NORMAL - How foods come from the field to the table, how simple machines work, and how the life of a pond co-exists are just a few lessons kids have learned this summer at an Illinois State University camp.

In its 27th year, the College for Youth program keeps with its decades-old premise: Try something new, said Michelle Mueller, program director.

This summer, about 550 elementary and junior high school students enrolled in one of the program's two-week, two-hour-a-day courses. Area teachers are hired to lead June and July sessions, in morning and afternoon slots.

"The original idea was to get students to do things they usually don't do - break out of their comfort zone," Mueller said. But as College for Youth moves into the future, the program also aims to incorporate society's changes, she said.

For example, more attention to nutrition has led to more cooking classes for kids, while computer technology's growing reach means more there, too.

Similar offerings include Heartland Community College's Youth Enrichment Program, various camps at Illinois Wesleyan University and ISU and programs sponsored by local parks and recreation departments.

Most College for Youth courses cost about $120 each. While registration has ended for this summer's program, the full list of classes for summer 2009 will be available in April, Mueller said.

All College for Youth courses take place in ISU's Thomas Metcalf School. In Kiki Wood's "Once Upon a Recipe" course, young children start the morning with a picture book that ties to the day's recipe. Later, they create and taste a treat.

Here, kids don't just learn cooking. "There's math, reading, social studies, sequencing, vocabulary building," she said.

But it's fun, too, if you ask Kaylee Leisner, 9, of Normal. "My favorite was the peanut butter cookies," she said.

On Thursday, a dozen girls sat in a circle listening to "Tops and Bottoms" by Janet Stephens. As Wood closed the book, they lined up to wash hands and begin the project - making inside-out carrot cake cookies.

After a few girls shared duties in peeling some carrots, Audrey Marsaglia, 7, of Normal took them to the grater. Maria Buffo, 8, of Normal added an egg.

"First, you crack it over the side, and push then pull the sides," she explained after the feat.

"We need half a cup of butter. If one cup is two sticks, how many sticks do we need?" asked Wood, who also is a first-grade teacher at Oakdale Elementary in Normal.

"We're doing a lot of drive-through meals these days as a society," Wood said. "So, I think it is important for them to learn about food. We're using fresh-grown things (in the cookies)."

In Wood's parallel course for older children, "Iron Chef," she starts each day with a nonfiction lesson about a food rather than a picture book. In one, they learned about regions with cranberries and how to harvest the fruit. Later, they made cranberry cake.

Down the hall on Thursday, LeRoy Elementary third-grade teacher Steve Bute was leading his Legomania course, and later, one for rocket-building.

But this wasn't simply stacking plastic blocks together. Pairs of boys sat on the floor, leaning over complicated Lego Dacta box sets.

Learning about simple machines, each team gets an illustrated card showing a real tool, a step-by-step process to make a similar machine with Legos and wiring included, and the room to use creativity to invent their own.

"Sometimes they'll say, 'I can't get this. I don't know how to do this.' But you can see it feels good for them to work through it, when you don't give the answer, but rather help them think of problem-solving possibilities," Bute said.

Noah Litwiller of Danvers and Lucas Li of Bloomington, both 8, were making a push tool that resembled a tiller. Noah said he thought someone might be able to use it in gardening.

Nearby, 9-year-olds Isaac Henry of Downs and Barret Lee of Bloomington worked on building a Lego version of a commercial-type saw. Barret said the class was a natural choice because he's always loved Legos.

"I was always taking apart my brother's Lego things and getting in trouble for it," he said, smiling.