The 4-H Cooking project goes beyond just navigating a kitchen, teaching youth about nutrition, food science, food safety, and STEM skills. It encourages creativity and problem solving while also teaching youth to make a nutritious, delicious meal!
Objectives
Youth will:
- Learn the basics of cooking, including learning how to use basic kitchen tools and knife safety
- Understand how to assemble a meal
- Discover the STEM skills applicable to cooking
- Make a meal on their own or with an adult helper
4-H Cooking Curriculum
Available from the Extension office or online.
Among other topics, youth learn how to use MyPlate, avoid spreading germs while cooking, measure and mix ingredients, test baked goods for doneness, brown meat, and set the table for a family meal.
The curriculum comes as loose-leaf paper to make it easier for youth to pull out recipes. Purchase a binder to store the manual!
Make sure your cooking area is ready with this checklist of recommended items.
Topics include understanding and preventing foodborne illnesses, thawing frozen foods, proper knife techniques, how to read Nutrition Facts labels, and how to make soups, rice, pasta, and other foods.
The curriculum comes as loose-leaf paper to make it easier for youth to pull out recipes. Purchase a binder to store the manual!
See Cooking 101 for a checklist of recommended items needed for the Cooking series. The list contains the basics that will be used for Cooking 101, and it’s a great starting point for the items needed in the other levels. Start with this list and then add the specialty items you need depending on the topic, such as cake pans, candy thermometers, electric grills, etc.
Youth practice making bread, grilling meats, vegetables, and fruit, and making butter. Youth learn about yeast, gluten, and different types of fats.
The curriculum comes as loose-leaf paper to make it easier for youth to pull out recipes. Purchase a binder to store the manual!
Youth learn about herbs and spices and how to make ethnic foods. Youth also practice making cakes, candy, pastries, and pies.
The curriculum comes as loose-leaf paper to make it easier for youth to pull out recipes. Purchase a binder to store the manual!
The Helper’s Guide provides best practices for a 4-H cooking club, learning objectives for cooking projects, and additional activities.
iCook: Cooking, Eating, & Playing Together Digital Download
iCook 4-H is a program about cooking, eating and playing together for 9-10 year old youth and the adult who prepares their meals. It is designed for out-of-school settings with the goal of promoting healthful lifestyles.
Are you ready to do fun experiments, prepare flavor-filled recipes, and go on fact-finding missions? That’s what “Fantastic Foods” is all about. You’ll have fun learning about different food ingredients, food characteristics, and food safety issues.
Your project manual is divided into six “bites”: Once You Swallow, Money Talks, Play It Safe, Kitchen Magic, Eat It Later, and Imagine That. In addition to the activities in the manual, there are exciting recipes and interesting food facts on the website. Check out www.youthlearningnet.org and click on the computer that has the word “Fantastic Foods” on its screen. There is also a list of ideas that you can use as an exhibit at your county or state fair.
- Indiana 4-H Cooking Currculum
Published by Purdue University Extension – 4-H Youth Development.
Foods Curriculum Level A – Fantastic Foods
Fantastic Foods provides a lively look at healthy eating and food safety begins with basic nutritional information. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s MyPlate initiative is the foundation for fun experiments, delicious recipes, and fact-finding missions. Grades 3-5. This is the first book of four in the series.
Foods Curriculum Level B – Tasty Tidbits
Tasty Tidbits takes closer look at how following USDA MyPlate guidelines can lead to a healthier lifestyle, plus activities in safe food handling, preparing delicious recipes, smart shopping, and food science careers—just to name a few. Grades 5-6. This is the second book of four in the series.
Foods Curriculum Level C – You’re the Chef
You’re The Chef includes more delicious recipes and hands-on activities in food preservation, meal preparation and service, managing resources, introductory canning, careers in the food industry, and much more. Enhance the USDA’s MyPlate with SuperTracker tools that encourage healthy eating and physical activity. Grades 7-9. This is the third book of four in the series.
Foods Curriculum Level D – Foodworks
Foodworks explores how nutritional needs change at different stages of life. More hands-on activities focus on food safety, managing resources, serving delicious and balanced meals, pressure canning, plant-based diets, and careers in dietetics. Grades 10-12. This is the fourth book of four in the series.
Food Curriculum Helper’s Guide
This Project Helper Guide provides additional background that you can use when helping youth through the activities in their guides through all levels of the project.
