Speech Therapy Activities
Cooking

Working on speech and language skills at home doesn't have to be time consuming or difficult. Check out our speech therapy activities cooking for some easy tips below. 

Speech Therapy Activities Cooking

Vocabulary: Toddler to Early Elementary

1. Measure: Measure out ingredients. Talk about how measuring tells us how much we need of something.
2. Scoop: Scoop out the ingredients while using the word in a sentence.
3. Stir: Children love to stir. Have them use "stir" in a sentence to request a turn!
4. Slice: Discuss and show the difference between chopping and slicing.
5. Timer: Set a timer. Talk about the time, what it means, and what to do when it beeps. 

For more info on vocabulary learning, check out toddler and preschool/elementary vocabulary learning. 

Child not talking yet, we can jump start his/her first words with this page right here!

Following Directions: Preschool to Early Elementary

The ability to follow directions is a crucial language skill needed for academic and social success. Below are some ideas to practice following directions while cooking.

1. Sequential: This direction is multi-step and something has to be done first, second, etc.. "Give me the spoon first and then the bowl."
2. Before/After: "Pour in the milk after you pour in the flour."
3. Spatial: Give a direction with a spatial aspect (under, over, above). "Get the spoon which is under the towel."
4. Quantitative: "Give me a few chocolate chips." "Put in a lot of coconut."
5. Basic: "Get the flour."

For more following directions, check out our outdoor games!

Complex Language Tasks: Toddler to Early Elementary Students

Below are games that target both expressive (speaking) and receptive (listening) skills. 

1. Comparative: Line up the ingredients by size (small, smaller, smallest) before beginning.
2. Compare/Contrast: Talk about the differences and similarities between baking and cooking while you wait for your food to finish.
3. Sequencing Narrative: Retell all the steps needed to make the food you cooked or baked. Use sequence words such as first, second, third, finally
4. Naming: Name all the favorite food you and your child like to make!
5. Sorting: Sort foods into categories such as vegetables, fruit, cold, meat

Learning speech and language skills early on is crucial. For more specific speech therapy activities, read more about our practice ideas based on age and skill level.

Executive Functioning: Toddler to Early Elementary Students

For a quick review for our new readers, executive functioning is our personal CEO. Executive functioning skills are the abilities to plan, control impulses and emotions, multi-task, pay and shift attention, and organize. Our executive functioning skills will continue to develop as our frontal lobe continues to grow; however, we can start things off on the right foot!

1. Plan what you need to do first and why (be sure to talk out loud WHY you mix dry ingredients together first or why you measure ingredients before putting them in a bowl.) The thinking "out loud" is a great strategy to teach your child how to organize thoughts and understand that we have thoughts, we can control them, and they help us! 
2. Sequence the cooking steps ("First we will measure ingredients. Then, we put them in a bowl. Next, we stir. After that, we make balls and place them on a cookie sheet. Last, we put them in the oven.
3. Talk about safety in the kitchen and how to prevent accidents.

Social Skills

Since there is so much technology and SOOO much academic pressure put on little ones, social skill development is lacking these days. It's crazy! I see it on the playground every day. Social skills are one of the MOST IMPORTANT skills we NEED to know to be a successful human being in the world. We have to function well with others in all aspects of our life from friendships, relationships, working with coworkers, and even ordering food at a restaurant. Social skills develop throughout our life through experiences, observation, and direct teaching. You can show good social skills from the start through modeling. 

1. Practice asking for a turn stirring - use please and thank you
2. Practice inviting a family member to come and taste the food
3. Talk about who you want to invite over for dinner and how to do it
4. If a child doesn't like the food, role play how to handle that situation (aka., throwing food on the floor isn't the best option)

Speech Activities

Is your child working on saying sounds better? Might as well practice while you cook!

Below are words to practice while cooking. We have target words for all sounds in all word positions (beginning, middle, and end). If your child is working on any of these sounds, pick a word and practice it while you cook. Functional and easy! 

Read articulation therapy for how to do speech therapy at home and access free word lists!

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