Learning in the kitchen

Learning in the Kitchen is fun way for children to participate in occupational therapy, explore and play while cooking and enhancing important skills for life including fine motor coordination, motor planning, executive function, sensory integration, social interaction skills, safety awareness and following directions. This protocol has been developed by occupational therapist Margarita Cunha with the support of Angelina Gross occupational therapy assistant to promote independence in children starting as young as 4 years of age all the way to young adults at 21. The main purpose of “Learning in the Kitchen” is for children of all ages to have fun, enjoy, play and create while learning functional skills for life.

Our activities have been designed for all kind of children including typically developing children, children with medical complex diagnoses and/or with disabilities.

The sessions are grouped by age. Each group works in skills that are age appropriate to their level of function. In other words, the goal of the younger classes may be sensory integration while older children may target working memory or life skills. We use safe kitchen instruments and safe recipes to ensure your children are always guarded.

Benefits
Completing a recipe increases children’s confidence and their sense of self accomplishment. Increases independence and self-direction. It also promotes problem solving, following steps, and sequencing.

Fine motor skills,eye-hand coordination, bilateral integration are enhanced while chopping, mixing, squeezing, and spreading.
Cooking promotes academic skills such as counting, measuring, following a sequence, and cause and effect.
Cooking is a great opportunity to enhance creativity, safe explorations, and language development.

Our services can be paid out of packet or via different grants including Step Up for Students if your child qualifies.

Diagnoses that qualify for Unique Abilities Scholarship:

Anaphylaxis
Being a high-risk child
Cerebral Palsy
Down syndrome
Emotional or a behavi oral disability
Hearing impairment, including deafness
Hospital or homebound
Identification as dual sensory impaired
Intellectual disability
Language impairment
Muscular dystrophy
Orthopedic impairment
Other health impairment
Phelan-McDermid syndrome
Prader-Willi syndrome
Rare diseases
Specific learning disability
Speech impairment
Spina bifida
Traumatic brain injury
Visual impairment, including blindness
Williams syndrome
Apply to step up here

What is Learning in the kitchen?

Benefits of cooking

List of Diagnoses Covered by Step Up for Students

Margarita Cunha MSOT

Margarita Cunha MSOT

Michel Torres OTA