CONGRATULATIONS. It seems like only yesterday your child was determined to live on nothing but chicken tenders and buttered pasta. But you nudged and cajoled, set a good example and broadened a young palate.
Now your junior foodie wants to celebrate the end of the school year with a trip to the sushi bar for a $100 omakase experience, has traded chasing the ice cream truck for inspecting the offerings at the gelateria and takes possession of the kitchen on weekends. “I don’t use fondant,” 12-year-old Sarah Park declared recently. The aspiring baker from Santa Clarita, Calif., dismissed the malleable sugar paste often used in cake decorating as too one-note. “I’m more about taste,” she added.
Fortunately, parents of kids who are all about taste have more resources than ever at their disposal to make this summer both a delicious and an enlightening one. According to the American Camp Association, 48% of accredited camps will offer cooking as a program this year. For those staying closer to home, new kid-oriented cooking kits and a wealth of surprisingly good online content (don’t knock YouTube!) are here to fill in the gaps.
Don’t presume that food-focused camps mean your offspring will spend the summer in the kitchen, however. The camp Ms. Park attended last year, the Teen Foodie Adventure Camp held by the Kids’ Table in Chicago, combined urban escapades with (vegetarian) kitchen sessions. In Brooklyn, the Dynamite Shop, a just-opened “culinary social club” for teens and tweens, also treats the city as a classroom, encouraging kids to “celebrate the diversity of our community and see food as a way of connecting with neighbors in the places we live,” said co-founder Sara Kate Gillingham. Each week of exploration and cooking culminates in a camp-created pop-up restaurant for the kids’ families.
For outdoorsy types, Maine-based Apogee Adventures, which has for 17 years taken tweens and teens on service and adventure trips—think three-week Alpine hikes, or summer-long cycle trips from Charleston to San Diego—offers a 10-day Maine Farm to Table trip. Campers spend their nights sleeping in tents and their days outdoors, kayaking in Casco Bay, harvesting shellfish on coastal mudflats, visiting farms and cheesemakers, and, yes, cooking. “Our goal is for [kids] to gain an appreciation for food and where it comes from, and to bring that knowledge home,” said Apogee founder Kevin Cashman.
Another sleep-away option for kids with celebrity-chef dreams: Camp MasterChef, with one location in Georgia, another in Connecticut. Kitchen instruction is combined with classic camp fun and team culinary competitions—of the “who can roll out the longest noodle” variety as well as TV-style mystery-ingredient and best-dish challenges. There will be appearances by contestants and winners from both MasterChef Junior and MasterChef, which just began its ninth season.
Truth be told, much of kids’ favorite food programming today isn’t on TV at all. Take YouTube star Yolanda Gampp, who is basically Beyoncé with a beater to many of the 3.7 million people who subscribe to her channel, called “How To Cake It.” For a book signing in Brooklyn last fall, the line of kids and groggy parents formed predawn. Ms. Gampp’s cake projects are often on an epic scale and decorated in a trompe l’oeil style. (Her pink vanilla cake in the shape of an uncannily glossy and clove-studded roast ham must be viewed to be believed.) This August, she is hosting two days of online “Camp Cake,” on Facebook Live. The first day is devoted to renditions of summer favorites like corn on the cob and fried chicken, in cake form. The second day is a “master class” in making Ms. Gampp’s “watermelon” cake, the focus of a video with more than 11 million views. “They’re not just learning how to bake cakes,” said Ms. Gampp of her young fans. “They’re learning how to multitask and how to persevere, because things go wrong with baking all the time.”
Nobody is more synonymous with ambitious cakery than Duff Goldman, whose Food Network show “Ace of Cakes” made him a star. He’s currently hosting “Kids Baking Championship,” also on the network. For fans, what could be sweeter than learning the fine art of cake decoration via Summer Cake Camp? The program is offered at three Los Angeles-area locations of Duff’s Cakemix, the chef’s chain of DIY cake decorating studios. Parents, meanwhile, can rest assured that this year’s hottest decorating trend—glitter, according Mr. Goldman—will bring its sparkle to the Cakemix kitchen, not theirs. “We’re like, you come here, make the biggest mess you want, and it doesn’t matter,” he said. “We clean it up. It’s all good.”
DO TRY THIS AT HOME // Cooking and Baking Kits for Young Tastemakers
Later this summer, family cooking website Little Sous will launch its Kitchen Academy subscription box, with a different theme each month. The first, a cheese-centered box called the Grate Adventure, includes a ricotta-making lesson, recipes, a quality cheese slicer and a color-in world cheese map. $25 per month, mylittlesous.com
Subscribe to the Foodstirs Baker’s Club, and you receive a monthly, seasonally themed, kid-friendly baking kit. Available through the subscription or for individual purchase, the Firecracker Treat Pop Kit (above) makes Fourth of July-ready, sparkle-strewn, red, white and blue cake pops. $19 for a 6-push-pop kit, foodstirs.com
Monthly kits from Raddish build skills and confidence with tools, recipes, grocery lists, merit badge-style apron patches and more. Raddish also offers two summer cooking camps in Southern California. This year, Raddish will livestream some activities on Facebook, so kids anywhere can cook along. $20-22 per month, raddishkids.com
TURN UP THE HEAT // Summer Camps for Every Breed of Food-Focused Kid, Tween and Teen
Some of the camps listed here have started or closed registration already—but it’s never too soon to start planning for 2019.
