Summer of Learning: Cooking

Welcome to Day 3 of my Summer of Learning Series!  Today we will focus on my students' favorite topic: COOKING!  Cooking helps your kids work on reading skills, following directions, fine motor skills, math skills related to counting and measuring, science skills related to solids/liquids, communication skills of requesting required items and SO MUCH MORE!  Plus, everyone has to eat...so why not let the kids get involved and help?!

If you haven't already liked Autism Tank on Facebook, you should hop on over today because there may or may not just be a little Freebie posted today (wink wink).  Also, all summer long, I will be sharing Freebies and Giveaways exclusively with my Facebook Followers and Twitter Followers (@autismtank)

Over the course of the (almost) 2 years of this blog, I have shared many posts about our cooking adventures.  So, this post will be a nice summary of all the different recipes we have tried.  Click on any of the links to go to a post describing more about the recipe and cooking process.

1. Dirt Cups (link to blog post)

2. Veggies and Dip (link to blog post)

3.  Kool-Aid (link to blog post)

4. Cooking Fruit Snacks (link to blog post with FREE PRINTABLES)

5..  Trail Mix (link to blog post)

6.  Pizza Bagels (link to blog post)

7.  Christmas Tree Ice Cream Cones (link to blog post)

8.  Frozen S'Mores

9.  Peep's S'Mores.  Just put a Peep on a Graham Cracker and microwave for 10-20 seconds.  Add chocolate and top graham cracker.  The kids thought it was hilarious watching the Peep explode in the microwave and get smooched by the graham cracker.

10. Cupid's Crunch (check out this post from This Mama Loves for Recipe)

For any cooking activity for non-verbal learners, this is a great time to use the communication book or an assistive tech device.  Let the kids request and comment on the activity using pictures.

Also, I like to always incorporate some sort of comprehension worksheet as well after finishing the activity.  The kids usually answer questions about HOW they made the recipe, WHO they made it with, WHERE they made it, WHEN they made it... I think you get the picture ;-).



Check out my sets of visual recipes (which include comprehension sheets) on TPT available for purchase (visual recipes-set 1, visual recipes-set 2, visual recipes-set 3).

I was asked to participate in this post by Personal Creations, who are trying to help encourage parents to spend time working with their children to keep them always moving forward with their education (even during time off from school!).  Soon they will have a Pinterest Board full of summer activity ideas!  Can't wait to share it with you once it's up!