I love hearing about experiences from fellow moms in the community. Here is a post from a local blogger about “Little Aprons” offered at Whole Foods:
Being a food blogger over on HealthyFoodPrep.com, I love food and I love spending time with family and friends in the kitchen.
I really love when my kids want to help out in the kitchen. Yes, it’s messier, and yes, it takes more time but to get them interested in what they are eating at an early age will serve them well for a lifetime. So when I saw Whole Foods was offering a Little Aprons class for kids six and under, I signed up my little guy right away. Little Aprons is part of Whole Foods Kids Club.
My eight-year-old has already spent some time in the kitchen with me and has really enjoyed it (Note: You have to remember young kids have a short attention span and you may get through a whole meal, or even a batch of cookies, the first time.) My 4 1/2 year-old hasn’t shown as much interest but when I ask him if he wanted to take a cooking class with me, he said yes. And for several days leading up to the class, he kept asking me if it was time for his food prep class
(mommy food blogger win!) My kids hear me talk about Food Prep Sunday all the time and are accustomed to having a house full of moms and kids on Sunday prepping our meals for the week.
Little Aprons was a great way to peak his interest cooking.
When we arrived, Whole Foods had a section of their dining area set up for the class. Ingredients were out for the kids to see and healthy snacks and drinks were available. The class started with two simple crafts – a container to take your cookies home in and Valentine’s cards. The kids spent about 10 minutes coloring and stamping the containers and cards with a little help from mom. Then the instructor invited all of the kids to the long table – that was just their height – to help mix everything up. She explained what a recipe was and how we would use it to know how to make our No-Bake Thumbprint Cookies. She also explained what each ingredient was and why we were using it. For example why we were using dates to sweeten the cookies instead of sugar.
She has all of the children take turns measuring out the ingredients, pouring them in the bowl and mixing them up. For children with allergies, no worries. The instructor altered the recipe to ensure any child could participate. The original recipe called for Peanut Butter but she substituted Sunflower Butter. After all of the ingredients were mixed, each child was given a hunk of dough on a tray to shape and top with preserves. When they were finished, they could put their cookies in their decorated containers to take home.
The instructor finished the class by reading a Valentine’s Day-themed children’s book and each child got fresh tulips to take home with them. Overall it was an excellent class for my 4 1/2 year old. It was short (one hour) and constantly moving. He was engaged the whole time and really enjoyed cooking. He was very proud of his accomplishment!
This is a kid’s class with parents participation. Some of the kids got a little pushy wanting to be the one who helped. The instructor handled it very well but it would have been nice if all of the parents would have been a little more attentive.
Kids Club is a great way to incorporate kids in fun, healthy activities. Our Kids Club events range from healthy learning to craft
projects. Check out the event calender to find out the next kids club activity!
Every time you bring your kids with you to the store, stop at Customer Service and pickup a Kids’ Club Coupon good for a complimentary organic apple, 100% Organic fruit leather, or natural animal crackers. We want your visit to be as simple as possible!
We offer Kids’ Club Cooking Classes, Art Activities, and other educational workshops on a monthly basis.
