The Moment “I Can’t” Becomes “I Did.” That Is The Whole Point.
Location
Real Tools. Real Ingredients. Real Responsibility.Fall Registration Is Now Open!
Little Kitchen Academy is the Montessori-inspired cooking school for ages 3 to 18, that builds confident, independent children and teens through structured, from-scratch cooking that grows real capability and the courage to take risks. A curious three-year-old who’s never held a whisk. A skeptical teenager who’s convinced they can’t cook. We see capability in both of them before they see it in themselves.
Monthly Sessions
- September: Meals on the Go
- October: Bake Sale Classics
- November: From Scratch vs. Store-Bought
Fall Registration Is Now Open
Give your child something to look forward to every week this season.
One afternoon a week, your child steps into a real kitchen with real knives, real ingredients, and real responsibility. Montessori-inspired instructors prepare the environment, then step back and trust the child to do the work.
Three uninterrupted hours. Every week. A new skill mastered every single session.
By the end of the season, they are not helping in the kitchen. They are cooking in it.
Choose the day and time that works for your family. Classes are intentionally small, and they fill.
Give a Gift That Lasts a Lifetime
More than a gift. A life skill.
Send this to the grandparents or family when they ask what the children want this year.
A Little Kitchen Academy Gift Card gives the child you love three uninterrupted hours in a real kitchen. Real knives. Real ingredients. Real responsibility. Montessori-inspired instructors prepare the environment, then step back and trust the child to do the work.
They chop. They measure. They taste. They plate. They walk out holding a meal they made from scratch, more capable than they walked in.
A few weeks later, on an ordinary Tuesday, they pull out a cutting board and start making dinner. Without being asked.
That is the gift.
Available year round, in any amount, for children and teens ages 3 to 18.
why choose Little Kitchen Academy?Our Montessori-inspired cooking classes for children and teens are built to prove one thing: your child is more capable than the world assumes.
Learn to Cook From Scratch
Children make real, healthy recipes from scratch using real tools and real ingredients. Every cooking class builds practical kitchen skills, nutritional literacy, and the kind of independence that follows them home and lasts a lifetime.
Montessori Is the Difference
From toddlers to teens, our Montessori-inspired kitchen is where curiosity turns into capability. Our cooking curriculum connects hands-on learning to real math, real science, and real problem-solving, so children learn to think for themselves and trust what they can do. This is the difference between a kids’ activity and a foundation.
A Premium Cooking Class Environment, Built on Purpose
Three-hour immersive cooking classes in a purpose-built kitchen. Small class sizes, individual workstations, and instructors who treat every child as capable. Your child is given real responsibility and the time, tools, and attention to rise to it.
Healthy Habits That Outlast Childhood
Children and teens learn where food comes from, how a balanced meal is built, and how to prepare it on their own. These are not lessons they forget after class. They are the everyday habits of a confident, capable, self-reliant person.
step inside little kitchen academySee the Little Kitchen Academy Experience for yourself
Join Little Kitchen Academy Founder, President and Chief Learning & Curriculum Officer, Felicity Curin, for a behind-the-scenes tour of our Montessori-inspired kitchen, where children build real skills, real confidence, and real independence. See exactly how a cooking class becomes a foundation for a capable life.
What families are saying
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I’ve had the most lovely experience with LKA since enrolling my daughter in their drop-in classes. Jessica responds promptly and the LKA staff make you feel like you are their one and only special customer.
My daughter has celiac and it can be difficult to navigate cooking classes for her. She also has very particular tastebuds, limiting what she is willing to eat. After ONE class at LKA, she had an egg roll for the first time in her life! She gobbled it up and was excited to share her new dish with the rest of the family.
I look forward to enrolling her in more courses. This has been a joy of an experience!
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This has to be one of my favorite things to take my son and his friends to. It has been such an amazing experience for them. The confidence he has gained in the kitchen, to cook with me, has been so much fun to see. He is only 5 and he is cracking eggs like a pro. I highly recommend checking this place out to give your kids a great opportunity to learn a new skill and join you in the kitchen at home!
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“My 8yo and 10yo absolutely loved the classes and came home beaming with pride about the new skills they learned and the delicious food they prepared. I was very impressed! They had wonderful things to say about the staff and the instructors. Jasper is especially proud that he can now make poached eggs for his family (second photo is of him in action at home), and Valerie happily tells me she’s great at chopping veggies and wants to help more in the kitchen. It’s truly been an amazing experience for both. Great boost in their self esteem! Thank you!”