Growing Gastronaut
The kid for whom food is a path to adventure and cultural discovery.
Catchphrase “That’s not how you pronounce it, Dad. Actually, just let me order for you.”
In the kitchen, most likely to introduce global ingredients; try eating bugs (or anything once)
Summer opportunities Along with cooking camps at its Chapel Hill, N.C., location, C’est Si Bon offers foreign and domestic culinary travel adventures for tweens and teens. From $1,375 for 7 days, ages 12-17, cestsibon.net // Two food-media veterans— Dana Bowen, formerly of Saveur and Food and Wine magazines, and Sara Kate Gillingham, founder of the website the Kitchn—have combined cooking know-how and storytelling smarts in The Dynamite Shop, a “culinary social club” that immerses kids in Brooklyn’s global food cultures. Each week, campers create a pop-up restaurant, from menu-planning to promotion to putting food on the table. $650 for a 5-day camp, ages 8-16, thedynamiteshop.com // Each week of Chicago‘s Kids’ Table Teen Foodie Adventure Camp is organized around a theme. During “My Kinda Town—Chicago!” week, kids learn about (and cook vegetarian versions of) local favorites such as Puerto Rican-style jibarito sandwiches and, yes, deep-dish pizza. $495 for a 5 day camp, ages 11-14, kids-table.com
Budding Baker
A focused, organized aesthete obsessed with achieving pastry perfection.
Catchphrase “Would you look at the caramelization on that?”
In the kitchen, most likely to leave everything coated in a fine layer of flour
Summer opportunities Named after the running club sponsored by Montclair Bread Company, which also runs the camp in New Jersey, Fueled by Doughnuts combines outdoor sports with baking and cooking instruction. Along with a wide assortment of breads, pizzas and pastries, campers make their own lunches daily with ingredients from local farms. $595 for 5 days, ages 8-12 montclairbread.com // In the weeklong Summer Cake Camp at the three Los Angeles locations of Duff’s Cakemix, campers focus on decorating, learning to shape and sculpt fondant, make and work with buttercream, and even airbrush with edible spray. Projects include cakeburgers and emoji-face cupcakes. $450 for 5 days, ages 9-17, duffscakemix.com // The online Camp Cake from YouTube celeb Yolanda Gampp takes place in your own kitchen. Registrants receive in advance a list of ingredients and instructions. On camp days, they log in to a Facebook Live to bake along with Ms. Gampp in her studio kitchen. From $18 for 1 day, all ages, howtocakeit.com
Michelin-Star Material
Is kind of over sous-vide. Shows off that burn on her forearm like it’s her first tattoo.
Catchphrase “I want a good sear on these pork chops. Disconnect the smoke alarm.”
In the kitchen, most likely to put you to work mincing (not dicing!) onions
Summer opportunities After three years of success in Spain, Camp MasterChef now offers American kids the chance to learn and compete in the kitchen. There are two stateside locations, in Georgia and Connecticut, and more in the pipeline. Sports and talent shows alternate with kitchen sessions designed for all capabilities $1,600 for 7 days, ages 8-16, campmasterchef.com. // It’s serious business at the Institute for Culinary Education Cooking Camp in New York City. Teens and tweens build kitchen cred at the esteemed cooking school, learning everything from how to roast a perfect chicken to sushi slicing. Days end with communal meals. $650 for 5 days, ages 10-17, ice.edu // Along with cooking and baking—“The easy part,” said Brian Walton, assistant dean of business and hospitality at the Pennsylvania College of Technology—participants in the college’s sleepaway Future Restaurateurs Camp learn how a restaurant runs. At the end of the week, campers launch a one-night restaurant for their families. $450 for 5 days, grades 9-12, pct.edu/summer-camps
Aspiring Agriculturalist
Keenly attuned to the seasons; always ready to dig in—literally.
Catchphrase “Organic is cool, but I’m really interested in biodynamics.”
In the kitchen, most likely to track dirt
Summer opportunities Maine’s central coast is the setting for the 10-day Maine Farm to Table program. Teens camp out on a working farm, tend vegetables, collect eggs, kayak and learn cheese making, clam raking and cooking. At the end, campers create a farm-to-table feast for a local charitable organization. $2,695 excluding airfare for 10 days, ages 14-16, apogeeadventures.com // Campers experience firsthand a product’s progress from raw state to retail at Camp FarmOn!, combining on-site learning about agriculture with “Shark Tank”-like competition. Teams develop and pitch ideas to celebrity and business leader “sharks” who have included designer John Varvatos and NBA star Eric Williams. $500 for 5 days, ages 12-17, farmon.org // Along with housing one of the nation’s leading restaurants, Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture in Pocantico Hills, N.Y., is a working farm with livestock and more than 350 species of vegetables. Participants in the Stone Barns Center Summer Institute learn about sustainable farming and cook the fruits of their labors. From $1,357 for two weeks, rising high school juniors and seniors, stonebarnscenter.org