- Ohio 4-H Cooking Project Guides
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Are you ready to step up and prepare meals for yourself and maybe even for your family? A great start on everyday recipes for meals and snacks, this project helps you become confident and independent in the kitchen by expanding your cooking skills.
Master the art of baking delicious yeast breads. Learn the principles of yeast bread preparation, and learn how mixing techniques and ingredients determine product character and quality.
Discover the customs and traditions that influence some favorite regional American foods and the way we like them by experimenting with keeping and serving food at its best.
Sports Nutrition: Ready, Set, Go
Eating well and exercising daily are two keys to a healthy life. This project shows why these habits are worth forming. Learn how to balance the calories you eat with the calories you burn, why to hydrate, and how carbs, protein, and fats work to support your body and mind. Use what you learn as you compete in sports or just want to increase your fitness level.
In this beginning-level project, 4-H members learn how to select and prepare healthful snacks. Designed to be completed in one year, this project includes seven activities and related recipes. Members who complete this project are encouraged to take other beginning-level food and nutrition projects.
Racing the Clock to Awesome Meals
This project focuses on the knowledge and skills needed to prepare quick, nutritious, low-cost meals. It builds on basic food preparation skills so that youth can tackle difficult recipes while being creative with ingredients. This project, which includes seven activities and related recipes, can easily be completed in one year.
All your experience comes together in this project created for those exploring cooking as a profession or simply developing their kitchen skills. Plan, prepare, and present delicious food like the culinary boss you want to be. Focus is on cooking methods, becoming familiar with tools and equipment, and experimenting with ingredients and flavors.
Party Planner: A 4-H Guide to Quantity Cooking
The secrets of cooking for a large party can be yours. These eight activities and recipes show you how to plan, budget, and safely prepare foods for large groups.
This project takes a fresh look at basic cooking and baking skills. You’ll learn about kitchen equipment and food prep, and how to read recipes and measure ingredients. Then you’ll tackle how to slice and dice food, and how to cook in a microwave oven, on the stove and in a conventional oven?ùall while keeping safety in mind. Appropriate for members of all ages with little or no cooking or baking experience.
Learn how and why quick bread recipes are so tasty as you bake your way through updated activities. See what makes a wheat kernel tick and learn how the quick bread ingredients react with one another. You’ll also explore careers in the kitchen, and learn how to alter a recipe for more healthful benefits.
Progress from grill apprentice to grill master as you focus on the safe use of a grill while preparing delicious meals. By completing six activities and a selection of recipes, you’ll learn about appropriate portion sizes, cooking meat to safe temperatures, and using gas and charcoal accessories, all while learning to prepare a complete meal. Includes related recipes. Because of the grill, recommended for youth ages 11 and above.
Create rich and delicious meals from Mexico, Africa, Japan, India, Italy, Greece, and Germany as you explore food history, customs, and nutrition to better understand our world.
Starting each day with a nutritious breakfast is important, and now it’s fun too. See how you can combine foods from different food groups for fun and delicious ways to start the day. Intended for members who have completed at least one other beginning-level food and nutrition project.
Learn how to prepare healthy and hearty snacks using MyPlate as a guide, and discover how powerful healthy food can be for your body and mind. Fun and easy recipes help build your skills in the kitchen. See how well your current diet fits into the MyPlate food groups. Find out what makes grains great, and why vitamins and nutrients are so beneficial. This project shows you how to add exercise to a healthy diet and find the path to a better quality of life.
Explore a variety of outdoor cooking skills while finding easy ways to follow the USDA’s MyPlate guidelines. Experiment with a pie iron, solar cooker, and rotisserie, and hone your skills on the grill, then throw a cookout party and use what you’ve learned!
Washington 4-H Records, Forms, and Guides
For youth members
C1099E – 4-H Food Activity Worksheet
EM3443E – Dinner is Served: An Etiquette Guide
A publication with illustrations all about the etiquette for informal and formal dinners.
EM4733E – Food Activity Guidelines
Publication on: preparing dishes to wash, how to wash, rinse, and finish plus cleanup jobs after washing the dishes.
PNW250 – You Can Prevent Foodborne Illness
For adult helpers and club leaders
C1098E – 4-H Food Activity Scoresheet
C1097E – 4-H Food Activity Scoresheet Evaluation Criteria
Helpful Resources
Activity Ideas
Coming soon!
Washington Specific Reference Material
EM4939E – Cooking Fresh Vegetables
We have all heard that we should eat more vegetables. This publication provides simple, yet tasty recipes that will help us do exactly that.
