I'm a lifelong foodie. Before I had my son, I even worked at the Food Network. I've been dreaming about taking him to a cool kids' cooking class since I was pregnant. While there are certainly lots of wonderful places where children can take cooking lessons in New York City, they tend to be really expensive, around $60 or more a pop. I understand why: Ingredients don't come cheap and you need access to a kitchen. Still, at those prices, I figured my kid would have to learn to cook in the kitchen of chez moi.

But I started to do some research to see if I could find any (relatively) inexpensive cooking classes for kids in NYC. And guess what? They actually do exist. Most of these cooking programs cost $30 or less per session, and a few are actually totally free. Plus, New York City's first-ever Kids Food Festival hits Bryant Park later this month with hands-on activities and classes for families. Time to get cooking!