The annual Kids Dayz Spring Break Camp at the East Whatcom Regional Resource Center was extra tasty this spring. Through a partnership with Common Threads, this four-day camp provided students a chance to engage their minds, hands, and taste buds.
Ester happily munches on a carrot while James uses the grater like a pro to make toppings for our homemade tacos.
Each day of camp focused on a particular recipe, with students working together in groups to mince, measure, mash, and cook! Student chefs prepared potato kale cakes, stove top berry crisp, beans and greens burritos, and tasty veggie bean soup. The soup was a particular favorite, with one group of boys slurping the broth from their third bowl of soup before asking for more!
When students weren’t cooking or tasting they kept their hands and minds busy seeding starts, exploring spices, playing vegetable twenty questions, and designing their own gardens. Even students who usually like staying clean made a mess mixing clay and soil to make seed balls filled with flower seeds that they could take home to plant in places that need some extra color. Quinntin’s mom was thrilled to pick her son up with dirty hands!
Campers crafted seed balls to take home and plant
Campers had plenty of time to make new friends, share their own food experiences, and engage in exciting conversations about food culture, local foods, and seed to table eating. As an added bonus, camp attendees brought home the recipe of the day, plus a bag of supplies to cook with their families. For instance, after learning how to make tortillas by hand, campers brought home a bag of masa to test out making them with their families.
Participating in Kids Dayz is a natural extension of Common Threads’ efforts to connect kids with healthy food through our cooking and gardening partnerships with Kendall and Harmony Elementary Schools. A hundred thanks to the Opportunity Council and the East Whatcom Regional Resource Center (especially Jessica Bee and Kelly Vogel), the Foothills Food Bank, North Fork Community Library, Christ the King Community Church, the Eleanor and Henry Jansen Foundation, and the amazing parent and high school volunteers – all of whom remind us of how delicious collaboration can be.
Three boys eagerly slurp down their third bowl of vegetable and bean soup before they jumped up and asked for more. The soup was a huge hit!
We’re eager to do more cooking, eating, and exploring with our friends in the East County!
The onion slicing station was all laughs and tears while learning the fun and triumph of dicing up a whole onion
Sikemi, our 3 year old knife safety specialist, jumped up to explain the importance of using knives appropriately in the kitchen.