These online cooking classes are fun for the whole family
From celebrity chefs to wholesome home cooks, there are tons of kids' cooking classes available online these days. Here's how to turn your mini-me into a Masterchef.
Yes, now is absolutely the moment to get the kids cooking. Photo: Hannah Tasker
One of the benefits of lockdown with children is teaching them life skills, and we can't think of a more essential one than encouraging them to whip up a delicious meal for us hardworking parents. Which is why we're tuning in to the wonderful array of online cooking classes for kids.
For parents who once lamented their children's distinct inability to do anything vaguely home economics-y, whether that was baking bread or sewing on a button, times have changed. Some families are comfort baking together, while others are growing their own herbs and vegetables in window boxes.
While most parents don't have the time to upskill with an online cookery class that teaches us to temper gourmet chocolate truffles (how we wish!), we can quite easily watch a kid-friendly baking session or curry-making lesson with our crew.
Bonus: you won't have to scramble to make dinner for once...
Photo: Feasted
Online cookery classes
From celeb chefs to home cooks to children cooking with their parents, there's no shortage of online cooking tutorials to check out weekly, or even daily. Here are a few of our faves...
Feasted: Cris Cohen's Feasted is hosting live cookery classes every Tuesday on Facebook, which are as much about the celebratory and meditative aspects of cooking as they are about the wholesome meals, like filling, immune-boosting curries, bread wreaths and Southern fried chicken. Each session is themed, and the ingredient lists are posted a day ahead.
Photo: Gem's Wholesome Kitchen
Gem's Wholesome Kitchen: Keen to up your plant-based cooking game for the kids? The author of The Self Care Cookbook, Gemma Ogston, is running a daily mood-boosting breakfast club for kids at 8:30am weekdays, as well as Thursday afternoon cooking classes on Facebook and Instagram at 2:30pm.
With dishes like Life's a Peach (tinned) tart, mango, coconut and banana energy balls and jackfruit 'tuna' mayo sarnies, there are plenty of gorgeous new recipes to try and ingredients to experiment with. Even better? Gem's daughter Carmen, aged nine, is involved in all of the online cooking classes to help inspire young chefs at home.
#kidscookwiththeo: Masterchef semi-finalist Theo Michaels is hosting thrice-weekly cookery classes for kids on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 4pm on Instagram, where he's teaching kids to whip up everything from gnocchi to salmon Wellington to chili nachos and sausage rolls (ingredients lists are on Insta too). Check out #kidscookwiththeo to catch up on all the vids.
Delish: For Princess Leia cupcakes, grilled cheese hot dogs, skillet brownies, and leftover spaghetti cake, Delish is your go-to for themed dishes that the kids will be super-excited to make (and eat). Classes are on weekdays at 1pm EST (6pm UK time), hosted by Delish editorial director, Joanna Saltz, and her kids, on Instagram.
Online baking classes
Photo: The Avenue Cookery School
The Avenue Cookery School: SW18's The Avenue Cookery School has been hosting Instagram Live cooking sessions to appeal to everyone in the family, with a focus on yummy baking treats for kids, like flapjacks, jam tarts and Oreo truffles. Yum.
Christina Tosi Bake Club: The founder of NYC fave, Milk Bar - purveyor of some of the best cookies on the planet - Christina Tosi, is hosting live baking sessions on Instagram at 2pm EST (that's 7pm UK time, which is just about when we need a sweet fix). The dessert offerings are insane: think banana creams, gooey butter cake, butterscotch marshmallow cookies, cereal milk pudding pops and more.
The ingredients required are pictured on Insta ahead of time, and you can think of this as a cultural education too (Nilla wafers, graham crackers for garden S'mores - if you can't get hold of all of them, it's easy to substitute). Recipes can be found here.
Photo: Patrick Fore
Kids' cooking classes to sign up to
If your child or teen is looking for more cooking classes or a regular scheduled course, there are plenty of online options to check out..
Bluprint: Bluprint is a fab website with a selection of kids' craft-based classes, like sewing, knitting, crocheting, arts and crafts, as well as cake decorating, baking and cooking.
From slow-cooker meals, to mastering canelés, kids can learn a broad range of skills or master a particular pastry they adore. The classes are taught by professional chefs, including James Beard award winners.
