About Kids Cook!™

“I like cooking because it’s fun. I like the mixing and watching it cook.”
Nasreen – age 10

Kids Cook!™ is a Little Rock based cooking school. Our mission is to teach a wide variety of kitchen skills and to provide children with hands-on kitchen experience. Healthy eating habits, along with sleep and exercise, are the foundation of a healthy life style. We promote nutritious, economical recipes and we instill confidence in kids, all in an exciting, fun, safe environment. At Kids Cook! we encourage kids to cook with a wide variety of ingredients and to taste a wide variety of foods.

Basic Premises for Kids

At Kids Cook!™ our first premise is that anything that kids make themselves is going to be healthier than candy, soda and chips. Our second premise is that kids are much more likely to eat and like things that they have made themselves. If they begin to take some responsibility for their part in making the food, they become part of the family food creative process instead of an onlooker whose only power is the veto.

What we notice with kids we have taught is that if we ask them if they like something, they almost automatically say “No, I don’t like that.” But after they make something themselves they will try it and often will like it after all. And they will try anything they have made themselves.

We believe that the path to cooking and baking satisfaction is through good recipes, recipes that are resilient, recipes that really work. The recipes that we use at Kids Cook!™ have been gathered from many places and many sources. What they have in common is that they have been tested and adapted and tested and adapted until they meet our standards for teaching to others: non-complex process to prepare, using unusual, seasonal, fresh and, as much as possible, local ingredients.

Many of our recipes are based on method - recipes based on method will work whether your personal style is to follow instructions to the letter or to use recipes as a guideline for personal experimentation.

We believe that there is no substitute for just doing it, except eating of course, so our classes are "from scratch" and totally “hands on”.

Finally, please email info@kidscookarkansas.com if you need help! We are always happy to talk further about what works and what doesn’t work. And we love questions!

Tested by Kids!

All the recipes that we use in Kids Cook!™ classes have been first tested by kids themselves for taste and for ease of preparation.

“I really liked learning to make this myself.”
Jade – age 9

Faith Anaya

Faith Anaya is passionate about food and kids. She lived in San Francisco for 14 years before moving to Little Rock. Working in a number of gourmet food businesses in California gave her an appreciation for fresh ingredients, local sources and healthy eating. She has traveled extensively, lived in Europe and gathered recipes from around the globe. In the fall of 2003, Faith began working with kindergarteners on cooking projects. By January 2004 Faith was certain that she wanted to launch a new business focused on teaching kids to enjoy the art of cooking and eating, and Kids Cook!™ was born.

Today, Kids Cook!™ offers year round programs that provide kids the chance to discover the joy of creating healthy, delicious food they can make themselves. Since launching Kids Cook!™ in the Spring of 2004, Faith and the Kids Cook!™ staff have worked with over 1,500 kids in after school classes and summer camps in conjunction with public and private schools in Central Arkansas.

Between 2004 and 2007, Faith and her kid cooks hosted a monthly Kids Cook!™ segment on KATV Channel 7’s “Daybreak” morning show to demonstrate “kid-friendly” recipes. In addition, Faith and her students have been featured in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, in Southern Living Home for the Holidays 2006 issue, on Little Rock's THV, Channel 11 and on Little Rock’s KARK, Channel 4 discussing one of Kids Cook!™’s core messages – that it is possible to teach children how to make smart and nutritious food choices. Faith is also a featured columnist for Arkansas’ AY Magazine, and has authored a number of articles for Little Rock Family magazine and Arkansas Children’s Hospital’s Parenting in Arkansas magazine. Her expertise has led her to serve as a judge for a number of cooking contests including the Gold Medal Cookie Contest held at the Arkansas State Fair, the Eureka Springs Chocolate Festival, the Arkansas Hospitality Association’s 2006 Iron Chef competition and AY Magazine's 2008, 2009 and 2010 Recipe Contests.

Her best critic for kid food is her son, with whom she tests all recipes.

Cooking School Staff

Our staff members and cooking assistants are experienced teachers who love kids and cooking.