Kids Cooking Camps
Cooking Camps * Basic Food Preparation * Wellness Activities * Kids Yoga
The Benefits of Our Cooking Camps
At Sprouting Chefs we provide children with opportunities to learn real life skills in garden and kitchen settings. Our vision is to inspire youth to view their world and the food they eat in a wholesome organic and healthy way. We believe that showing children how to prepare a healthy delicious meal from scratch, will lead them to be connected to their environment and as well as empower them with confidence to create their own recipes. We expect that this confidence will reap incredible benefits. We achieve this vision by sowing seeds of knowledge:
- Where does food come from?
- How is food prepared?
- How healthy food promotes health and wellness
- What it means to be mindful in the kitchen, the garden and everyday.
- Our camps build confidence and self esteem within each camper
- Increased life skills and creativity
- Enjoyment and pleasure of food
- Self Awareness through overall wellness
Funds raised via our Summer Camps support our in school programs and After School Cooking Classes
Our Purpose
- To cultivate and facilitate programs for youth that empower them with self confidence in the skills they acquire in kitchen and garden settings
- To make a difference in the lives of youth and children by providing ways to live a healthier life
- To provide healthy ways of cooking, eating and Being well
- To highlight seasonal local ingredients whenever possible
We value the garden and all its stages of possibility. We value the kitchen, the heart of any home, the place where family & community gather to celebrate, nurture and inspire. We value the hearts and minds of the children we teach and do our best to share tools that help to cultivate self care and self love.
Our programs fosters mentorship by encouraging “sprouts” to cultivate future “seedlings” by joining older teens with younger elementary students, university students with high school students and community members who wish to give back and get back to nature. We will also recruit past Sprouting Chefs Cooking participants as possible mentors in the future programs.
Summer Wellness Program
Our Summer Day Camp program is a fun way to “Sprout the Chef” within each participant with day camp sessions running from 9 am to 3 pm Mondays to Fridays throughout the summer months of July and August. Sprouting Chefs is a community based company offering services of cooking and gardening programs for children and opportunities for youth. Recipes are seasonal and inspired by local growers, multicultural cuisine, and of course, school gardens.
After a 5 day week session, Sprouts will graduate with the awareness of:
- The cycle of food production from farm to table
- Training in basic food preparation
- Knowledge and skills in sharing and creating meal ideas for their families at home
- The importance of community awareness and stewardship of the land
- A strong sense of empowerment from the skills they have acquired
- How to plant a BC Edible Garden or window box garden at home with opportunities to learn from School Gardens,
Included in the cost of registration:
- Sprouting Chefs Apron
- A mini cookbook of the meals the Sprouts prepared during the week long sessions available via a PDF document to save paper
- An experienced chef leader who will nurture and guide the Seedlings & Sprouts
- All food and equipment needed to prepare a locally seasonal inspired recipe
- An edible plant to take home and continue to eat what they grow
Our cooking camp sessions also include Physical Activities, wide field games, Arts and Crafts, Team Building, as well as Gardening Activities. Working with an enthusiastic team of student volunteers with backgrounds in health and nutrition, day camps and summer camps, cooking and youth programs means we can provide a whole camp experience. And of course, Lunch & Snacks are always included!
Funds raised via our Summer Camps help offset our in school programs and support our After School Cooking Classes.
Throughout all our sessions we will encourage the use of composts, reducing food waste and developing an understanding of food security.
Recipes will all be centered around what kids can do at home with and for their families from Basic Pasta Meals, Learning how to use Herbs, Soups and Lunch Ideas to healthy snacks and desserts.
Please note: Our first class always focuses on Safety and Orientation around the kitchen. As such, there is less cooking on the first day so students are prepared to fully engage by the second day.
We do little or no baking with our classes as we do our best to keep sugar, flours and sweets to a minimum.
Upcoming Kids Cooking Camps
2024 Wellness and Cooking Camp - Locations and Dates
Burnaby Location Details – $525/5 Day Session (includes the cost of an apron, full lunch, an afternoon snack and other supplies)
- Date: July 22 to 26 (FULL), August 12 to 16th, 2024
- Time: 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM
- Ages: 9 to 13 years
- Location: St. Timothy’s Church, 4550 Kitchener St., Burnaby
- REGISTER ONLINE HERE
An introduction to cooking using the summer harvest of vegetables and fruit, this 5 day camp program takes children on a journey of all the goodness BC has to offer. As for the campers to learn and use at home too. All camps will include morning yoga sessions, cooking activities and wellness afternoon crafts. Camps include a field trip to Whole Foods to learn how to shop on a budget and cook with a seasonal local ingredient.
The Sprouts will enjoy cooking some of the following items:
- Summer Salads and Simple Vinaigrettes
- Basic Pasta Sauces and Pizza
- Salad Rolls and other Asian Favourites
- Energizing Green Smoothies
- Appetizers and Hors D’ouerves
A Typical Day:
9:00 AM to 9:45 AM – Morning Yoga Session with Youth Yoga Teacher
10:00 AM to Noon – Prep and Create Lunch Together
12:00 PM to 12:45 PM – Lunch/Break/Clean Up
1:00 PM – 2:00 PM – Mindful Art Craft (Mandala Rocks, Essential Oil Bath Salts, Dried Flower Crafts, Journal Making, Dream Catchers, or Spa Day)
2:00 PM – 3:00 PM – Walking to Nearby Waterpark, Outdoor Activity, Healthy Snack Making or Garden Activity
Wednesdays – Field Trip to Whole Foods Market
Thursdays – Spa Day with homemade facemasks, bath salts and chill out time.
Fridays – Field Trip to Confederation Park
Testimonials
