Hi, my name is Lori Estien, and I’m BCBA, LBA here with Achieve Beyond. And I’m here to talk to you about a great way that you can adapt some fun activities in your home, such as baking. Baking can be a really fun activity for parents and kids to do together. Not only does baking hopefully end up with a tasty treat in the end, but there’s many opportunities to learn and practice skills while doing something fun and functional together. Baking is a fantastic way to introduce your child to new smells, new textures, and even some new foods. To help you and your child have a successful and positive baking experience, here are some tips to try.
First, prepare your child by talking about some of the tools they are going to use or introduce them to some of the words or actions they will hear while doing the activity, but they may not recognize words like stir or measure. Pour may not be very familiar to them. Looking up baking videos on YouTube can be a really helpful way of seeing someone modeling the kitchen tools while associating those words to the steps of the recipes.
If this is your first time baking with your child, pick something they like to eat. This will increase motivation, get them excited, and help maintain their attention during the activity. Keep your recipe simple. Pre-made baking mixes are a great way to simplify a recipe like cookies into less steps. Use a visual recipe. Visual recipes are really helpful for a lot of children, and they can also help to increase independence in making their favorite snacks. There are a ton of visual recipes that can be found online for a variety of snacks, meals, or special treats, but it’s really easy to make your own. Making your own visual has the benefit of making it very specific to your child’s specific needs and likes.
You can include kitchen safety awareness, their independence level, and you can also include pictures of the baking supplies that are found in your home. Visual recipes can be printed out or created as a PDF and viewed on a device while baking. This option allows you to easily edit or modify the visual recipe as needed. Make sure to include a picture of all the tools and ingredients you need. Safety rules or limits can be easily included, including a picture of mom or dad turning on the oven, for example.
You can adapt some of the tools, such as measuring spoons or cups, by color-coding them. We can select kitchen tools based on your child’s needs, such as a mixing bowl with the handle so they can better grip it or using a hand mixer instead of a loud electric one if they don’t like loud noises. Model new skills for them and give them a chance to practice with your help, if needed. Remember to have fun. Even if the finished product doesn’t come out just right or there’s a little extra uh-oh in that cookie or cake, the chance to practice growing skills while having fun with mom, dad, or grandparent will last much longer than that tasty treat.
