Updated March 2019

If you’ve got a kid who loves spending time in the kitchen, these Bay Area cooking camps are worth checking out. (Frankly, we’re feeling a little jealous that we can’t go, too!) Many still have availability for July and August, but act fast because spots are limited. Browse through them to find sessions and dates that will work for you.

What’s so great about cooking camp?

Teaching littler kids to cook is a great way to expand what they’re willing to eat. It’s an incredible sensory experience — and it also sneaks in lot of other great skills like counting, measuring, observing, and tasting.

For tweens and teens, check out cooking camps that give them the knowledge and skills they need to build healthy, lifelong habits — including smart eating and exercise.

Which San Francisco Bay Area cooking camps should you explore?

A Little Yumminess: Cooking Around the World San Francisco
Dive weekly into some amazing cuisines — and along the way, learn about diverse cultures through the lens of food, tasting and exploring traditional ingredients, and of course doing lots of hands on cooking.

This camp usually fills up early, so act fast and you’ll be happy you did. Kids not only get an incredible culinary and cultural experience, they get great skills too — each week they get knife skills workshop and a cheese-making workshop!

Cooking Camp for Tweens and Teens Palo Alto
Campers will put their trust in the readers of the acclaimed New York Times Cooking section. They’ll create a host of dinner menus around the most popular recipes from previous years. July 11-15.

Operation: Chef! Palo Alto Community Child Care
Campers will learn to cook a complete meal in 4 weeks, including appetizers, main dishes, and desserts. Kids (grades 1-6) will learn to DICE with knife, FLIP food in a pan, and BEAT eggs, all to WHIP up delicious and healthy foods. July 10-Aug 4.

Cooking Around The World Champ Bambini, San Jose
There are many different sessions to choose from at Little Champ’s Learning Center where cultural exploration meets culinary arts! The intention is to present new understandings about cultures and traditions around the world using food as the conduit to get there. The outcome is a new appreciation of food, a celebration of cultural differences, and a desire to see the world!

Camp Edmo’s Incredible Edibles, San Francisco, Oakland and Cupertino
Campers will dig into the science of food by learning when vegetables are in season and how they are grown. Kids will test out recipes and techniques and create their own personal cookbooks!

Bliss Belly Kitchen, Berkeley
Campers learn to source, cook, and eat delicious recipes. Each student will emerge a “tool box” of healthy, delicious recipes that they can replicate at home!

Find Joy in Food, Menlo Park
Their Let’s Make Lunch Camp is focused on fun, healthy and delicious foods that kids will love eating as much as they love making them!

Art and Soul, Palo Alto
At Art and Cooking Around the World combines visual and culinary arts from around the world. Sessions include daily artists and chefs from different world cultures.

More cooking tips for summer

• Visit local farmers markets, make a day of  visiting the Ferry Terminal and walking the trail along the Bay
• Have kids help plan and make meals or snacks they love
• Go Berry Picking! You might even have some fruit left over to bake with
• Grow some veggies on your balcony or in your yard

See All Cooking Camps + Classes Here