I was thinking about starting the Wilton Classes and my DD would like to attend as well she will be 10 in February. She loves to help decorate cakes - we do it just for fun but I thought she would really enjoy the classes and learn some good stuff! Is there a minimum age? Any comments from instructors or attendees would be great!


Thanks!!

I don't know about a minimum age but in course 2 I had a ten year old girl in my class and a few 12 year olds. I was the only grown up and I'm 24 It was funny.

Good luck to your daughter. Hopefully she'll be able to sign up

the instructor has the call on that, its up to her. Give her a call to see it your dd can attend. generally they can as long as an adult is registered to take the class along with them.

Thanks for your replies! I will give the instructor a call!

Definetly call the instructor, some have an age limit, some do not.

I just had a 10 year old in my class and she did well. Sometimes they won't have the hand strenght for some things, like the roses, so just forewarned there.

My DD went with me when she was 11. The instructor wasn't too crazy about the idea but DD did fine. You know whether she has artistic skills that would lend themselves to cake decorating and she definately has the desire, so that's good. Another thing to consider is if she has the attention span to stay at it through the entire class. You know her best, so if you think she's ready then she probably is. My DD isn't totally into decorating now that she's 14 but she's still a great source of ideas and critiques since she went thru the classes. What a great bonding experience!

After teaching 4-H cake decorating classes for a number of years, I've discovered that 11 or 12 is usually the youngest I wanted in a class.

Attention spans and hand strength are the determining factors really: if your 10 year old is naturally artistic/crafty, has the attention span and desire to learn and to try to do a good job, and has adequate hand strength-then I think she will be fine.

All three of my kids learned decorating at the ages of 10-12....but alas, none of them had the desire to help me in my cake business when they grew up!

As an alternative for your daughter, you could teach her as you go (while you are taking classes). That is what I did with mine. At times I just let her use some supplies and decorate a few cupcakes, other times I would show her what I learned in class and let her practice with me. She has been doing this since she was 8, when I started cake decorating. On the Wilton website they have a class set up for girl scouts and kids. It gives basic instructions and is very well done. I think it's a great idea to get them involved.

When I am not too frazzled, I will let her help me with my cooking projects. She is great helping me with molded cookies and painting them, she helps me with molding chocolate candies, and usually helps me measure and mix the cake mixes.

As for her taking the class, I agree it would be completely up to the teacher. My daughter came to a couple of my classes and "helped", but it was completely agreed upon before class. I was also one of three students, so it was quite informal. Try to find a place that might do kid classes such as a recreation center, local bakery or cake supply store. We are lucky to have a cake supply store that has awesome classes for kids during the summer and holiday season. They teach them techniques, but make it kid friendly and fun. (www.cakeworks.com)

Here is the link for wilton's Icing Fun:

http://www.wilton.com/classes/icing-fun/

Happy Decorating!

My sister took all the Wilton classes when she was 12. It was HER idea, not our parents. She enjoyed it, and did really well. Having taken Wilton classes myself, I'd have no objection with being seated next to a mature, happy and interested child.

My daughter and I took Course 1-3 this year and she was 10 at the time. I would definately check with the instructor. Luckly ours was really good about having my daughter in her class.