Outschool: If you haven't noticed yet, you'll quickly see we're obsessed by Outschool and have been enrolling our kids in classes like Harry Potter-inspired creative writing to supplement the home schooling curriculum (OK, if we're honest, they've mostly been writing their own HP fan fiction - and they're loving it!).
There's a range of cookery courses available - both one-offs and classes that run for several weeks, as well as a choice between live sessions and those kids can do in their own time.
Oak National: Parents have been impressed with the government's Oak National educational website, which delivers home schooling videos that are entertaining and easily digestible.
Tune in for life lessons on those bits of making a meal the kids might be less keen on, like prepping the table and washing up.
Cooking 'essentials' for kids
One way to get your child curious about cooking? Through pretend play, foodie kits and fab kitchen gadgets, of course. Here are a few of our favourite items to encourage those budding chefs.
Photo: Foodini
Foodini Club subscription
Foodini is a fab subscription box service with a range of options to encourage all keen cooks, with monthly boxes and one-off kits for kids aged three and up. Choose from the Foodini Postal Club, with recipes and ingredients to encourage the kids to learn new kitchen skills and explore new flavours, recipe-only card boxes and one-off kits with pre-measured ingredients.
Subscriptions start at £5 a month and make a fantastic gift.
Photo: Not On The High Street
Mummy Made It Me Pretend Play Felt Food Farfalle Pasta Bows
We've seen lots of pretend food toys over the years but none quite so adorable as these felt farfalle bows, packaged in a pretend pasta box.
There are 10 bows in each box and you can even get tricolore (£6 at Not On The High Street). Not only will this get them excited about cookery, they may even pick up some Italian in the process...
Photo: John Lewis & Partners
John Lewis & Partners 18 Piece Kitchen Set
Perfect for preschoolers, this colourful pots, pans and utensils set is essential for mini chefs-in-training. It's great for developing fine motor skills and coordination, and should keep toddlers occupied when you're cooking. Get it for £11.50 at John Lewis.
Photo: GLTC
Great Little Trading Co St Ives Play Kitchen
One useful tip to keep nursery-age kids entertained at home is to get a few nursery staples that children can have ownership of. A play kitchen is a great idea, and this one from GLTC is a particular favourite since it's got multiple shelves, drawers, hooks, knobs to turn and doors to open, including an oven and washing machine, so it will easily intrigue a one-year-old or a five-year-old.
It's gorgeous and compact to boot, and it's currently on sale for £108.75 at GLTC.
Culture Whisper is your curated guide to the best of . We may earn a commission for items purchased through our retailer links
For parents who once lamented their children's distinct inability to do anything vaguely home economics-y, whether that was baking bread or sewing on a button, times have changed. Some families are comfort baking together, while others are growing their own herbs and vegetables in window boxes.
While most parents don't have the time to upskill with an online cookery class that teaches us to temper gourmet chocolate truffles (how we wish!), we can quite easily watch a kid-friendly baking session or curry-making lesson with our crew.
Bonus: you won't have to scramble to make dinner for once...
Photo: Feasted
Online cookery classes
From celeb chefs to home cooks to children cooking with their parents, there's no shortage of online cooking tutorials to check out weekly, or even daily. Here are a few of our faves...
Feasted: Cris Cohen's Feasted is hosting live cookery classes every Tuesday on Facebook, which are as much about the celebratory and meditative aspects of cooking as they are about the wholesome meals, like filling, immune-boosting curries, bread wreaths and Southern fried chicken. Each session is themed, and the ingredient lists are posted a day ahead.
Photo: Gem's Wholesome Kitchen
Gem's Wholesome Kitchen: Keen to up your plant-based cooking game for the kids? The author of The Self Care Cookbook, Gemma Ogston, is running a daily mood-boosting breakfast club for kids at 8:30am weekdays, as well as Thursday afternoon cooking classes on Facebook and Instagram at 2:30pm.
With dishes like Life's a Peach (tinned) tart, mango, coconut and banana energy balls and jackfruit 'tuna' mayo sarnies, there are plenty of gorgeous new recipes to try and ingredients to experiment with. Even better? Gem's daughter Carmen, aged nine, is involved in all of the online cooking classes to help inspire young chefs at home.
#kidscookwiththeo: Masterchef semi-finalist Theo Michaels is hosting thrice-weekly cookery classes for kids on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 4pm on Instagram, where he's teaching kids to whip up everything from gnocchi to salmon Wellington to chili nachos and sausage rolls (ingredients lists are on Insta too). Check out #kidscookwiththeo to catch up on all the vids.
