If you start looking around you won't find many independent cooking classes for preschool aged children. Those of us who are moms know why. It can be a very messy process that seems to take more patience than the average teacher wants to invest in these little precooks.

Despite that, I know cooking and small cooks have an affinity. I am a teacher, so it seemed time to combine the desire to teach cooking to tiny kids with what many told us would be impossible. Our church offered a two night session - 45 minutes long - and hoped for about 4 children between the ages of 3 and 5 years old to show up.

Suddenly there were 14 children and their moms. As the chef and teacher I had planned for a crew and had set out squares of waxed paper as a prep surface to corral the mess, a small green plastic bowl, plastic knife, fork and spoon, a napkin, a hard boiled egg and a brightly colored recipe card intended to be the first one for each of these small cooks.

First lesson was to wash the small hands. Next we talked about how to peel a boiled egg. After all, if we are hoping for independent bright children, it's a good place to begin. They understood cracking an egg - almost too well. Then they had to finesse rolling it back and forth gently on the waxed paper until it was a myriad of fine cracks, but not squashed flat. Just a matter of controlling the pressure.

The best was yet to come as they were allowed to peel their eggs in a bowl of water to wash off the bits of shells. Moms were hovering in the background to be sure no shreds were left, but their offspring were fairly particular too.

The challenge was about to present itself. Using the fork to hold down the egg in the bowl, it was now time to wield the plastic knife and begin to cut the egg into salad sized bits. Some children have better than average small muscle control and this part of the project was doable, but for others it was frustrating. Trying to hold a knife like a pencil, with the serrated side down, and then carve away at the egg didn't happen for a good 25 percent of the youngsters. Moms stepped in and helped, but the parents started to worry because their child wasn't cutting the egg like their peers. Was something wrong?

That made the class lesson less about cooking and more about child development. If a child begins to exercise small muscles at a very young age, these muscles become much more coordinated. It's all about practice. In fact, the same muscles used to chop up an egg are the ones used to hold a pencil. Handwriting is ultimately at stake here. Moms understood that the more their child practiced whacking away at a boiled egg or cutting toast into triangles, the better the outcome for small muscles.

Eventually all of the egg was shredded to a small enough texture to add a spoonful of mayo. Oh those dratted muscles! Some children could take their clean spoon and dip and twist and dump, but others were unable to complete the task. It was a matter of practice once again. But once the eggs and mayo were combined, none of the little ones had any difficulty filling up their small-halved pita pockets.

Some moms confided that their children didn't really like egg salad sandwiches. But the power of preparing their own food swept away any prejudiced these children had and everyone ate the filled pitas down to the last crumbs.

A scant 45 minutes after the class began; the last kid gave me a hug goodbye with promises to return for the next class. In fact the moms were so thrilled that they requested another set next month, which this teacher/cook is more than happy to develop. You can't ask for more than to see the next generation of cooks launched on their way, no matter how young they are.

In fact, little people like this are highly interested in cooking and learning how to work in the kitchen like adults. If you dismiss them as too young, you risk the loss of a sensitive period of education. Of course there will be messy moments, but haven't we heard that you can't make a cake without breaking a few eggs? It's joyfully worth it all.