Last week I set up a special playdate...just me and my 4 year old niece, Sydney. Sydney is a very smart little girl who loves to be a big helper, especially in the kitchen. So I decided to take her to a place called Cookology.
Cookology (http://cookologyonline.com/) is a cooking store/school where professional chefs host cooking classes for all different age groups teaching all-things-cooking from learning basic knife skills to decorating cupcakes to cooking a 3 course meal.
The class we attended was a "Mommy & Me" class, even though I was the Aunt and the only adult not a mommy. But the class is geared towards 3-5 year olds and this one in particular was focusing on fall/halloween treats. There were about 6 other kids there with their moms and each child was able to add a certain ingredient and help mix things together. And they were taught about vanilla and sugar and cinnamon and measuring and stirring and counting. The teacher was a lot of fun and really great with the kids. They even got to color their own chef's hats to take home.
We made Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with a cream cheese frosting which the kids were able to spread on themselves (the "pie" part ended up being more like cookies than cakes though still yummy) and Chocolate Candy Corn Bark. The bark was a mixture of melted white chocolate and graham cracker crumbs topped with melted chocolate and the kids crushed up oreos to use along with the candy corn to decorate the top of the bark.
It was great and fun educational experience for my niece. And I loved the fact it was just her and I, able to have some bonding time. It was very special and I hope to take her to another class soon. When her 2 year old sister gets a little older, maybe I'll be brave enough to take them both!
This is such an awesome idea! How cool is that for a cooking school to help create family bonds and teach children how to cook. What a great aunt you are.
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