Working with young people in the kitchen is a great way to develop their self-confidence and build skills such as reading, math, and following instructions while also teaching about nutrition, hand washing and safety. Shelby County Extension's Kids in the Kitchen program combines all these elements in a fun, hands on event for Shelby County youth. The Shelby County Family and Consumer Sciences Agent, 4-H Youth Development Agent, summer intern and program assistants coordinated three sessions of “Kids in the Kitchen", including one session for children in the Migrant Education Program.  Three Family Resource Center Coordinators and 15 extension volunteers (adults and teens) manned twelve foods and nutrition stations. Ninety-one elementary age youth participated in cooking, nutrition, and food safety hands-on activities. Students were taught food preparation skills, measuring skills, kitchen safety, and the importance of nutrition. Special emphasis was placed on hand washing, with students being prompted to wash their hands at least 8 times during the program. Ninety-nine percent said they learned more about proper hand washing. All of the participants practiced proper hand washing and made six healthy snacks during the event.

 End-of-session surveys completed by 70 participants revealed important information was learned and practiced. Correct measuring techniques were practiced by 87% of the youth. The importance of dairy foods for calcium for their bones was learned by 91% of Kids in the Kitchen participants and 97% learned about dairy foods. Ninety percent gained valuable “Choose My Plate” nutrition information. After making six different healthy recipes, 84% of the youth planned to make three or more of the healthy snacks and 63% of the youth planned to make five or more of the healthy snacks at home for their families. When asked an open response question about the most important thing they learned, 50% wrote “hand washing” in their answers.  Four of the teen volunteers were youth who had participated in Kids in the Kitchen for several years during elementary school. The teens felt the program was so beneficial to them that they wanted to share the skills they had learned with others.