Rice is an inexpensive kitchen staple that can be dressed up in a variety of ways and be the basis for a simple, well-rounded meal.
MISC0513 – Now You’re Cooking – Using a Food Thermometer
Using a food thermometer can improve the quality and safety of meat. This brochure describes the why and how of using a food thermometer when cooking small cuts of meat.
PNW735 – Slow Cooking from Start to Finish
A slow cooker produces a variety of delicious and healthy dishes that saves time, energy, and money. Learn about this versatile kitchen appliance—how to operate it; selecting one that suits your needs; cooking safely with it; how to clean it; helpful tips, like handling leftovers; plus eight yummy recipes to get you started. Its slow but steady approach will soon fill your house with the irresistible aroma of a home-cooked meal.
Other Reference Material
From 4-H Programs
Team Cuisine – University of Minnesota Extension
Team Cuisine is a series of seven lessons demonstrating how youth can create nutritious meals while building and identifying cultural awareness and differences among recipes.
This series can be used with youth in grades K-13 in a 4-H club, after-school setting, day camp, at home or family events. Use the whole series, or individual lessons can stand alone for single-session programming.
From Higher Education Institutions
Food Hero – Oregon State University
Food Hero includes healthy recipes, gardening tips, and other information to help people connect with food in a healthy way. Materials are available in English and Spanish.
From Related Organizations, Journals, and Professionals
- Kits, Projects, and Activities from National 4-H
National 4-H Cooking and Baking Curriculum Collection
Who doesn’t love butter? In this activity, you will learn about where butter comes from and how to make your own butter! Requires a free Clover account to access lesson plans.
4-H is committed to providing fun, hands-on activities that will inspire your child to continue doing and learning all year long. That’s why we’re sharing three educational activities that combine cooking, food diversity, and food science to show kids that healthy living can be fun, creative, and tasty. Try one or all three activities below to get started. Requires a free Clover account to access lesson plans.
Healthy Eating: Making Healthy Food Choices Course
Have you ever wondered how your food gets from the farm to your plate? Learn all about farm life and healthy eating in this collection of activities!
Each activity features fun and educational videos from the Tucson Village Farm, an urban farm built by and for the youth of Pima County Arizona. These videos and activities are filled with adventure and fun ways to learn about nutrition for plants, animals, and humans.
Get ready to learn some farming facts that will help you make healthier choices! Requires a free Clover account to access lesson plans.
Allergen-Free Baking Recipes for Kids Course
Just about everyone loves delicious baked goods, but some people are allergic to the standard gluten-based flours used in most recipes. These simple alternatives from Kristin Osika, the 2021 4-H Youth-in-Action Winner, leave out the gluten but pack all of the scrumptious taste. Plus, they’re easy and fun for kids—or anyone else—to make. Requires a free Clover account to access lesson plans.
Healthy Living Cookbook Course
Let chef and 4-H alum Carla Hall introduce you to a wide range of recipes that are delicious, easy-to-make, and healthy meals — and come from the 4-H family.
Healthy eating habits begin with mindfulness and a thoughtful attitude toward food. That means eating healthy, but also making room for the foods you love, in the right amounts. These recipes here come from the Fresh Chefs cookbook, produced by 4-H and curated by author and celebrity chef Carla Hall. They are a reflection of that idea of balance, featuring a compilation of simple, everyday recipes as well as treats for celebratory moments, from weekend brunches to holidays.
Featuring nearly 50 recipes from 4-H’ers, supporters, and 4-H alumni, these recipes were thoughtfully selected and submitted by 4-H’ers across the country as well as 4-H alumni and supporters, to share with you. Requires a free Clover account to access lesson plans.
Inspire kids to sink their teeth into the rewards of healthful home cooking! This kit helps your aspiring cook learn their way around the kitchen, with real cooking tools designed especially for them. This set includes:
1x Silicon Spatula
1x Measuring Cup Set (Includes 6 Measuring Spoons)
1x Set of 2 Flex-it Cutting BoardsOur 4-H Magnetic Oven Mitt is essential for any kitchen. Protect your hands from hot surfaces with this highly heat-resistant, 100% cotton mitt featuring a strong magnet that attaches to any magnetic surface. Crafted with robust stitching and double-insulated layers, this mitt is designed for long-lasting durability and superior protection.
All good cooks need an apron when they are whisking around the kitchen! The 4-H Clover apron is made of 100% cotton. Measures 26″ w x 35″ h. Adjustable tie strap and one large front pocket.