Expand your child’s education into the kitchen this year

With the start of the New Year comes the perfect opportunity to renew your commitment to healthy eating, and while you’re at it, why not teach your kids how to eat healthy too? Poppy Innovations created the Parent & Child Culinary Program, to do just that. The hands-on program teaches kids nine and older how to chop vegetables, cook meat, choose healthy ingredients and so much more!

“Kids are a lot more capable in the kitchen than we think. In our program we teach children how to use kitchen knives, cook on the stove and with the oven, and use a variety of kitchen equipment,” says Sharon McCormick, CEO of Poppy Innovations.

The Parent & Child Culinary Program runs once a week for six weeks, and during each session the children learn and practice cooking a new meal made with local and healthy ingredients. Weaved into the cooking lesson is information about the four food groups, the importance of vegetables, and the benefits of buying locally sourced food.

Karyn Sunohara, is one of the dietitians who leads the program, “We talk about creating balanced meals, filling half the plate with vegetables, one-quarter with protein and the last quarter with a starch. We also discuss how locally grown food has more nutrients, and that treats are ok, as long as we limit them,” she says.

Gillian Gray attended the program with her two children last year. “I thought it’d be a nice chance to spend some quality time with the kids while they learned some great nutritional lessons. They were really excited about the big kitchen,” she recalls.

“They learned to prepare vegetables and meat, use lots of different kitchen gadgets, and work with a chef’s knife,” remembers Gillian, “My comfort level around them using the knives greatly improved.” 

Even a year later, Gillian’s children still use the skills they learned in the program, “After school they will prepare themselves a healthy snack rather than grab something quick from the pantry and my son will cook his own eggs for breakfast instead of eating cereal,” says Gillian.

The winter sessions of the Parent & Child Culinary program start on January 20 at the South Health Campus and on January 21 at Calgary CO-OP Crowfoot location. Both sessions run from 5:30pm-7pm once a week for six weeks. Visit our website to register and check out the many programs we have to offer.