Cooking can bring people together.
It allows family members to interact and connect with each other in a fun and engaging way. Preparing and eating food engages the senses, making it a memorable activity.
Cooking can sometimes even increase a child’s interest and knowledge of food, especially for those who may be picky eaters. Through cooking, children are given exposure opportunities and pressure- free opportunities to build positive connections with food. Children are seeing what’s going into the dish and learn how it’s made. It makes them feel more invested in the end result. A study by the American Institute for Cancer Research has shown that cooking with children can increase their self-esteem, creativity, teamwork, and acceptance.
There are many life skills involved in cooking. These include:
- Research – finding a recipe, asking friends and family for ideas they have tried or like.
- Planning – understanding what you need to prepare food and budgeting.
- Purchasing – thinking about what to purchase and where to purchase the food from.
- Preparing – there are many ways to prepare food (e.g., cut, mix, heat, cool).
- Safety – there is a need to learn safety around the kitchen such as handling knives and equipment, first aid procedures, operating a stove and safe handling of hot food.
- Teamwork – cooking is a great way to learn to work with others.
There are many communication skills that can be achieved through cooking together. Here are a few of them:
Social Skills
- Following a group plan.
- Practice asking for a turn.
- Executive functioning. This can include teaching your child to follow a list of ingredients they need for the recipe, dividing up steps in the recipe and thinking ahead by preparing a grocery list.
- Problem solving skills. Sometimes mistakes can happen while cooking. These are great opportunities to model small reactions by talking about your feelings or reactions (e.g., “Oh no, we spilt some milk on the floor. No big deal! I will get a paper towel and clean it up”).
- Hidden rules. Cooking offers opportunities to teach hidden or unwritten social rules (e.g., cleaning up the area if they spill something).
Language Skills
Language skills
- Vocabulary (e.g., stir, chop, mix, etc) and concepts (e.g., counting, measurements).
- Sequencing (e.g., first, next, before, after).
- Answering wh-questions (e.g., where do you find the milk?).
- Following verbal or written instructions.
- Practicing literacy skills while reading the recipe.
Preparing a meal can be difficult amongst the hustle and bustle of everyday life – work, traffic, school, after-school activities and attending appointments. But it doesn’t have to be complicated, it can be as simple as putting a ham and cheese sandwich together. You can adapt a recipe for a specific age group or according to your child’s level of skill and ability.
We sometimes incorporate cooking in our therapy sessions. We have witnessed positive outcomes like increased participation and achievement of communication goals. On top of that, they are learning important life skills! Our speech pathologists can show you how you can use cooking to support your child’s communication.