This week some of our occupational therapy and speech therapy friends had so much fun in the KITCHEN! We saw so many smiles and heard so many sweet giggles during this activity; maybe the only thing better than the smiles and giggles was the smell of the chocolate chip cookies wafting through the air.
While it may seem like an unusual activity to choose for occupational and speech therapy intervention, cooking/baking is actually an activity that can target many different skill sets in one fun (and sometimes messy) activity.
Sooo, what exactly can we work on in the kitchen? I’m so glad you asked. Drum Roll, please!
Fine motor strengthening; ripping open the bag (yes, we made it easier by using pre-packaged dry cookie mix),
Gross motor strengthening; stirring the thick batter with a spoon (even better, let them use their hands to mix and squeeze the dough to form…fine motor, gross motor, and sensory input!),
Visual motor integration; pouring ingredients into the bowl or spacing the dough balls on the cookie sheet,
Bilateral coordination; cracking eggs, stirring the mixture while stabilizing the bowl,
Midline crossing; reaching across one’s body to retrieve an ingredient or utensil,
Visual perceptual skills; finding the egg shells in the batter (WHOOPS; no worries, we got them all out!),
Arch development; rolling the balls of dough,
Sensory input; using our hands to mix the dough, smelling the delicious aroma, tasting the cookies, etc,
Academic skills; counting and measuring ingredients,
Comprehension and reading skills; reading the recipe, deciphering the details,
Auditory processing; listening, understanding directions,
Building vocabulary; learning new words based on unfamiliar ingredients and directions,
Praxis and motor planning; imitating a new skill such as “whisking” or “folding”
Executive functioning; planning, organizing, self-control, initiating the task, time management, metacognition, working memory, attention, flexibility, and perseverance,
Feeding; exposure to new foods and ingredients without the expectation of eating,
Social skills; initiating and maintaining conversation with peers and taking turns,
Self confidence; a feeling of accomplishment for completing a task successfully.
Ok, ok, ok…but what does all that mean? Basically, cooking and meal prep (and other activities of daily living) are heavy hitters! They’re able to target a ton of skills without much thought or extraneous effort. And better yet, it’s something that most of us do every day (or at least a few days a week).
But here’s the bottom line, when you leave a therapy session and your kiddos therapist has just rattled off a list of things to practice, make a conscious effort to find ONE household activity (ADL) to include them in. It doesn’t have to be cooking or meal prep; maybe it’s laundry, unloading/loading the dishwasher, cleaning the toy room, folding clothes or putting clothes away, even something like washing the car or raking leaves can serve the purpose. You’ll be shocked at how impactful this extra bit of effort is in the success of your little prodigy.
And at the end of the day, after the cookies have baked or the clothes have been folded, you can know you’ve made a positive impact and spent some amazing quality time with your little one, and regardless of how strong they are or how many words they know, time spent together is most important.
Check in next week to see what else we’ve been up to!
–Your Thrive Family
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