Thousands of schools have closed their doors in March  due to COVID-19 leaving many parents juggling working remotely, homeschooling their children, as well as everyday house hold chores.  These challenges parents are facing at home are unprecedented. For many years, Gallatin County Extension has offered several 4-H Cooking Camps throughout the summer but this year due to COVID-19 this was not possible. So the Gallatin County 4-H Council thought “outside the box” to offer a nontraditional camp – Cooking Camp in a Box. Thirty-two children ages 9-18 signed up for the month long camp. 

“According to the American Heart Association, teaching youth how to prepare their own food will give them a skill they can use for a lifetime, they will be more likely to eat healthier as adults, and build self-confidence. (Cooking With Your Children, Web MD; May 30, 2008). 

Every week throughout the month of June, each child received MyPlate recipes, the video connection for the recipes, the ingredients to make the MyPlate recipe,  kitchen tools, and kitchen safety tips. This type of camp taught not only recipe comprehension, measuring skills, food safety, nutrition, but also built on their math and science skills. 

“The best way to teach kids about eating right is to get them into the kitchen to prepare healthy meals together.”  (https://www.eatright.org/homefoodsafety/four-steps/cook/teaching-kids-to-cook).  Some of the recipes included bread in a bag, fruit crisp, bran berry muffins, drop biscuits,  peach cobbler, A to Z bread, and pancakes. Some of the older children experimented with the recipes to include extra ingredients.   One family took the drop biscuits and made chicken and dumplings. The younger children worked with their parents to learn how to measure both dry and liquid ingredients and how to mix the ingredients together.  Several children said they made the peach cobbler and fruit crisp for a family celebration. Because of this program, 95% of the children are cooking with their parents and helping with family meals.