Library Iron Chef

I have seen Iron Chef teen program ideas floating around the web for a few months now.  I decided to borrow this idea and make an Iron Chef completion for the tweens at our library. You can't go wrong with food, kids, and library programs.  If you feed them... they will come.

Age Range: 8-12 (limit 20 tweens)
Time range: 1 1/2 hour
Supplies:
·         Plates
·         Aprons and Paper Chef Hats (from Oriental Trading)
·         Bowls
·         Plastic Silverware (lots!!!!)
·         Saltines
·         Graham Crackers
·         Whip Cream
·         Sprinkles
·         Chocolate/Strawberry Syrup
·         Grape Jelly
·         Sliced Cheese
·         Taco Shells
·         Ice Cream Cones
·         Bananas
·         Maraschino Cherries
·         Bread
·         Butter
·         Lunch meat
·         Marshmallows
·         Candy Pieces
·         Canned Fruit Cocktail

Room Set Up

5 tables for cooking station (for 5 teams of 4 children)

1 table for food station against wall

1 small table and chair for microwave station (with a volunteer/staff member to monitor)

White board to post rules

Some chairs against the wall for parents to sit

Approximate time table

2:00–2:15 --Check-in / distribute hats & aprons / review cookbooks on the table for meal ideas

2:15–2:25 -- Rules / ingredient unveiling / secret ingredient

2 25–2:35 -- Break into teams / make-up team names

2:35-3:05 -- Cooking time

3:05-3:15 -- Judging

3:15-3:30 -- Count votes / award prizes

The tweens choose their “team” by picking an empty seat at one on the tables. We then went over:

Iron Chef Competition Rules

No running 

One person per team at the food table at any one time

One person per team at the microwave at any one time

Only one microwavable bowl and plate may be used per team 

Each course must include the secret ingredient

Each team has to make an appetizer, entrée, and desert

Teams cannot vote for their own creations

If a spoon or fork goes into your mouth do not reuse it!!!!!!!

No finger licking or sampling until voting time

“Library Iron Chef’s –“GO!!!”

After I explained the rules, I unveiled the “secret’ ingredient.  Saltine Crackers!  A local business donated some of the food items including three of the biggest boxes of saltine crackers I have ever seen.  Our poor tween book club ate crackers for two months of meetings after this program.

The teams went to work planning and composing their dishes.  I asked a couple of parents to walk around the room and play sanitation police (SP).  There were several children who kept trying to double dip forks/spoons and lick fingers.  The SPs walked around and made sure children threw away used silverware and washed their hands. Make sure you buy LOTS of plastic silverware!!!

In just an hour, the tweens crafted their edible masterpieces with names like “Super Nova Marshmallow Melt”, “Gooey Cracker Ooze”, and “Rainbow Sprinkle Yum”.  

I originally planned to have staff members judge the tween’s dishes. Alas, there were no brave volunteers.  The tweens judged their own dishes instead.  I had each tween rate their competition’s dishes on a scale of 1-5. The team with the most points was the “winner”.  Everyone choose a book to take home from a collection of middle grade advanced reader copy titles.  The team with the most points got to choose their books first.