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Basic chocolate chip cookies and brownies are always fun, and not too hard to make. Assuming they won't be in their home kitchens unsupervised, spaghetti is easy enough.

I have taught kids cooking............. I recommend making pizza , kids love making dough. Also tortilla's work very well.

check out instructions: http://www.dailymunch.com/2008/05/how-to-make-tortillas.html

other ideas would be pasta, something they can teach their parents later.......

I think the syllabus will fall into place once you get an idea how to structure the classes--having a 'breakfast' day, maybe, where you do pancakes and frittatas, a pizza day, a dessert day, a stir-fry/Chinese day, is one way. Or you can devote each day to one item or technique, like 'Baking,' or 'Meat,' or 'Fruits and Vegetables,' or 'The Incredible, Edible Egg.'

For the final day, making a full luncheon for the class to which the parents are invited would be fun!

Chef Denene Vincent at Le Chat Gourmet near Jackson, Michigan is offering her annual kids' Junior Chef Cooking Camp the first week in July. You can click on the individual days in her July schedule to get a look at what she's offering over those five days.

To add to all the good advice above, I would say that kids respond really well to recipes that they can re-create at home easily. So keep that in mind in terms of how much preparation you have to put into the foods beforehand (chopping, slicing, using dangerous kitchen appliances), and keep it to a minimum.

Also, giving kids in that age group some leeway to be creative is usually successful -- let them choose which toppings for the pizza and how to arrange them, or give them a choice of mix-in combinations for cookies. Layered fruit parfaits are also fun for kids -- granola, different fruit choices, crumbled cookies, whipped cream, etc.

I have toyed with the idea of doing parent/child cooking classes...I thought meatballs would be good..fairly simple, get your hands dirty, kid-friendly. If it was parent/child, I'd do Meatballs Two Ways: a basic beef for the kids, and a Greek-flavored lamb for the adults....same technique, two flavors.

Grilled sandwiches: there is a technique to leaern, but everyones sandwich can be customised to taste, and it's something they can and will do at home.

For giggles, Fruit Roll Up dessert sushi? Flowerpot Gummy worm Cakes?

Thanks, y'all, for your great ideas. Especially the advice about patience; when I get in the kitchen I tend to focus like a laser. The teaching will be a collaborative effort, and planning this will be fun. The church does a community supper every month, and we are thinking of having the kids help prepare the July supper at the end of camp.

And I'd almost forgotten Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs was another great one, matched with the meatball-making lesson!

I'm so glad you're doing this!

I've been sending my daughter to cooking classes for about a year now. Each one has been two hours, meatless, many of them full vegan, with a "dinner" at the end for all who attended and the parents.

So far she's learned eggplant parmesan (part of the first class); sushi; black bean soup; red lentil soup (oh my gosh good and easy); quick breads (pumpkin chai was amazing); an entire Lebanese/Greek array of hummus (a couple kinds), baba ghanoush, tabouli, falafel, tahini, Greek salad; pizzas and calzones; pies (sweet and savory); Indian food of naan, potatoes in spicy gravy, chana masala (some whirled up into a dip), a lot more but can't think; Lasagna, garlic bread, cannoli; lots of salads (including various dressings); manicotti; fondue (lots from cheese to chocolate with many different dippers); chili and jalapeno cornbread with greens; crackers (soooo goood) and biscotti (yum); enchiladas, refried beans (from scratch), guacamole, salsa; casseroles; potstickers, fried rice, fortune cookies; so much more. They even did a gluten-free class that was amazing, tasty and filling yet not a dragging-after meal (sorry my descriptors failed me there). Some upcoming recipes are pupusas, black bean/masa cakes, rice cakes, potato cakes, and pizza rolls (like a savory cinnamon roll stuffed with veggies and sauce and excellent for taking to lunch).

There's a trick to teaching bread since it takes so long. As the teacher you would make a dough ahead of time that will be ready when it's time for the baking but teach the kids how to make the dough at the start, bring out the pre-made dough for baking, enjoy bread fresh, then send them away with the dough they made for baking at home when it's ready (parents will love you; though some notice about it helps so they don't plan 6 hours of errands for after a class -- it's that thinking of everything that's a stickler).

You really don't have to dumb it down at that age, they really are ready for the whole experience from cutting to assembly to the cooking. What you do have to watch for is that the more kids you have the more mischief and silliness they can descend into (especially at that age; even more than younger and older children) so keep 'em on task, allow a break where they can be a bit silly, and make sure clean-up is part of the process all throughout and at the end so they do have to deal with their own messes. There are some very basic things they do need to learn such as don't turn around with a knife in your hand, don't walk behind someone without saying something to them (such as, "behind you") especially if either one is working intently and/or hands full. Give them responsibility and that will keep them from going off-track.

Might consider using the first day to explain the classes and then go over some of the more boring but important things such as knife skills, meal planning, keeping things clean, preparing everything prior to turning on the burner... but be sure to have something good and fairly quick to cook up for that day and hold back on some of the lecture stuff for the other days to mix it up and keep the lesson close to the practice (plus repetition is good especially safety and knife skills). Since it's summer, a grilling class could be cool (especially if it includes veggies).

Also, notebooks with room for adding in the lessons on knife skills, clean-up, etc., plus each days recipes for each child to take home. They learn how to read the recipe in practice in the class and then having it at home allows them to recreate. I can't tell you how many times we've benefitted now from my daughter's new skills but more importantly confidence and happiness in the kitchen. She's eating soooo much better overall now because she's thinking outside the fast food bag. A year ago she wouldn't even consider Indian food and now she loves it.

One last note, get the kids and parents to send in their clean containers, especially the hard to recycle ones such as sour cream/cottage cheese containers with lids so the students can take leftovers home.

By the time this is over you'll know so much and you'll be doing 6 camps next year. :)

Oh, and aprons!

Hi!

I worked with some middle school aged kids this past winter as part a program with the hospitality school at Penn State. I was quite surprised at--despite their small amount of experience--how well they performed in the kitchen. It seems like your kids are a bit younger, but I still wouldn't doubt their abilities, especially if you give them a recipe and ample encouragement and direction.

We had a week of appetizers, breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and desserts.

Some of the recipes we tried were:
bruschetta, pumpkin pancakes, potato tomato and basil frittata, black bean corn salad (can serve just with tortillas, or make simple quesadillas), philly cheese steaks, pizza (kids love to make individual, personalized pizzas!), crepes, spring rolls...

Good luck--I guarantee you will have as much fun as the kids! It's such a treat to watch them learn and experiment with foods.

There are also lots of good kids cookbooks in the children's section of the library. My 7 year old daughter loves to check them out "just to read". =)

AH nevermind, I skipped over the cooking in the church kitchen part.... when I saw "camp" I thought it was an actual camp with a fire! hehe Sorry!

In THAT case, make "Spicy Flowerettes". Take some tube-o-biscuits (the flakey kind) and make a few snips in each raw biscuit making it look like a flower. Then dunk the biscuit flower in melted butter followed by cinnamon and sugar. Stick a marschino cherry halve in the center and bake according to package directions.

I made these in my cooking class in 6th grade. Lots of fun!

I am very excited to know that this camp offers exceptional cooking training programs for the kids and teens. there are very few camps that recommend such types of cooking classes and cuisines preparation experiential training courses. Kids who have special needs can join this camp for achieving life skills. There are lots of certified summer camps, boot camps, wilderness camps as well as Christian camps for children. Youth Christian camps offer spiritual programs. These camps offer excellent treatment programs for them in caring, safe and spirituality based environment for their complete growth.

http://www.teenscamp.net/Teen/Christian-Camps-For-Teens/index.htm