Who needs a pricey summer camp, when you’ve got such creative families in your own neighborhood? That’s Peggy Spear’s idea, anyway, and she’s assembled the coolest collection of backyard summer camp ideas ever. We’ve already shared her tips on how to host a DIY Backyard Summer Camp, and some great ideas for Days 1, 2 and 3 – Backyard Olympics, Day Tripping and a Splash Fest.

But, says Peggy, “After all the activity of the last three days, campers may be getting a bit weary. Turn on the air conditioning, if needed, and invite the campers into the kitchen.”

Day 4: Cooking Class
The focus, Peggy says, should be on having fun and getting excited about cooking, but if you can sneak in some healthy eating tips and math/measuring practice, all the better. So here are Peggy’s tips and a few more…

• Make sure you have age-appropriate tasks for everyone. Little ones can handle cupcake decorating and pizza toppings. Leave the knife work to the older crowd.
• Keep comfort in mind. It’s a rare kitchen that can handle more than a few kids at one time, so you may want to set up another activity station – frost those cupcakes at the dining table, for example, or have kids decorate camp T-shirts or kid-sized aprons.
• Need recipes? Peggy suggests “Cooking Rocks! Rachael Ray’s 30-minute Meals for Kids” and “The Everything Kids Cookbook” by Sandra K. Nissenberg.
• About.com’s Stephanie Gallagher has an entire site devoted to kid-friendly recipes, including a whole section on adorable cupcake ideas.
• And if you’re looking for more ideas, here ya go – cupcakes with candy decorations by the geniuses who gave us “Hello Cupcake!”, more cupcake-candy combos but this time it’s butterflies, and ice cream sandwiches.
• Family Fun’s clever party planners share some great ideas in this Cooking Party article.
• And Martha Stewart has entire web page devoted to cooking with kids, including mini-turkey burgers and personal pizzas.