Little Kitchen Academy offers young chefs hands-on cooking experience

CENTURY CITY, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Cooking is a very important life skill. Not all of us are talented chefs, but with the right training we can learn how to prepare healthy and tasty meals.

That's precisely what the Little Kitchen Academy is about - teaching children as young as 3 about cooking and nutrition with hands-on experience.

In a three hour class, children learn real-life cooking skills and food literacy.

"They're learning to ask where their food comes from, what does their food do for them, for their bodies, and creating healthier eating habits to last a life time," said Brian Curin, CEO and co-founder of the Little Kitchen Academy.

Safety is top of mind, but a big push in the class is to show the kids they can be independent.

"Sometimes it's the first experience they've had doing an activity without their parents involvement," said Avery Fletcher, director of the Little Kitchen Academy. "And to really see them make their own choices, try things, discover their interests and really go outside their comfort zone and prosper and flourish is really inspirational."

"When you look at childhood obesity, when you look at the unhealthy eating habits and its relationship with food that's out there, we realized this was something that was definitely needed," said Curin.

Kids choose ingredients straight from the living food wall, where the academy grows herbs, fruits and vegetables.

"We're also learning about fractions, we're exploring our senses, we're trying new ingredients, we're testing out our likes and dislikes," said Fletcher.

Right now there are classes available for children 3 to 18. There are plans to expand the Little Kitchen Academy to even more locations.

For more information, visit www.littlekitchenacademy.com.