Cooking classes

A combination of taking classes and teaching at home has worked for us. Our son has been hanging out with me in the kitchen since he was a baby, at first just playing with plastic containers and now helps me with minor tasks like making coffee (he put in the filter, scoops the coffee and pours in the water).

We took a class at our community center and he felt more comfortable doing other things. We didn't actually "cook" since the class was for 3 to 5 years, but made a number of snacks and sandwiches. He still likes to help out and I just hope his interest continues.

Patricia is a discussion leader for arizonamoms.com. She and her husband live in Phoenix and are raising a 4-year-old son they adopted as an infant.

My family has always been big into cooking, baking and canning. The only cooking class I've ever taken was in a family kitchen. I plan to continue this tradition with my daughter as she grows. Perhaps for the more specialty type foods, my daughter and I could take a class together, but there is plenty of time before we are at that point.

I took a preschooler to a kids cooking class at AJs his parents had signed him up for. They made shish kabobs and filled chocolate shells with dessert creams. They got to wear aprons and chef hats and take home their food. I don't know what the cost was, but I was really impressed with the class and would recommend it.

AJs and Sweet Basil Gourmet has cooking classes for kids. AJs is more a cookie decorating, little crafts kind of class, but Sweet Basil, in Scottsdale, has some good ones for kids...especially around Christmas, although you have to sign up early for those. They are very popular!

We cook and bake a lot with our kids. We make our older ones cook part of a meal every once in a while. I am determined that my boys will leave this house knowing more about cooking than just eggs and canned soup!