Young children become little chefs at the Armed Services YMCA

Louisa Hazel holds up a jar. “Do you guys want some Nutella?” she asks.

The children’s enthusiastic responses speak for themselves. Hazel has little choice but to go around and hand out small cups with the popular chocolate and hazelnut spread.

A dozen kids, along with their parents, made their way to the Armed Services YMCA, 860 Cache Road, on last month. Little Chefs is the name of this class, a “sub-class of our chore program Operation Little Learners, a 12-week program,” Ché Cason, executive director of Armed Services YMCA, said. The young children are 18 months to 5 years old, he said, adding their program specifically targets military families from Fort Sill and Altus Air Force Base.

“It’s a fun way to be messy,” Program Manager Louisa Hazel said. On this morning, she has something special in mind for the kids: Peanut Butter ‘N Jelly Kabobs.

“Once we make the sandwiches, we cut them into pieces and put them on a stick,” she explained. Pieces of fruit, such as grapes, are placed in between the sandwich pieces.

“Everybody got their knives?” Hazel asks. Once she gives the go ahead, the kids start eagerly preparing one slice of bread with peanut butter and the other slice with jelly.

In the first row, Isaac Crawford, 5, can’t wait to get started. His mother, Easter, brought him and his little sister, Ellie, 3, to the Armed Services YMCA in order for them to “grow, have some more independence and learn useful skills,” as Easter explains.

“We try to give the kids something different to do in summer,” Cason said. “They have the opportunity to interact and meet new friends.”

That does not apply only to the children, however. Cason emphasized that it was a great opportunity for parents to socialize and meet other parents. Some, he said, may not have known each other before coming to the Armed Services YMCA.

Back at the tables, the children are making progress with their Peanut Butter ‘N Jelly Kabobs. Ella Ceynar, 2, is getting more and more excited as she puts slices of her Peanut Butter ‘N Jelly Sandwich as well as grapes onto a stick, making it a kabob. Her mother Karine said they’d been coming to YMCA for a year.

“She asks me to go to school all the time, even on weekends,” Karine said. “She likes it.”

Once the kids are done with their Peanut Butter ‘N Jelly Kabobs, Hazel has a big surprise for them, as she holds up the jar filled with Nutella. Once they receive a small cup with the tasty spread, the children get to work immediately, among them Isaac.

What does he like more, the peanut butter or the Nutella? Isaac’s finger points immediately toward his little cup with Nutella. No surprises here.