Even tweens who have never been introduced to cooking have enough physical control and logical skills to pick up cooking techniques quickly and excel in the kitchen. Our video lessons will help them to gain in kitchen confidence.
If maturity is measured by an increasing knowledge of keeping healthy, making good decisions and using skills learnt, then Hell, Yes!
Cooking is an essential life skill, you need to know how to cook in order to provide for yourself as an adult. Not only how to cook, but how to cook healthily and on a budget.
You arm your children with the skills they need to pass exams, you also need to arm them with the practical skills that will see them thriving as independent adults. There is no better time than now to get them cooking.
Some of you may be lucky enough to have kids who have been cooking since they were toddlers, but even if your child wasn’t a mini masterchef or a bake-off junior it is never too late.
Our young cooks cooking course is aimed at children who may or may not have cooked before. We will start with baking, and then as they build in confidence we will move on to simple cooking.
The kitchen is an exciting place for children, however it is full of dangers. This course is intended for parents to be present in order to help as and when needed. This way the children can gain in confidence in a safe and secure environment.
Lastly, don’t feel bound by these age guides. A lot of the tasks can safely be dropped down an age category. The 3 year olds that I cook with would be unhappy if they couldn’t crack their own eggs.
As children get a little older, they get so much from cooking.
From reading the recipe and following the instructions to weighing and measuring ingredients. Cutting, cracking, beating, mixing, kneading, rolling, chopping and shaping. Children can manage so much more as their fine motor skills are further developed at this age.
As well as the physical skills that are honed, cooking is very empowering. Children want to know that they can do things, it boosts their self-esteem, which is a magnificent thing. By cooking they are learning valuable life skills.
Food hygiene basics and age appropriate tasks will be learned. Every child is individual, and learns at their own pace, however there is no reason to think that most children of this age couldn’t crack and beat eggs (and remember to wash their hands once the egg is cracked), make pastry and start to help towards making dinner by peeling and chopping vegetables
Cooking and nutrition falls within the Design and Technology curriculum. The new curriculum aims to teach children how to cook, with an emphasis on savoury dishes, and how to apply the principles of healthy eating and good nutrition. It recognises that cooking is an important life skill that will help children to feed themselves and others healthy and affordable food, now and in the future, potentially halting – and even reversing – the growth of diet-related illnesses.
In Key Stage 1 (Years 1 and 2), children will be taught:
All of this is covered during our face to face classes.
“You do what?” is the general response when people find out what I do as a job. I am very proud to say that “I teach preschoolers to cook!” Most people think I’m mad, but many will nod and agree how important a skill it is. Others will tell me that a 3-year-old cannot possibly make pastry. Step aside, let them prove you wrong.
Now, you may wish to take ‘teach’ with a pinch of salt. What I actually do is run fun cooking sessions with children. I encourage them to explore the world around them using food. We make and then bake something delicious.
Children learn from doing. In the first instance, the children have to listen and follow instructions. Two very important skills that don’t always come easy to them. They have to take turns and wait patiently while other children are using the scales. They get to practise their counting when measuring out flour or checking to see who has the most smarties. We test their fine motor skills and hand eye co-ordination when they are trying to spoon batter into cake cases. They even learn a little science. The actual preparation only lasts between 20 and 35 minutes. The food cooks in 12 – 15 minutes.
Children explore new foods by looking at them, touching, smelling and hopefully tasting them. For some children this is an automatic thing, but for others, especially those with sensory issues, this can be terrifying. By introducing children to new foods in a small group, they can watch how other children react and learn from them. They may be tempted to try because the other children have had a go. Some children will really surprise you with the complex tastes that they will try. Samphire springs to mind!
Finally, the greatest reason of all. Children are far more emotionally invested in food that they help to create. Cupcakes today, but it won’t be long before they can cook toad in the hole for the family.
Children love to help in the kitchen, but they need close supervision. Don’t try making dinner at the same time as cooking with your preschooler.
Hi everybody. I hope you are all safe and well and not missing your cooking classes too much.
Following the PM’s speech on Sunday, I thought I would give you an update. It’s clear that I cannot teach because of social distancing being impossible within the kitchen. This looks like being the case until the Autumn at the earliest.
As you may have seen from my facebook page I have been working on delivering some online children’s cooking classes for you all. I will run these as either live interactive zoom sessions or as pre-recorded cookalongs.
