The life skill of cooking is a frequent goal of my sessions. Here is a bit about my occupational therapy approach to cooking that make it different from a traditional cooking class.
Below is the Canadian Model of Occupational Participation:
Egan M, Restall G. (2022). The Canadian Model of Occupational Participation. In M. Egan & G. Restall (Eds.), Promoting Occupational Participation: Collaborative Relationship-focused Occupational Therapy. (pp. 77-95). Ottawa, CA: Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists.
Drawing from this framework, here are the goals I try to incorporate into cooking sessions:
- They have an positive experience cooking – occupational participation/ meaningful participation
- They engage in active problem solving – this connects to possibilities, by building the ability to initiate or sustain the activity in the future
- They develop autonomy as well as safety – this supports both meaning and continued access to the activity
How I facilitate these goals
They have an positive experience cooking
- Provide more positive feedback than negative feedback
- Use positive feedback to build both motivation and skill learning
- Apply the just right challenge by offering recipes at the appropriate skill level, or by putting the right executive functioning supports in place
- Allow for choice and personal preference
They engage in active problem solving
- Facilitate reflective questioning
- Encourage youth to answer their own questions, since they often have good ideas but are used to relying on adults
- Incorporate metacognitive strategies for learning new skills
- Informally: For example, if a child asks, “Is it done?” while stirring batter, I might reply, “I’ll know it’s done when the batter is smooth and there are no chunks or dry spots.”
- Formally: By using the full Get Ready–Do–Done approach
- Slow down to point out inferred steps in recipes and help children figure out what they mean
- For example, a recipe might say “add beaten eggs” without ever giving the instruction to beat the eggs
They develop autonomy as well as safety
- Allow small mistakes (as long as they are not unsafe), so we can reflect on the process and outcomes
- Emphasize that cooking means “getting to cook the way you like to eat”—allowing for as much personal choice as possible
- Emphasize that “making a mess while cooking is fine, we just have to clean it up” to develop a sense of responsibility, without it feeling like getting in trouble
- Lean on the just right challenge by providing only the amount of support needed, without giving unnecessary extra help
- Use proactive problem solving before engaging in higher-risk activities (e.g., using the stove)