We learn to eat by playing with our food as babies with soft food when we instinctively touch and smell and taste—sometimes with our whole bodies!—the new fruits or vegetables put in front of us. As we become toddlers we learn manners and how to use utensils and dishes when eating and don’t lookback.

As a mom and a cooking instructor though I see the benefit to prolonging this sense of play and how it can create a passion for new tastes and experiences. No, I’m not suggesting we roll around in mashed sweet potatoes! I’m interested in how we can keep an open mind throughout life to find what truly excites us and brings us joy.

When talking with people who are interested in the Sticky Fingers Cooking franchise business opportunity, we use the word passion often: are you passionate about working with children? Do you have a passion for food? What do you feel passionate about in your life today?

I think that we discover our passions by exploring our curiosity, which happens to be my favorite word.

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Cool’inary Curiosity

At Sticky Fingers Cooking, our tagline is, “Cultivating Cool’inary Curiosity in Kids®” and this represents a couple of truths for me:

1. Playing with words to capture the fun we have with food, trying new things, mixing up words (pun intended) to showcase our silly side.
2. Sticky Fingers Cooking is not about teaching children how to become chefs, but instead about encouraging their own freedoms to play, explore, and to discover new flavors and skills along the way. Through their curiosity about what culinary means (or “cool’inary”), they get to learn about themselves, feeling proud about what they can do with this essential skill.

Each week in our classes we see kids of all ages go into a classroom with their fixed ideas about what foods they already don’t like or what they can’t do, only to discover that they actually LOVE lentils or mushrooms or pineapple or tomatoes—and have the ability to prepare a dish with these ingredients. These stories from the chef instructors and parents are often hilarious and touching to see what can be achieved when someone simply indulges in their curiosity.

Here are some samples of what we’ve heard from kids in Sticky Fingers Cooking classes that made us smile or even belly laugh:

“I don’t need a fork. I need a shovel to get this in my mouth faster.” - Owen, age3

“Hey, Chef Dylan. I usually don’t like tomatoes or olives but I love this Puttanesca!” - Kaia

“This drink is so white I totally get the mint, it is kinda like melted ice cream but healthy.” -Hailey 

“What is this? Magic rice??? It tastes so magically delicious I can’t even believe it.” - Drew

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Curiosity in Business

As we leave the classrooms behind in life, the word curiosity seems to leave our vocabulary and get replaced by terms like “acumen” and “adaptable” and that intuitive exploration is replaced by “know-how.”

When earlier jobs or career choices or studies leave a person feeling burned out or in need of fresh challenges, it’s time to find that curiosity again. Are you a teacher looking to control or increase your income with an education franchise? Maybe this is a time to review your values and see which ones you are most curious about. Are you a veteran who has an appreciation for systems and processes, but also a curiosity about being your own boss?

I invite you to reach out to our team today and start a conversation about what you want to discover for yourself—your passions, your curiosity, your inquisitiveness for growth in your life.

Cultivate your own curious nature, playfulness, and passions, whatever you choose to do in life!

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