Inspiring Kids to Cook

A chef, father, and culinary camp director at a kids’ summer camp on how to teach lifelong cooking skills

According to chef Jeremy Rock Smith, teaching kids to cook is all about teaching life skills. (bbernard/Shutterstock)

The benefits of cooking with your children are many, including honing a solid understanding of good nutrition and fostering self-sufficiency. Dad and executive chef Jeremy Rock Smith knows this all too well. Co-author of “The Kripalu Kitchen: Nourishing Food for Body and Soul,” he now finds himself in the role of culinary camp director at a kids’ summer camp, sharing his culinary prowess with a younger audience.

I asked chef Smith about teaching kids to cook. Here’s what he said.

Chef Jeremy Rock Smith has a passion for connecting with people and teaching them how to cook. (Courtesy of Jeremy Rock Smith)

The Epoch Times: What made you decide to pivot your career from the executive chef at Massachusetts’s Kripalu Yoga Center to culinary camp director?

Jeremy Rock Smith: Prior to working at Kripalu, I had been teaching for almost 5 years. I continued to do so on the side throughout my 12-year tenure at Kripalu with the intention of it becoming my main focus in the future. My plan in 2020 was to pivot to just teaching but then, as for most, COVID happened and things changed. Kripalu closed and I moved all of my programming successfully online. I learned quickly that though I thought my focus had always been on the food I realized the food was just the medium for what was most meaningful for me—people and connection.

Time would be another reason for the transition. I turned 50 when we reopened the center in 2021 and this really made me reflect upon how I want to spend my time working and with family.

My time working, I decided, was best spent solely teaching, which would produce the most positive impact for an individual, their family, community, and ultimately the world. I’ve seen the positive impact teaching cooking to adults has had and can only imagine the results of teaching children a skill they will carry well into college and adulthood. As far as family time, with my kids getting older it was time for me to prioritize connecting with them in ways that I was not able to do when running a kitchen that in the past was feeding over 400,000 meals annually. My new role is really the best of both worlds, as my kids will have the opportunity to attend the camp and in the off-season I will be home to support them.

In short, the culinary camp director role allows me to still have fun playing with food and people in the most impactful, joyful, and playful way possible.

The Epoch Times: What do you feel are the greatest benefits of teaching kids to cook?

Mr. Smith: Life skills—it’s all about life skills. Over the last 17 years of teaching, I’ve had more worried parents of kids who are heading off to college contact me because they are worried about how their kids will eat once on their own, because they never learned to cook. Heck—I’m a chef and I worry if my kids have enough cooking skills so that they aren’t cooking the same thing over and over.

Kids are the easiest to teach because they are open or, as they say in the yoga world, have a “beginner’s mind,” which, from a commercial chef’s perspective, is great as there are no habits to unlearn since everything is fairly new.

Some immediate and long-term benefits include:

Improved nutrition and nature connection: Cooking allows children to understand and make healthier food choices, which will have a lasting positive impact on their health and the environment.

Increased confidence: Learning to cook boosts self-esteem and confidence, since the child may be proud of the meal they created.

Financial security: Teaching children to cook helps them understand and appreciate the importance of budgeting for groceries and planning meals.

Socialization: Teamwork is essential when cooking with others, making it a great way to teach cooperation and communication between peers.

The Epoch Times: What advice would you give parents of young children who wish to inspire competence in the kitchen?

Mr. Smith: Kids are capable of more than you think they are. Even if they’re not necessarily ready to pick up a knife and start chopping, invite them into the kitchen with you and talk them through what you’re doing. Think of it as your own at-home cooking show!

The Epoch Times: What mistakes do you see parents making when it comes to teaching their kids to cook?

Mr. Smith: Quite a few adults that I have taught bring a bit of unnecessary anxiety into the kitchen with them. Most often it comes in the form of the inner voice saying, “This isn’t going to work” or “No one is going to like it.” Kids are sensitive and pick up on what we as adults are feeling, so it’s important that they view the kitchen and cooking as places that are calm and nourishing. Keep it chill.

Fear of accidents. As parents, we are protective of our children and want them to be safe so we naturally keep them away from sharp or hot things—which, of course, the kitchen is filled with! The best thing to do is teach the children and yourself some basic safety guidelines and just practice cooking.

The Epoch Times: What are some dishes you’d recommend parents begin with when it comes to teaching their children to cook?

Mr. Smith: A chef friend of mine from Thailand told me that she learned to cook because the unwritten rule in her house growing up was, “If you want to eat it, you have to cook it.” She does this now with her boys and they are great cooks.

So by that rationale, children should learn to cook the meals they love the most. Cooking the food you want to eat is a surefire way of creating the foundation of a lifelong cooking practice.

The Epoch Times: For the child who seems passionate about cooking at an early age, how would you recommend parents nurture their development?

Mr. Smith: Kids are sponges, especially when they’re really into something, so it’s important to nurture that. We’re lucky enough to live in a world where culinary content is everywhere, so you’re not limited to just learning in the kitchen. Try online classes, follow some culinary folks on [social media]—the possibilities are really endless. Send them to a cooking camp!