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Cooking Classes For Kids + Teens

Posted by Isabel C. on Sep 29, 2025 - 4:00pm
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Chef Lily helps a group of girls with a cooking project

Chef Lily, AKA, “The Kids Chef” is a cooking instructor and freelance chef with a culinary degree from Madison College and a background in Early Childhood Education. Her goal as an instructor is to expose children to the many benefits of cooking through hands-on experiences that develop skills to be used for life. Chef Lily has been bringing yummy joy to the Madison Public Library for many years. This fall, she will host a variety of cooking classes at Lakeview Library for different age groups: 

Read a Book and Learn to Cook

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A woman in a red dress sits holding up a book with an excited expression as she leads a library storytime in front of an audience of small kids

At Meadowridge Library

Chef Lily will offer a 4-part cooking series at Meadowridge Library in October and November. In this series, preschoolers and their caregivers can Read a Book and Learn to Cook! We'll start each session by doing a short storytime, and then kids and families will learn to make a recipe that was featured in the book. These events will take place every other Wednesday morning between October 8 - November 19, 2025. 

Siblings and childcare groups are welcome, and no registration is required.


Youth Cooking Clubs 

At Hawthorne Library

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A young black girl zests over a cutting board at a wooden table during a library cooking program

Young people, ages 6-17 years old, are invited to cook with Chef Lily at Hawthorne Library! Participants will prepare and enjoy a wide variety of recipes, while learning about meal planning, following recipes, and using kitchen gadgets and tools.

Events take place roughly every other Thursday. No registration required. 

At Lakeview Library

Registration is not required, but participation will be limited to the first 25 attendees.


Teen Cooking Clubs

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A teen in a blue hoodie adds spices to a dish on a hot plate inside a library during a cooking program.

At Lakeview Library

For teens and tweens, this is cooking club taking place the second Friday of each month, where participants prepare and enjoy a wide variety of recipes, while learning about meal planning, following recipes, and using kitchen gadgets and tools. 

At Meadowridge Library

Registration is not required, but participation will be limited to the first 25 attendees.

An extra special thank you to Willy St. Co-op North for generously providing all the food used in cooking videos and for our cooking classes.


Good news! Chef Lily has created a series of online cooking videos so people can make her recipes at home. Kids and families will learn about different foods, where they come from, how to follow recipes and how to use a variety of tools over the course of the 12-video series. To watch and cook along with Chef Lily, visit madpl.org/cookwithlily.