch the span of the spoon, but you don't want it to be too big, or else it won't help keep the spoon centered. While you want to purchase a standard cupboard child safety door lock, this hack comes in handy when in a pinch or even when visiting relatives who don't have childproof locks.