Dinner Courses : Now parents can go out for a night on the town guilt-free. A number of classes give adults time alone while their children learn to cook and sculpt.

For parents who sometimes feel a bit guilty going out to dinner and leaving the kids home with a baby-sitter, there’s a new option: Send the children to a two-hour class.

An increasing number of courses are designed to allow parents a couple of hours out while their children learn new skills and have some fun. The courses cost as much or more than hiring a baby-sitter. But parents who have sent their children to the dinner-hour classes say the workshops offer something valuable and constructive, and provide the child an interesting night out.

Once a month for more than a year, Carolyn Namer has been dropping off her two children at Let’s Get Cookin’, a Westlake Village cooking shop that has classes for children as well as adults. Namer and her husband and friends eat out while their children are tutored in the culinary arts. Because it’s a cooking class, there is an extra bonus--the children eat dinner while they are there.

“The kids love it. They are accomplishing something, and we feel guilt-free leaving them,” Namer said. “They come home all excited about what they have done. It really makes them feel good about themselves.”

Namer’s children--Nicole, 7, and Jonathan, 6--recently took the store’s “Jurassic Park Breakfast” single-session course for $25. They made dinosaur-egg omelets, pterodactyl cinnamon twists and triceratops cookies for dinner.

Phyllis Vaccarelli, the store owner, says the response to her Friday night classes has been excellent, far better than for Saturday courses.

Between sports activities, birthday parties and family events, there is a lot of competition for Saturday time, she says, adding that many parents really appreciate the chance to dine out by themselves.

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Everywoman’s Village in Van Nuys is also scheduling classes to provide parents some evening time away from the kids. “The concept is to have classes that are child-oriented and offered at a time when parents can eat out or shop and know their children are in good hands,” said Dan Sonenberg, spokesman for the Village.

The Village offers such weeknight courses as “Paper Sculpting” (four two-hour sessions for $61) and “Secrets of the Great Masters” (four two-hour sessions, also $61.)

Two-hour classes set for Christmas week cover such topics as “Boxmaking” and “Understanding Animation.” They are designed to provide parents with time for last-minute shopping.

The challenge for busy families, Sonenberg says, is to try to find activities that provide something special and valuable for children, but at a time that is also convenient for parents.

WHERE TO GO

What: Courses for children during the dinner hour.

Location: Let’s Get Cookin’, 4643 Lakeview Canyon Road, Westlake Village. Classes for 6- to 9-year-olds.

Price: One-session, two-hour courses are $25.

Call: (818) 991-3940.

Location: Everywoman’s Village, 5650 Sepulveda Blvd., Van Nuys. Classes for fourth- to eighth-graders.

Price: Series of four two-hour courses is $61.

Call: (818) 787-5100.