A mum-of-two has found the best way to tingle children’s taste buds is to get them to cook, writes Kaye Holland.
So Bernadette Ryder set up Kiddy Cook last September, offering youngsters the chance to prepare and produce food in an informative yet fun way.
Bernadette, 46, of Keats Way, Greenford, runs Cookie Tot classes for two to four-year-olds and Kiddy Cook classes for ages five to 11.
Both classes allow children to get creative – exploring, preparing and tasting recipes – while discovering the difference between good and bad fats and the chemical processes involved in cooking, such as how carbon dioxide makes cake rise.
Lesley Tuohy, who met Bernadette on the school run seven years ago and has nominated her, said: “I think it’s a fabulous idea. Even if parents are keen cooks or food lovers themselves, they are often too busy with work, washing and other household chores to spend extra time in the kitchen teaching children culinary skills.
“Bernadette’s classes show the kids that meals don’t just come out of cartons – you have to put in the work – but that it can be fun.”
Bernadette credits her own 15-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son with inspiring her to launch Kiddy Cook.
She said: “I have cooked with both my children and that’s partly where I got the idea from.
“I have always had an interest in food and decided that I could set up this new venture. I wanted something new that I could get my teeth into and could manage myself.
“I want children to enjoy the experience of cooking and show them that homemade food is better than shop-bought meals and that it doesn’t take that much time.
“Cooking is a skill for life and it’s sociable
