A SUMMARYCome along with your 3-5 year old and join in a fun, hands on cooking class for children in a relaxed home environment, creating dishes to be enjoyed both at the class and to take home. Even if your childs' cooking experience has been limited (or even yours!), you will be in for a surprise when you see what they can actually create!
The class costs £17 FOR A CHILD AND GUARDIAN TOGETHER, which includes all of the ingredients used. Just bring some containers to take some of your treats home in!
Classes are kept small, with up to 4 children and guardian, so that the children can get the attention they need and deserve. It will always be me, Lisa, running the classes so the children will know what to expect when they return.
The classes are taught in my workshop where we really can have fun, make a mess and delicious dishes whilst learning such a wide array of skills. Some jobs may need us to work in the kitchen as well. The children will mostly work on their own elements with very limited group work for the time-being. They will be doing everything from weighing, mixing, beating, kneading, chopping, rolling, stirring, counting, measuring, whisking, decorating, tearing, layering, sprinkling, mashing, squeezing, pricking, constructing, enveloping even tickling (though maybe not all of these in one class!). I can guarantee they get a little messy! Safety is paramount for cooking with children (and adults too!!), so we also learn about keeping ourselves safe, keeping the food safe and areas clean and tidy to prevent cross-contamination.
Each class will have a different menu, with at least one main and maybe even a sweet dish. Seasonal classes (such as Halloween, Christmas and Easter) focus on relevant dishes and edible treats/gifts. The cooking space is usually decorated when there is a festivity!
I tailor the menus for the day to take into account each child's abilities. I encourage them to try to taste new things (so long as it does not contain raw eggs or raw meat) and get an understanding of where their food comes from. We collect our own herbs from the garden and enjoy exploring the different textures, smells and tastes of the different herbs. We also explore seasonality of food and can sometimes also use my fresh home grown produce that we pick together. I hope to expand the fruit and veg beds in my garden next year.
The course includes all of the ingredients, use of the equipment and tuition. As the children are so young, a guardian is required to stay - and get involved! Class menus can be adapted to dietary requirements (please note that both the workshop and kitchen are environments where we work with nuts, dairy and gluten). Family classes can be made available on request.
My goal since starting Little Wren Cooking over 4 years ago has been to make learning to cook as accessible, fun and relaxed as possible. I want to encourage a love and understanding of food. The benefits of home cooked food is huge, from the health perspective through to something more personal, the sense of accomplishment, and pride, encouraging that scientific sense of wonder. Cooking helps develop a range of skills, from communication and language, physical development, personal, social and emotional development, creativity, logic and so forth.
Please note that there is one step into each of the workshop, the kitchen and down to the toilet.
Bookings need to be made at least 5 days before the class to enable me to source the ingredients and prepare the class schedule. Should you be looking to book within those 5 days, please do get in touch in case space is available. Please see further details for cancellation information.
