Cooking Classes for Kids, Teens and Adults
Join us in our Santa Barbara and Santa Ynez Valley kitchens for hands-on cooking classes! We focus on making delicious, nutritious recipes approachable for all ages. (Yes, all—our Tater Tots series starts at two years old!) You’ll learn knife skills, how to build flavor and customize recipes, and so much more. Of course, we eat what we cook—you won’t leave hungry!
Spring Break and Summer Camps
In these day-long or week-long camps, children in grades TK-6th will explore new flavors and techniques, and of course come home with some seasonal recipes to share. Plus, we go beyond the kitchen with art, science, and gardening activities—all tying in with food exploration.
Spring Break camp registration is now open! Summer Camp registration opens February 27 at 6:30 a.m.
Family Classes
Bring the family together in our kitchen and learn side-by-side to prepare delicious meals. Classes are tailored for children and teens with a family adult. Share your favorite food memories and traditions, build healthy relationships with food and cooking and let the kids show off all their emerging kitchen skills!
Kids Classes
These hands-on classes are open to kids in grades TK-6th. If your little one loves to cook, eat, create or taste, these classes are for them! Kids learn kitchen safety, cooking techniques, table etiquette, clean-up responsibilities, and much more. Of course we eat what we cook, sampling new foods and expanding our senses. These classes are a great option if A to Z is not at your child's school, as they are open to the public and held at our onsite teaching kitchens.
In order to offer the best experience possible, we have a few guardrails in place for kids’ classes registration and behavior. View our class policies.
After-school Classes (Partner Sites)
Teaching at local schools is A to Z's bread and butter—it’s how we started out! With our mobile kitchen carts, we bring everything we need for students to prep, cook and enjoy a delicious meal after school. Each week we introduce new recipes and skills (Julienne cuts! Blanching! Balancing flavors!), cook with real stoves and sharp knives, and enjoy each others company over a shared meal. Cleaning up together is even FUN! Your child must be a student at one of our partner schools in order to participate in these series.
Do you want cooking classes at your child’s school?
We’re always looking to expand our teaching programs in the Santa Barbara area. If we aren’t already at your child’s school, ask your principal, PTA/PTO President, or after-school program coordinator to fill out the form below!
Tater Tots Classes
Our "Tater Tots" classes are designed for toddlers and their caregivers. The focus of this series is curiosity and discovery. Children can play with their food! Led by our instructor, the kids can smell, touch, taste and even tear apart their fruit and vegetables. There is more than one way to enjoy our food!
No Tater Tots classes currently on offer…check back soon!
Scholarships Available
As Santa Barbara’s only non-profit cooking school, we strive to bring our programming to as many people as possible and are happy to provide scholarships whenever we can. We offer the following scholarship policy:
Afterschool: One semester, per year, per child
Summer Camp: One week max per summer, up to 75% off
Holiday Camp: One day, up to 100% off
Adult Class: Up to 25% off, up to 3 classes, per person, per year
Food as Medicine: Up to 75% off, up to 2 sessions per year, per person
If you are interested in applying for a scholarship please fill out this form.
