Iron Chef for Tweens

I try not to do too many food-based programs—they can be fairly expensive, very messy, and I never know the quantity of materials to gather because my tweens don’t usually register for programs. I have a group of regulars I see every Monday and Wednesday, so I can count on them. But when tweens and teens see food at a program, there’s usually a bit of competition for space among kids I don’t usually see.

Iron Chef had to be first come, first serve. The secret ingredient was Twinkies, and I made ‘kits’ with plastic bags that included all the ingredients the kids would need. I like the ‘kit’ approach because everyone gets the same amount of stuff. My rule is, “You get what you get, and you don’t throw a fit”. I don’t care if the kids share or trade supplies from their kit. But the point is, everyone starts out with the same stuff. It’s more fair than letting them grab supplies in a buffet-style free-for-all. The buffet style usually results in one kid getting all the cool stuff, and everyone else fighting in the wings. It’s like Black Friday with more glitter.

In addition to Twinkies, we had HoHos, chocolate chips in varying sizes, smarties, icing, Rice Krispie treats, Cool Whip, and assorted candy. The kids were very well behaved, considering how much sugar was involved. Earlier this year, we made ‘sushi’ out of candy, and the sugar buzz got a little crazy.

The rules were simple:
Be safe, responsible, and respectful
Don’t eat your supplies
Hands to yourselves/Don’t touch others’ creations
Once you’re in the program, you can’t hop in and out of the activity room (there’s no food allowed in the rest of the library)
Clean up after yourself

After the kids finished their creations, we lined them up, assigned each dish a number, and then voted (slips of paper in a bowl). Each participant got two votes, and they could not vote for themselves or campaign for their dish. Everyone took the voting pretty seriously. Once the winner was announced, the kids dug into their creations. Some were more appetizing than others.

 

This was a program I was a little uneasy about, but it turned out really well. We had 15 participants, which is great for a drop-in program. The program took about an hour, and cleanup was maybe 20 minutes. Everyone had fun and we drew some new participants into our group. The only downside I found to this program was the cost (I prefer when things are free or VERY cheap) and the mess, which was not that bad.

Budget permitting, I would do it again. Next time I’d buy generic items to cut costs.