For full details of the courses available, please visit the Online courses page
Such a great class!! My daughter & I love it.
Maria is fantastic; I highly recommend her classes 😀
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Morbi sagittis, sem quis lacinia faucibus, orci ipsum gravida tortor, vel interdum mi sapien ut justo. Nulla varius consequat magna, id molestie ipsum volutpat quis. Suspendisse consectetur fringilla luctus. Fusce id mi diam, non ornare orci. Pellentesque ipsum erat, facilisis ut venenatis eu, sodales vel dolor.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Morbi sagittis, sem quis lacinia faucibus, orci ipsum gravida tortor, vel interdum mi sapien ut justo. Nulla varius consequat magna, id molestie ipsum volutpat quis. Suspendisse consectetur fringilla luctus. Fusce id mi diam, non ornare orci. Pellentesque ipsum erat, facilisis ut venenatis eu, sodales vel dolor.
Morbi sagittis, sem quis lacinia faucibus, orci ipsum gravida tortor, vel interdum mi sapien ut justo. Nulla varius consequat magna, id molestie ipsum volutpat quis. Suspendisse consectetur fringilla luctus. Fusce id mi diam, non ornare orci. Pellentesque ipsum erat, facilisis ut venenatis eu, sodales vel dolor.
I’d highly recommend Maria and crafty cooks, My Daughter has been (now 5) and now my son (3), My son has always been fussy with food, these classes have helped broaden his tastes as well as learn to mix, tickle the ingredients and clean up. Maria has a lovely way with the children to engage them and involve them. Highly recommend these classes for so many different reasons 😊👍
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Morbi sagittis, sem quis lacinia faucibus, orci ipsum gravida tortor, vel interdum mi sapien ut justo. Nulla varius consequat magna, id molestie ipsum volutpat quis. Suspendisse consectetur fringilla suctus. Pellentesque ipsum erat, facilisis ut venenatis eu, sodales vel dolor. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.
Morbi sagittis, sem quis lacinia faucibus, orci ipsum gravida tortor, vel interdum mi sapien ut justo. Nulla varius consequat magna, id molestie ipsum volutpat quis. Suspendisse consectetur fringilla suctus. Pellentesque ipsum erat, facilisis ut venenatis eu, sodales vel dolor. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Morbi sagittis, sem quis lacinia faucibus, orci ipsum gravida tortor, vel interdum mi sapien ut justo. Nulla varius consequat magna, id molestie ipsum volutpat quis. Suspendisse consectetur fringilla suctus. Pellentesque ipsum erat, facilisis ut venenatis eu, sodales vel dolor.
Morbi sagittis, sem quis lacinia faucibus, orci ipsum gravida tortor, vel interdum mi sapien ut justo. Nulla varius consequat magna, id molestie ipsum volutpat quis. Suspendisse consectetur fringilla luctus. Fusce id mi diam, non ornare orci. Pellentesque ipsum erat, facilisis ut venenatis eu, sodales vel dolor.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Morbi sagittis, sem quis lacinia faucibus, orci ipsum gravida tortor, vel interdum mi sapien ut justo. Nulla varius consequat magna, id molestie ipsum volutpat quis. Suspendisse consectetur fringilla luctus. Fusce id mi diam, non ornare orci. Pellentesque ipsum erat, facilisis ut venenatis eu, sodales vel dolor.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Morbi sagittis, sem quis lacinia faucibus, orci ipsum gravida tortor, vel interdum mi sapien ut justo. Nulla varius consequat magna, id molestie ipsum volutpat quis. Suspendisse consectetur fringilla suctus. Pellentesque ipsum erat, facilisis ut venenatis eu, sodales vel dolor.
Morbi sagittis, sem quis lacinia faucibus, orci ipsum gravida tortor, vel interdum mi sapien ut justo. Nulla varius consequat magna, id molestie ipsum volutpat quis. Suspendisse consectetur fringilla luctus. Fusce id mi diam, non ornare orci. Pellentesque ipsum erat, facilisis ut venenatis eu, sodales vel dolor.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Morbi sagittis, sem quis lacinia faucibus, orci ipsum gravida tortor, vel interdum mi sapien ut justo. Nulla varius consequat magna, id molestie ipsum volutpat quis. Suspendisse consectetur fringilla luctus. Fusce id mi diam, non ornare orci. Pellentesque ipsum erat, facilisis ut venenatis eu, sodales vel dolor.