What participants will gain
- Confidence in the kitchen
- Real-life independence skills
- Healthier eating habits
- Math & science applications
- Social skills & teamwork
How we keep kids safe in the kitchen
- Instructor-to-student ratio. Chefsville normally offers a 1:6 to 1:8 student ratio.
- Kitchen safety and safe food handling progression.
- Knife safety progression.
- Allergy handling. Parents/Guardians provide this information at the beginning of the first day of the program, else they may call upfront. Chefsville is not a specialty program, but will make every reasonable effort to accommodate participants.
- Supervision style is guided, hands-on, never unsupervised around sharp or electric heated tools).
- Cleanliness & hygiene protocols
Is this a good program for my child?
- Ages 5–7 → beginner exploration
- Ages 8–12 → skill-building
- Tween/Teen → independence & creativity
What Happens in a Class?
- Welcome & safety intro
- Hands-on cooking
- Teamwork & skill-building
- Eat & reflect
- Take-home (food + skills)
Camp sessions have 2 – 4 recipes per day, schools have 1-2 recipes per session.
1st session of camps start with parent/guardian information forms where we collect contact information, child’s information, information on health and allergies, then pick-up instructions such as who may pick them up, walker or other departure information. If the city doesn’t collect the supply fee, that is collected at this point. For schools, the supply fee is included in the registration, and parents complete information forms at registration.
Participants complete a “Getting To Know Me” sheet.
Attendance is taken.
Introduction is made.
Any safety instruction, then on to a quick demonstration of what the segment is about. After that the kids jump into the hands-on making, cooking and eating.
There are physical games, skills drills, teaching aids, and paper activities such as coloring sheets, picture and word searchers, mazes, and crossword puzzles between recipes.
During each recipe, participants may be asked to give verbal descriptions of their creations/offerings.
The Chefsville Experience:
- Combines cooking + academics (STEAM)
- Structured skill progression
- Hands-on (not just a demonstration)
- Focus on life skills, not just recipes
- Community + family connection
- Many different program themes
Programs are hands-on culinary experience where your child cooks, learns, and eats what they helped create.
Food details
- Will my child actually eat this? Yes, all of our recipes have been child tested since 2009. We offer kid-friendly variations of recipes and we encourage trying, not forcing
- Are portions a meal or snack? Snack sized!
- Can picky eaters participate? Oh yes! Chefsville help picky eaters overcome their fears. Also we don’t mind being one of the chances for your child to enjoy exploring beyond their limits through # of exposures for desensitization.
What Parents Need to Know
- What to bring (or not bring)? A child interested in cooking/baking.
- Dress code: closed-toe shoes, hair tie or hair band for long hair.
- Arrival & pickup process.
For camps and classes, Chefsville requires parents to come in to complete a form at the beginning of each program. It is on this form where we collect information on who may pick-up your child(ren). Parents or designees may pickup the kiddos from camps at our classroom/camp area.
For schools: parents may pick up their child at the school’s designated pick-up area or kids will be released to the district’s after-school program if they are registered. Walkers and faculty participants will be released at the end of each program.
- Food allergies. For camps and classes, a form is completed to collect any food allergies, religious restrictions or food intolerances. While most camps and classes are not specialty programs, we do make every attempt possible to accommodate our participants.
- Refund/cancellation policy. For camps, the facility offers its refund/cancellation information online or in catalog. For schools, there are no refunds once the program begins. If participants are registered with payment programs, there is payment stops once the program starts. Prior to program starting for schools, a cancellation fee of $75 will be charged, unless the program is cancelled in advance of start date.
