For years, our boys, have done a challenge they call “Chopped Junior Junior”. Essentially, Food Network’s Chopped is so inspiring that they wanted to do their own version with their friends. A Junior version of the professional TV show, so to speak. As they’ve gotten older they need less help and the food is more adventurous (and more edible, if we’re being honest). We recorded this most recent sprint to share how kids can cook real food; the result was magical and delicious.
Our philosophy with our kids has always been to let them try whatever they want. And if they wanted to cook with their friends and make themselves lunch, we’re happy to let them. Giving them open challenges engages their problem solving skills and empowers them to take on “adult” tasks. After this challenge, all the boys felt proud of their accomplishment. And because the task was such fun, no one gloated or pouted about their victory or loss. They truly brainstormed and worked together. Not only that, but everyone cleaned up after their big adventure with no complaints!
For our competition, we had three teams of two, balanced by age and capability, and a mystery bag of four ingredients. The kids had to make a meal (up to them how many dishes) using all the mystery ingredients. The results were blind judged by a panel of three adults. On this occasion the ingredients were onions, peanut butter, ground beef, and Simple Mills pizza dough mix (spoiler alert: not a single one of these creative kids made pizza).
The results were surprising and tasty. And we took the opportunity to film it all and document it for IGTV.
The Video
Watch the video and judge for yourself. We hope this inspired you and your neighborhood to come up with your own fun projects to do!
