About Us

As a mum to two young children I have had to learn quickly that what I like to eat and know is nutritious and think the children would like to eat do not go hand in hand. And what I have also discovered is that there’s no better way to get my fussy pair more likely to try something than showing them that food can be real fun. And how to do this? Get them in the kitchen! My eldest child was a particularly fussy eater, even from the baby stage and I had many a day of tearing my hair out when she refused yet another dish. Get her in the kitchen, all the books said, and guess what, they were right! When I started involving my daughter in the preparation of food and allowed her to play with it, squish it, smell it, make something with it, she became much more curious about it and gradually more adventurous, and in turn a sigh of relief was had by me. Now at the grand old age of 5, she has broadly widened her repertoire of foods that aren’t ‘yuk!’ and they are often those foods she has prepared herself. I see the same thing happening in our classes – children who may not touch a food that is served to them at home see it in a completely different context when in the class amongst peers. Running classes for young children in Hove for the past two years has been great fun and so rewarding that I now look forward to extending that to older kids too and seeing teenagers cooking a three course meal at Kids’ Kitchen. With modern diets high in processed food and rising obesity levels, many children today have little knowledge of where food comes from, so to get them in the kitchen and exposed to a wide range of foods and where they come from in an unpressured, fun way is the way to go!

Jay Conneely
Kids' Kitchen Cookery Club