Cooking and baking classes aren't just for adults — there are a slew of them available for children, and for good reason: being comfortable in the kitchen is a great life skill to instil in kids at a young age!

Cooking classes provide a healthy way for young ones to learn more about food, get their creative juices flowing, foster better communication and coordination, become more independent, and maybe improve some math skills too as they learn to measure and weigh ingredients.

Check out some of these cooking schools for learning some really practical meal ideas and desserts:

Baker's Brew

Easily one of Singapore’s most popular bakeries for classic and custom cakes, Baker’s Brew also offers interactive hands-on baking classes for little baking enthusiasts (4-12 years old) at Paragon Orchard. 

There’s an impressive choice of very cute bakes, with equally cute names to choose from! How can anyone resist sweet bakes called Bunny Bunny Donut, Dumbo Circus Cupcakes, Mister Donut Sandwich Cookie, or Barbie Cake? Just click on the link above, choose a bake, and everything your child will learn in the class is clearly listed out in the details section

Each class usually lasts about 75-90 mins (prices range from $58-$78), aprons, equipment, ingredients and packaging for the class is provided, and your child gets to bring home the sweet fruits of their labour!

Note: It is highly recommended that a parent or guardian accompany children younger than seven years old.

Special: ongoing March Kids Baking Camp for the holidays running till March 17 with three half-day camps (from 10am-noon) at $198 per child.

Mini Bakers (4-7 years) learn how to whip up bright sweet treats such as Sunny Beach Donuts, Seashell Madeleines and Teddy’s Beach Party Cake Cups; while Junior Bakers (8-12 years) learn a larger spectrum of baking with Blueberry Sandwich Cookies, Vegan Lemon Tart and Strawberry Shortcakes.

Tomato Cooking School

Got a budding Junior Masterchef on your hands but don't really know how to hone in that talent? Easy! Sign up your child with any of the kids's cooking camps run by Tomato Cooking School.

Domenik, the head chef behind the menus at the school, is currently studying at the famous Cordon Bleu in Paris, and has experience working in fine dining restaurants in Singapore — including three Michelin starred restaurant, Zen — so rest assured that your child is in good hands. 

Offered several times a year all over Singapore (River Valley, Joo Chiat, Bukit Timah and Novena), the camps are designed especially for six years and older, where experienced chefs run numerous hands-on culinary activities and teach them how to use kitchen appliances safely. Designated cooking stations provided for each participant, including all the required ingredients and equipment.

For instance, the current "Local Delights-themed" Easter Camp (which runs from now till April 26) will have the kids making local favourites such as Chicken Curry with homemade bread, Mini Pineapple Tarts, Stir Fried Hokkien Mee, Homemade Laksa, Baked Banana Fritters with Cinnamon Sugar, and much more!

(Likewise, the Summer Cooking Camp is slated to run from May 27 to Aug 30). Check out some of their recipes here.

For each camp, choose between the 9am-12pm slot or 1-4pm ($400/5 half days per child, inclusive of snack per slot OR $685 per child for full day from 9am-4pm with lunch included).

What I really like about Tomato Cooking School is the fact that besides the cooking camps, the School also offers cooking parties where five children cook together in a three hour cooking class, so it makes a nice change from individual learning to group learning, collaborating in the kitchen together and making new friends! Called Kids Cooking Party, children explore cuisines from 10 different international menus, such as:

• Mini Eclairs from France
• Chocolate Brownies with homemade no-churn ice cream and Mini Cheesy Burgers from USA
• Sushi from Japan
• Baked Churros from Spain
• Fried Chicken Wings from Thailand, and more!

Priced at only $80 per child, timings run from (9am-noon / 1-4pm / 5-8pm) on weekends and (1-4pm/5-8pm) on weekends.

Home Baking Day

Always wanted to bond with your little one over baking but without having to worry about the clean up later? We've got great news for you!

Home Baking Day is a Taiwanese DIY baking studio, where you can do just that (children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult). Running in Taiwan since 2018, they just opened an outlet at City Square Mall here in Singapore last October!

Instead of running cooking classes, this genius outfit’s USP is that they don't have a specific schedule or set timings for their gorgeous cakes, tarts and scones. Instead, the baking studio is a clean and cheery, shared space that feels like home, complete with all the ingredients and equipment that you will need for your recipe. Check out their menu offerings here

Most recipes take 2 - 2.5 hours (depending on the indicated degree of difficulty) and are priced between $70-$85 (note: accompanying adult pays an additional $10 on weekdays and $14 on holidays).

Simply choose a dessert that you like here, make a booking according to your preferred time here.

When you show up for your baking session, you’ll be given a tablet and a password. Simply click on the recipe you chose, enter the password and bake away! 

Of course, help is available if you get stuck at any point but recipes are usually simple and straightforward enough for your child to navigate through with you. Have fun! Note: They also cater for special diets, including ovo-lacto and vegetarian.

Hungry Mummies

Located in a home kitchen at Telok Blangah Heights, Hungry Mummies was founded by Penelope Foo in 2014 in her home, offering cooking classes anchored around easy-to-make, simple and wallet-friendly family meals in time-starved Singapore.

A strong believer in the importance of equipping young children with basic cooking skills from a young age, all of Penelope’s home cooked recipes in her Kids Cooking Classes are perfect for 6-14 year olds, and easy enough for them to recreate back at home themselves for their family. That’s a really valuable life skill to instil in your kids if you ask me.

Each cooking session is a two hour class ($85 per child) and menus look like this:

• Roasted Tomato Soup, Bangers & Mash (grilled sausage over creamy cauliflower potato mash), Jam Drop Cookies;
• Pasta Carbonara, Spinach & Cheese Pastries, Molten Chocolate Lava Cake;
• Korean Fried Chicken, Egg & Veggie Omelette & Korean Rice Cakes with Beef & Vegetables.

Palate Sensations

Palate Sensations has been offering kid-friendly cooking and baking classes since 2006, both for kids and for parent-and-child pairings.

Most sessions are two hours long, cost $90 per participant, everything is made from scratch, and you don't need to bring anything except containers to take back all the delicious cooking.

The class schedule for pretty much the whole year is available online, and booking the classes is as easy as can be. Parent and child classes could cook things like Apple Pie, Matcha Muffins, Ondeh Ondeh Balls, Gyoza (including making the skins from scratch), Shepherd's Pie, Pizzas, Pancakes and Cupcakes, and more.

Some classes are for seven-12 year olds only, such as the Chocolate Dessert Cups ($108 per child for three hours) and Cupcake Princess ($125 per child, also for three hours).

Participants learn how to make cupcakes, assemble them, sculpt and decorate, and take home their own Cupcake Princess Cake (5"X5") and half a dozen mini cupcakes. 

Also available during the March and November holidays is their Junior Culinary Bootcamp For Kids Of All Ages (Season 1), spread over four half days ($550 for the whole package or $150 per individual session). Each session cooks up a three-course meal over 2.5 hours. 

For example, the menu on Day 1 looks like:

• Miso Soup with Vegetables, Oyakodon – Chicken in Silken Egg with Rice and Apple Crumble;
• Day 4 covers Chicken Paella, Cheese Stuffed Oven Baked Beef Meatballs and finishes with Mini Chocolate Lava Cake. 

Note: A certificate of completion and an apron will be issued for each child who attends all four sessions (children under seven years will still require parent supervision).

This article was first published in Wonderwall.sg.