My Dad Ate My Homework

Imagine a kitchen where chefs struggle to break eggs and gobble the ingredients when no one's looking. It may sound like a disaster, but it's a recipe for success in teaching kids about nutritious eating. Much has been made of child obesity and junk food consumption, but less has been done to teach kids (and in some cases their parents) how to step away from the potato chips in favor of homemade, healthy meals. Luckily, more youngsters across Europe are learning by playing with their food.

Since opening its doors in 2000, north London's Kid's Cookery School, tel: (44-208) 992 882, www.thekidscookeryschool.co.uk, has brought over 10,000 children, aged 3 and up, into its brightly colored, kid-friendly kitchens. The students, many of whom are disabled or from disadvantaged backgrounds, get hands-on lessons in preparing everything from quiche to sweet and sour chicken. "We give kids the knowledge, know-how and skills they need to eat and live

well," says the school's founder Fiona Hamilton-Fairley. "Children deserve that information."

Parents keen to equip their offspring with more extensive culinary skills might consider a sojourn in Italy. Since last summer, Fontana del Papa, tel: (39-0766) 93455; www.cookitaly.it, a family-run cooking school in Monti della Tolfa, an hour's drive north of Rome, has run courses for children. Husband-and-wife team Assuntina Antonacci and Claudio Pierotti teach bambini of all ages how to prepare traditional Italian fare, using the estate's organically grown herbs and vegetables. While parents relax in the 16th century country house, their sprogs concoct fresh pasta, tomato sauces and jams. Pierotti, a trained sommelier, even introduces the idea of wine appreciation. But there's no wine tasting for the tykes — that pleasure is for parents only.