🔭 Science, nature and the world · 🍳 Cooking with kids
America's Test Kitchen Kids
By America's Test Kitchen (owned by Marquee Brands). Visit America's Test Kitchen Kids
Warning: read this before you buy or sign up. Checked 2026-10-24.
The kids' arm of America's Test Kitchen, known for kid-tested cookbooks and the Young Chefs' Club recipe boxes for ages 6-12. In October 2026 the old kids' website sends visitors to a list of ATK Kids articles on the main site, and the club boxes no longer appear in ATK's own shop. What a family can still use: a run of kid-friendly articles and recipes, and about 17 kids' cookbooks (such as The Complete Cookbook for Teen Chefs) sold in the ATK shop.
Our take: Worth it today for the kids' cookbooks; families looking for the monthly Young Chefs' Club box should look elsewhere, since it no longer shows up on ATK's own shop.
| Ages it suits | about 3-17 (preschool boxes were 3-5, Young Chefs' Club 6-12, plus teen cookbooks) |
|---|---|
| What its terms say about age | The main terms say users must be old enough to sign a binding contract (adults). A separate ATK Kids privacy policy says a child under 13 can send a question (ATK keeps the name and email only to answer, then deletes them), and newsletters for under-13s must be requested by a parent. (terms) |
| Price | Free, with paid extras. Kids' articles are free to read; kids' cookbooks list at about $22-23 each in the ATK shop (about $18 on sale, Oct 2026). Most other ATK content needs a paid ATK membership. The old club boxes started at $15.99-$24.99 a month but are no longer sold on ATK's shop. |
| Works on | Web, A device |
| Account | No account needed |
| Ads | Not stated |
| In-app purchases | None |
| The AI in it | No AI. |
What's good
- Recipes come from a test kitchen with a long track record
- Kids' privacy policy is short and strict
- Cookbooks work with no screen at all
Watch for
- The kids' website and club boxes appear to be gone; the Boston Globe reported the ATK Kids team was laid off in 2023
- Old links and gift guides may point to boxes you can no longer buy
- Many ATK recipes and videos sit behind an adult paywall
Data and privacy
The ATK Kids privacy policy says the kids' pages use only limited cookies for internal operations, with no behavioral advertising, and that ATK follows COPPA for under-13s. The main ATK site has its own wider privacy policy for adult members. Read the privacy policy.
Does it work?
No independent studies found. ATK says its kids' recipes are tested by kids; the 2021 club article lists the cooking and science skills it says kids learn.
In the Big Index
Alternatives to America's Test Kitchen Kids
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Fight BAC!
Partnership for Food Safety Education (nonprofit) · ages K-12, plus parents of babies
A solid free pick for teachers and parents teaching kids to cook safely; kids wanting a game will find only a little here.
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Jamie Oliver's 10 Skills (Ministry of Food)
Jamie Oliver Enterprises Limited · ages about 3-14 (UK primary and secondary; US schools and community groups)
A good free starting point for schools and clubs teaching basic cooking; families cooking at home will get more from free recipe sites, since this is built for classrooms.
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Kids Cook Real Food
Kitchen Stewardship LLC (Raising Healthy Families, Katie Kimball) · ages about 2-12 (Teens Cook Real Food for 13-21 is on a waitlist)
Suits parents who want a structured plan to teach several kids real kitchen skills at home; skip it if you want a kid to learn alone from an app.
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Kids Eat in Color
Kids Eat in Color, LLC · ages for parents of kids 0-18; BetterBites targets ages 1-5
Worth a look for parents worried about a young picky eater who want daily coaching; a child with weight loss or severe food refusal needs a doctor first.
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Outschool cooking classes
Outschool, Inc. · ages about 9-18 for the cooking listings we saw (Outschool overall covers 3-18)
Good for tweens and teens who want a live, social cooking class from home; younger kids need a parent beside them, and families uneasy about recorded video should skip it.
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Paprika Recipe Manager
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A solid, ad-free planner for the parent who runs the family kitchen; not a kids' product, so children should use it only alongside a parent.
Where these facts come from
- https://www.americastestkitchen.com/kids
- https://www.americastestkitchen.com/articles/3978-5-things-kids-will-learn-with-atk-kids-chefs-club-boxes
- https://www.americastestkitchen.com/articles/6378-inside-new-atk-kids-little-passports-box
- https://www.americastestkitchen.com/corporate-pages/terms-of-use
- https://www.americastestkitchen.com/corporate-pages/americas-test-kitchen-kids-privacy-policy
- https://www.americastestkitchen.com/corporate-pages/privacy-policy
- https://shop.americastestkitchen.com/young-chefs-club
- https://shop.americastestkitchen.com/shop-all-products/cookbooks/kids-books.html
- https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/08/business/americas-test-kitchen-cuts-staff-and-cooks-country-magazine
- https://www.mysubscriptionaddiction.com/b/young-chefs-club
Prices, terms and features change. Nobody paid to be listed, nothing here is an affiliate link, and Peabody never rates itself. Where we and the maker disagree, the maker's own pages are the ones to trust.