Beaver Summer Programs Offers Cooking Courses for Campers

Beaver Summer Programs is offering cooking classes for campers. Partnered with Healthy Habits Kitchen, Beaver campers started cooking up nutritionally-minded meals last summer. From June 24 to August 16, Beaver Summer Camp campers will be able to participate in that same program.

“We’ve got one year under our belts and it was a tremendous success,” Nat Saltonstall, Director at Beaver Summer Programs said. “We learned a lot and have a good foundation to build upon. On any given week, we have about 30 kids at a time. Over 200 kids had a quality experience.”

“If they really enjoyed it, we would bring in elements of what they had learned the previous day into the next lesson,” Susan Schochet of Healthy Habits Kitchen said. “It’s great to see the kids work with their friends, something about that makes them more experimental than if mom was to say ‘go try this.’”

Schochet said that she thought cooking shows and T.V. channels played a big role in the camper’s interest in this course. “They (Campers) are learning that it’s exciting to want to be a chef, “Schochet said. “It’s a cutting edge thing they that want to become a part of.”  

The hope is to also broaden camper’s food pallets in a hands-on fashion. “These courses opens doors for kids and opens their pallet to food that. Adventurous eaters are few and far between. Kids leave with a sense that cooking something is within their reach,” Saltonstall said.

This program is an elective for rising third graders up to rising eighth graders, who sign up to immerse themselves in the program for an hour a day for five days straight. “So they really get to learn a skill, build on that skill implement that skill and have fun with it,” Saltonstall said. “We encourage them to learn to make mistakes and learn what works in what situation.”

The course menu consists of an Iron Chef contest, where campers will cook up and create chicken tenders and a special sauce, Chilled Out Deserts, with s’mores and other hot weather treats, and Italian cooking night where they make their own ravioli, a Latin American day, a Keeping it Farm Fresh day and a Boogie Down Breakfast day. 

The campers are grouped by age, not ability, to learn how to cook on hot plate, with blenders, toasters and plenty other household equipment. The instructors work with the campers in age-appropriate activities with the understanding that safety is a main priority.

“Learning happens best when it’s collaborative, so by working together, kids are both learning and having fun,” Saltonstall said.