Children occupied by constructive afterschool activities are less likely to buy BB guns or hang out with dogs that buy children BB guns. Keep tots gainfully at play with today’s Groupon: for $65, you get a one-month chef’s club membership to Young Chefs Academy in Irvine (a $134 total value). The membership includes:

• One 90-minute Junior or Master Chef class of your choice per week for four consecutive weeks (a $109 value)
• One-time $25 registration fee (if Groupon-holders wish to continue their chef’s club membership, they will not have to pay this fee again)<p>

Junior classes accommodate kids ages 5.5–12, divided into age-appropriate groups. Master Chef classes accommodate chefs 12 and older. Find class schedules and sample menus here.

At the Young Chefs Academy, apron-clad students prepare an array of entrees, side dishes, and desserts, all the while learning kitchen safety, table manners, and technique. The menu adopts a different theme each month, with student chefs sampling cuisines from around the world, growing more adventuresome as cooks, eaters, and matchmakers for shy rutabagas. Master chefs confidently strike out on a quest for more advanced knowledge, further developing their palates and aiming to debunk the myth of the watched pot that doesn’t boil. Experienced instructors and chefs supervise each small class, allowing each burgeoning Julia Child to hit her stride, while dissuading future Madame Curies from isolating isotopes in a saucepan.