With families sheltering in place having become the new normal, companies with programs aimed at kids’ cooking are promoting their brands and offering themselves up as a family activity that offers up solid nutritional advice.

As one food-oriented licensing executive said: “This is an opportunity for cooking brands to establish themselves as a force for good and reach children who otherwise might not be familiar with them.”

A few of the efforts:

• The monthly subscription box service Kidstir, which targets 5-12-year-old children with cooking kits that include three recipes, quickly distributed 15,000 kits it made available for free in March and experienced a ten-fold increase in traffic to its site, says Aparna Pande, Founder and CEO of Kidstir. It also developed a free virtual camp offering a “tour” through Europe focused on food and education.
• Endemol Shine licensee Blueprint’s “Cooking with Master Chef and Master Chef Junior” online classes have registered a 72% increase in viewership since being offered for free in a promotion that started March 26 and runs through this Thursday (April 16), says an Endemol spokeswoman. The increased online traffic fills a void left by licensee TCG Entertainment’s postponing until October its Master Chef Junior Live touring stage show that features cooking demonstrations and has 26 dates remaining.
• As several states were instituting stay-at-home orders, Hearst Corp.’s Delish whipped up an of-the-moment article, offering up “18 Recipes that Will Help Your Kids Learn in the Kitchen.” It also launched an Instagram Live series, hosted by editorial director Jo Saltz and her children, featuring kid friendly recipes  teaching parents and kids recipes they can make together as an indoor activity. #CookingTogether  airs each weekday at 1:00pm ET and lasts around 15-20 minutes. Hearst also had developed a  Delish Kids licensing program pre-coronavirus that will have its first products in 2021, says Steve Ross, Global Head of Brand Develop and Chief Licensing Officer at Hearst.
• And, for kids of all ages, the Disney Parks blog even published the recipe for the churros bites sold at its theme parks available for in-home production “while our parks are temporarily closed.”

The courses and classes are aimed at teaching children cooking skills, while also helping solve the age-old battle over dinner menus by involving them in preparing the meals and giving them activities that could spark new culinary interest, says Alicia McCabe, Massachusetts Director of Share Our Strength’s child-focused Cooking Matters program, that targets low-income families with free lessons on healthy eating, planning meals and working together in the kitchen and has gained new followers in the wake of COVID-19.