Age-Based Cooking Classes for Children and teens A Montessori-Inspired Curriculum That Builds Practical Life Skills and Healthy Eating Habits.
Every age is met where it is and given real responsibility to rise to. Select your child’s age range below to learn more.
Toddler’s First Taste classes are a hands-on 75- minute introduction to cooking for child and caregiver.
Our sessions provide preschool-level enrichment through fully independent drop-off cooking classes that enhance gross and fine motor skills.
3-hour cooking classes allow this age to think outside the box and try something new while learning real-world math and science concepts.
3-hour cooking classes challenge preteens to take recipes to the next level and learn how to alter them for their own tastes.
Our teen cooking classes provide practical life skills to get them ready for adulthood. They learn how to budget, make substitutions and prepare more complex recipes.
Little Kitchen Academy in the News
The Premium Brands Inside Every Little Kitchen AcademyThe brands children use in every class, chosen because they share our standard: real tools, real ingredients, and real responsibility in every kitchen, in every community we serve.
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Little Kitchen Academy students at the Birkenstock wall -
Little Kitchen Academy chef coats -
LKA Living Food Wall growing fresh, in-season herbs, vegetables, and fruit in the Little Kitchen Academy environment. -
Little Kitchen Academy Progressive Knife Set -
Little Kitchen Academy location in Vancouver, Point Grey -
Revolutionary cookware brand becomes exclusive cookware partner of the premier Montessori-inspired cooking academy for children and teens across North America -
LKA student cleaning with their Scrub Daddy. -
Iron Chef Cora Cora smiling in a chef coat.
Where Every Child Builds CapabilityLittle Kitchen Academy is built for every kind of child, because every child is more capable than the world assumes.
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Picky Eaters – Children who help prepare their own food build a different relationship with it. By choosing real ingredients, practicing real techniques, and tasting their own work, many become willing to try foods they once refused. It is the moment "I won't" becomes "I did." -
Aspiring Chefs -Children with a real passion for cooking get a structured path to build technique, kitchen confidence, and a deeper understanding of food, one class at a time. -
Alternative Education (E.G. Homeschooling) -Hands-on culinary education brings math, science, nutrition, and practical life skills together in one real-world learning environment, making it a natural fit for homeschool families. -
Exceptional Learners -A carefully prepared Montessori-inspired kitchen lets children work at their own pace while building confidence, independence, and real practical skills.
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Student Athletes -Student athletes learn how food fuels performance and gain the skills to prepare balanced, healthy meals on their own. -
College / University Bound Teens -Teens build the practical life skills real independence requires, from meal planning and budgeting to preparing healthy meals from scratch, before they ever leave home. -
Socially Challenged Children and Teens -Shared kitchen work encourages communication, responsibility, and confidence, giving children meaningful work to focus on and succeed at together. -
Food Trauma / Healthy Eating -Children build nutritional literacy and a healthier relationship with food by preparing meals themselves and understanding exactly where their ingredients come from.
FAQs
Your child prepares a new recipe every class, learning real tools and real techniques as they go. Recipes are healthy, seasonal, and made from scratch to consumption. Parents are consistently surprised by what their child will try when they made it themselves. All recipes are nut-free, and with advance notice we can accommodate other food allergies.
Classes for children ages 3 to 12 run a full three hours, which is what independent, Montessori-inspired learning requires. Teen classes run 2.5 hours. Toddler’s First Taste parent and child classes run 75 minutes.
Our sessions for ages 3 to 5 are among our most popular, and parents are consistently blown away by what their young child accomplishes and the independence they build. Classes are led by instructors trained through our respect for the Montessori Method, in an environment designed for young children to work safely and independently.
Have more questions about Little Kitchen Academy? See more FAQs
Make an impactThe Changing Lives From Scratch Fund.
Every child deserves to hear themselves say “I did it”.
Not just the ones whose families can afford to be in the kitchen.
The Changing Lives From Scratch Fund in partnership with Russell Westbrook’s Why Not? Foundation provides grants through charitable partners, schools, and organizations in each community, bringing children and teens from underserved communities into our kitchens to build the same real skills, the same real confidence, and the same real independence as every other child at Little Kitchen Academy.
One class can change how a child sees themselves. One grant can change what they believe is possible.
Change a Child’s Life
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Explore the LKA Blog
Written for the parent raising a capable child
Rooted in Montessori principles and hands-on learning, the LKA Blog is where we share what actually works: how to build independence at home, why children rise to real responsibility, and what to do when they insist they can’t.
Real guidance for raising confident, capable, curious children and teens.