The pint-sized girl with candy-blue eyes and sun-kissed hair digs her toy hands deep into the cream-coloured, speckled brown dough; she oozes it through her fingers; pounds down on it with her fists.

"I'm a chef," she announces, puffing out her chest.

The chubby, little faces around her all stare in appreciation – they're chefs too.

Crafty chefs, that is.

Chilliwack Community Arts Council started its annual Crafty Chefs summer program earlier this month for children who love the arts, and who love cooking while engaging in the arts.

The first weekly Wednesday class was full.

"This class is mondo, mondo popular," says instructor Sandra Smiley, who looks like a kid herself in a leopard-print scarf, bright purple cardigan, and hair tied up in a side ponytail.

"Kids love to eat."

Fifteen kids, between the ages of five and nine, pour ingredients into mixing bowls, knead pastry dough, vigorously decorate raw biscuits with crayon-coloured chocolate beads all while sitting around two small tables.

Kenzie dumps in the oatmeal; Esme dumps in the nuts; Kaitlyn dumps in the Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal; Cameron "gently" mixes the ingredients.

"Whoopsie," he says, smirking as nuts and oatmeal fly out of the bowl and onto the blue circular table he's sitting at.

Kenzie sneaks a taste.

"Mmm ...," she says, a dreamy smile taking over her face.

None of the kids at the table care that speckles of blue glitter have somehow mixed in with their dough, or that they have to take turns pouring the ingredients, mixing the ingredients, kneading the ingredients – all they care about is the food.

"This is gonna be yummy," says Calvin, not taking his eyes off the sticky brittle concoction now filling the plastic mixing bowl.

In the class, the young chefs learn kitchen safety tips like washing and drying their hands before cooking, not putting sharp objects into a sink full of water, and always making sure to turn ovens and burners off before leaving the kitchen. They learn how to measure ingredients and the importance of following directions like combining sugar and butter before sifting in flour. They also gain an understanding and an appreciation of recipes.

"That's a marvelous mixing elbow," Sandra says as she walks past Kenzie mixing the brittle.

Each class has a theme. Today's theme is Mardi Gras.

In between baking Mardi Gras Bead Biscuits, and Mini King Cakes and Hearty Bayou Cereal-Almond Brittle and Hurricane Punch, the kids create art masterpieces.

Emile methodically slides an orange, oval-shaped paper bead onto a long blue ribbon, then a yellow one, then a green one, then a blue one until she has enough beads to wrap all the way around her neck.

"They're Mardi Gras beads," she says.

Calvin vigorously shakes a tube of blue glitter onto his white masquerade mask, spewing glitter all over the red table, and all over Kennedy's already coloured-in mask. She doesn't care, though, it's all part of the fun.

"Despite the vast things that kids can do nowadays, they still enjoy colouring, and baking and using sparkly things," says Smiley. "They still enjoy the simple pleasures of life."

Yummy pleasures too.

Crafty Chefs runs on Wednesdays from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Chilliwack Community Arts Council on Henderson Ave.

Classes are $15 for members, $20 for non-members.

For more information, call 604-792-2069 or email info@chilliwackartscouncil.com.

krobinson@theprogress.com