Kitchen skillathon career development event

Kitchen Skillathon is an educational opportunity for 4-H members to demonstrate increased knowledge and competence with common kitchen equipment, small appliances, herbs/spices, and hazards/safety in the kitchen. Teams will be made up of 3-4 youth in grades 6-8. Participants will work individually to complete four identification stations, a written test and a skills demonstration. Individual scores will be combined to create a team score. A coach can be a 4-H Youth Development Professional or an approved 4-H Adult Volunteer.

For 2023, the Kitchen Skillathon will be hosted as an Exhibition. This will be a year to showcase the skillathon, allow youth to participate in a stress free environment, and collect feedback from participants, coaches and educators. The feedback will be used to improve the skillathon for it’s inaugural kick off in 2024!

The contest will consist of four identification stations including small appliances, kitchen equipment/tools, herbs/spices, and kitchen hazards/safety; a written test and a skills demonstration. For the Skills Demonstration, participants can practice, and receive feedback from a judge, on an assigned kitchen/cooking type skill. Participants will complete the skill while at the judging table. All materials will be provided however youth will need to select all items needed to demonstrate the skill assigned to them. Study materials can be found below. 

 Examples of skills to demonstrate include, but are not limited to:

Skill Purpose
Dry & wet measure equivalents Demonstrate how to properly measure various dry/wet ingredients and/or equivalencies
Table/flatware setting Demonstrate appropriate table setting
Knives Select a knife based upon food to be cut. Demonstrate how to dice, mince, chop a vegetable.
Cross contamination prevention Explain food safety, cutting boards, knives, gloves, handwashing when using either raw or fresh foods.
Small appliance demonstration or kitchen tool demonstration Demonstrate how to use a small kitchen appliance or tool properly and safely.
Meal planning Plan a meal using MyPlate and/or grocery store ad.
Product selection/identification Demonstrate how to properly select a food product based on quality, variety, or type.

No cell phones are allowed during the contest!

DATE OF EVENT: Saturday, October 28, 2023
LOCATION: Stone Hall, Purdue university 
For 2023, please note: for the Exhibition, no points will be given and there will be no cost to participate. Participants will go through the identification stations, complete the skill demonstration and written test but receive no points or awards. We ask that you still regsiter below to get an idea of how many will attend. 
Online Registration