Culinary professionals from The Art Institutes schools say that cooking with kids can be fun for the whole family with a few simple safety rules and basic organization. The payoff? Encouraging children to enjoy cooking can help nurture a lifelong love of good food and eating well.
Desire Dorwart, a Culinary Arts instructor at The International Culinary School at The Art Institutes International Minnesota says, “Children have a natural disposition to seek out new experiences and create in order to learn. I love to see kids put their clean hands in a huge bowl of dough to mix; their faces alight as they discover that getting sticky is okay. If a child learns the correct way to hold and use a knife, only uses the stove when a parent is home, and has an adult to help them along the way, the possibilities are endless. Not only do they gain confidence, but they also learn a skill that will be with them for their entire lives.”
When Chef Instructor Steven Pilat at The Art Institute of Dallas teaches a cooking course to children from economically disadvantaged neighborhoods, many of whom dine frequently at fast-food restaurants, he likes to start his classes by teaching nutrition, and keeping the lessons fun. “We play nutrition bingo using black or pinto beans to mark the spaces, and quiz kids about the food pyramid,” he says. “They learn they need to eat grains and vegetables several times a day and save the sugars for special treats.”
Since many of the chef’s students make their own snacks when they return from school, Chef Pilat tries to encourage the children to think about what healthy snacks are all about. “I introduce foods like fresh fruits and granola,” he says. “We give the kids a bag of groceries to take home and prepare the recipes that we do in class. That way, they can share what they’ve learned with their families.”
As Chef Pilat explains, “Everyone likes to eat, it’s a common interest we all have. When children are invited into the kitchen as active participants and they see how much fun cooking can be, they are learning wonderful lessons about eating well that will serve them all their lives.”
Yogurt Parfaits from Chef Steve Pilat, The Art Institute of Dallas (serves one)
1 8oz. container of vanilla yogurt
½ cup fruit (any kind, chopped)
½ cup low-fat granola
Place layer of yogurt on the bottom of a bowl or cup. Cover yogurt with a layer of fruit and then a layer of granola. Keep layering until all the ingredients are used. Serve immediately or place in the freezer to make a frozen yogurt snack.
To learn more about The Art Institutes schools, visit www.artinstitutes.edu/nz.