
The Therapist's Cookbook combines all the good skills that therapists (speech pathologists, physical therapists, and occupational therapists) work on with the fun of stirring, mixing, measuring, and baking. A great way to engage your child and help them develop emerging skills. Cooking is a fun activity that you can do with your son or daughter. In The Therapist's Cookbook, we have collected suggestions and observations about the process and given you tips on how to incorporate them into your cooking and baking experience. Cooking is a great way to work with your child on their counting and math skills. The Therapist s Cookbook shows parents how a variety of skills (direction following, listening, language, math skills, time concepts, gross motor and fine-motor skills) can be improved and reinforced while cooking and baking with your child. The concept of fractions can be taught using, for example, a carton of eggs. Six eggs out of twelve spaces equals the fraction one half. Nine eggs equals the fraction three quarters. Eight eggs equals two thirds. Four eggs equals the fraction one third. Seven eggs equals the fraction seven twelfths. Almost anything you do can be adapted for therapy or learning. Collecting ingredients can become a discussion of categories. Group together all the ingredients that come in a bag (sugar, flour, brown sugar); group together all the ingredients that come in a can or jar (cinnamon, dry mustard, ginger); group together all liquids (vanilla extract, lemon juice, milk, oil); group ingredients by color (flour, sugar, eggs, salt). Setting the timer for the oven can prompt a discussion about time and time concepts. Using an analog clock vs. a digital readout clock can allow you to talk about fractions (half hour, quarter hour), addition and subtraction, parts and whole (if cookies take six minutes to bake, how many batches can you bake in one half hour? 6 min equals one-tenth of an hour), etc.
I have over 25 years of experience in providing speech therapy services. I currently work in private practice with birth through school aged. I have taught in the public schools for 9 years (k-12) providing pull-out, push in and inclusive therapy. I have taught evaluation and therapy methods classes as well as supervised clinical practicums on both the undergraduate and graduate levels at a private NYS college for over 5 years.