Delish: For Princess Leia cupcakes, grilled cheese hot dogs, skillet brownies, and leftover spaghetti cake, Delish is your go-to for themed dishes that the kids will be super-excited to make (and eat). Classes are on weekdays at 1pm EST (6pm UK time), hosted by Delish editorial director, Joanna Saltz, and her kids, on Instagram.
Online baking classes
Photo: The Avenue Cookery School
The Avenue Cookery School: SW18's The Avenue Cookery School has been hosting Instagram Live cooking sessions to appeal to everyone in the family, with a focus on yummy baking treats for kids, like flapjacks, jam tarts and Oreo truffles. Yum.
Christina Tosi Bake Club: The founder of NYC fave, Milk Bar - purveyor of some of the best cookies on the planet - Christina Tosi, is hosting live baking sessions on Instagram at 2pm EST (that's 7pm UK time, which is just about when we need a sweet fix). The dessert offerings are insane: think banana creams, gooey butter cake, butterscotch marshmallow cookies, cereal milk pudding pops and more.
The ingredients required are pictured on Insta ahead of time, and you can think of this as a cultural education too (Nilla wafers, graham crackers for garden S'mores - if you can't get hold of all of them, it's easy to substitute). Recipes can be found here.
Photo: Patrick Fore
Kids' cooking classes to sign up to
If your child or teen is looking for more cooking classes or a regular scheduled course, there are plenty of online options to check out..
Bluprint: Bluprint is a fab website with a selection of kids' craft-based classes, like sewing, knitting, crocheting, arts and crafts, as well as cake decorating, baking and cooking.
From slow-cooker meals, to mastering canelés, kids can learn a broad range of skills or master a particular pastry they adore. The classes are taught by professional chefs, including James Beard award winners.
Outschool: If you haven't noticed yet, you'll quickly see we're obsessed by Outschool and have been enrolling our kids in classes like Harry Potter-inspired creative writing to supplement the home schooling curriculum (OK, if we're honest, they've mostly been writing their own HP fan fiction - and they're loving it!).
There's a range of cookery courses available - both one-offs and classes that run for several weeks, as well as a choice between live sessions and those kids can do in their own time.
Oak National: Parents have been impressed with the government's Oak National educational website, which delivers home schooling videos that are entertaining and easily digestible.
Tune in for life lessons on those bits of making a meal the kids might be less keen on, like prepping the table and washing up.
Cooking 'essentials' for kids
One way to get your child curious about cooking? Through pretend play, foodie kits and fab kitchen gadgets, of course. Here are a few of our favourite items to encourage those budding chefs.
Photo: Foodini
Foodini Club subscription
Foodini is a fab subscription box service with a range of options to encourage all keen cooks, with monthly boxes and one-off kits for kids aged three and up. Choose from the Foodini Postal Club, with recipes and ingredients to encourage the kids to learn new kitchen skills and explore new flavours, recipe-only card boxes and one-off kits with pre-measured ingredients.
Subscriptions start at £5 a month and make a fantastic gift.
Photo: Not On The High Street
Mummy Made It Me Pretend Play Felt Food Farfalle Pasta Bows
We've seen lots of pretend food toys over the years but none quite so adorable as these felt farfalle bows, packaged in a pretend pasta box.
There are 10 bows in each box and you can even get tricolore (£6 at Not On The High Street). Not only will this get them excited about cookery, they may even pick up some Italian in the process...
Photo: John Lewis & Partners
John Lewis & Partners 18 Piece Kitchen Set
Perfect for preschoolers, this colourful pots, pans and utensils set is essential for mini chefs-in-training. It's great for developing fine motor skills and coordination, and should keep toddlers occupied when you're cooking. Get it for £11.50 at John Lewis.
Photo: GLTC
Great Little Trading Co St Ives Play Kitchen
One useful tip to keep nursery-age kids entertained at home is to get a few nursery staples that children can have ownership of. A play kitchen is a great idea, and this one from GLTC is a particular favourite since it's got multiple shelves, drawers, hooks, knobs to turn and doors to open, including an oven and washing machine, so it will easily intrigue a one-year-old or a five-year-old.
It's gorgeous and compact to boot, and it's currently on sale for £108.75 at GLTC.
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