Kiddie Knives for a 5 Yo Chef

There's plenty he can help you with without cutting anything.
He can stir and mix, spread things like peanut butter, jelly, mayo or cream cheese on bread.
He can toss a salad, use cookie cutters for cookies or biscuits.
Give him some pie dough and have him roll it out.
Or, something the kids were always given to doing the kitchen when my Mom was growing up - make home made noodles - he can cut those with scissors or even a butter knife.
I wouldn't give him really sharp things to cut with until his manual dexterity gets better.
When he's writing well, then he's ready for sharper things to cut with in the kitchen.

http://www.thekidscookmonday.org/kitchen-tasks-for-differ...

For my kids, when they wanted to help cooking (cutting), I had them use kitchen scissors/shears. I might slice into strips (peppers for instance) - but they could cut with the shears into chunks.

Five seems a bit young to me for any knife.

I think it is wonderful that he wants to help, and I would encourage him in safer ways. But, do try scissors. Worked for me!

Best!

Learning how to use knives safely is kind of like learning how to use scissors or be around a hot stove.
What I mean is that you just each him using with whatever tools you already have. Real knives that are sharp enough to cut and chop don't come in kid size, as far as I know.
If you're worried he's not ready to cut and slice safely (which does require a fair amount of fine motor skill and dexterity) you can always have him rinse, mix, grate, stir, blend, pour, measure, sautee, clean up, etc. LOTS of kid friendly jobs to do in the kitchen, and these not only reinforce eating healthy and working together as a family but teach math and science skills as well.
Have fun, I always loved cooking with my kids, and still do!

I didn't really let them slice stuff until about 7. With supervision.

Even a very dull knife can cut little fingers.

For cutting practice, what I did was do play dough long worms, etc. and I had just butter knives or those plastic knives you get in plastic cutlery sets - and let them cut those into tiny pieces. I had a pretend kitchen (Fisher Price) set up but even if you had a little fake microwave - and my kids all of them would bake their play dough cookies in there.

But for real food, mine just stirred mostly at that age. I suppose more baking. They spooned the cookie dough onto the sheets, and used measuring cups.

Even grating the skin off carrots - they would cut their fingers at age 5. That came later - probably a few years more.

Sorry - didn't really answer your question. I can't think of any knives I've ever come across - no.

Kitchen shears are a good idea, but look at getting some of those heavy duty plastic knives. I'm not sure where you get them, but maybe start on Amazon. They are real knives, not janky throw away cutlery or anything. They have a serrated blade but are plastic, although they appear to be quite adept at cutting. I've never used one myself, but they seem legit.

You might look into the big serrated "lettuce knives" you can find in the produce section. Not sure if they are too big.

Another option is the serrated, small knife sold with jack-o-lantern kits. Not sure if you can find them now in stores but look for Halloween stores or on line.

Neither one is all that sharp, but they will cut through lettuce, cucumbers, many other vegetables. I think scissors might work for other foods, as suggested below.

Sorry, no. What most mom's do is have them wash the veggies, tear lettuce for salads, put the butter in the butter dish if it's empty, wipe off the table, set the table, and safe things like that.

I got my son "kinderkitchen" knives at that age. Amazon has them. They aren't any sharper than a butter knife but are smaller to fit a child's hand. They have a cute dog design. He uses them to cut soft things like strawberries or I let him further slice something I had already cut up. He really likes having his own knives.

My kid used my knives under close supervision at that age.

I started my son with a paring knife at that age. Close supervision. Still gave him softer items to cut and gave him 'final cut' duties (ie, I didn't have him break down a whole veg; I did the main prep and gave him smaller pieces which were flat on one side (so they wouldn't roll).

Another item which works well for beginners is a crinkle-cutter. Kids need both hands to push down on this which eliminates the potential for getting cut while cutting. We have used this as well and I love it! Here's a link to one:
http://www.forsmallhands.com/wavy-chopper

i found a cutlery set for kids at the dollar store. it had knives in it that were smooth edge plastic. they were kinda dull to my standards but the kids loved cutting their own soft foods like strawberries, noodles and thoroughly cooked carrots. its been a few years since i bought them but maybe you can still find them there? nither of my kids ever hurt themselves on them (they still love to use them) and i just keep a close eye on them when they are using them, and i teach them the proper way to use them.

Five is pretty young to cut, unless he has really good motor skills? I mean even the plastic serrated knives are very sharp (as they should be or else they wouldn't work!)
Like others say, he can do all kinds of things to help, mix, stir, clean, pour, that's what my girls did at that age.