Ready or not, the holidays are right around the corner! This means family, fun, vacations, and a lot of free time. And let’s face it; you’ll most likely have a lot of cooking to do. So, why not have your kids help you, while you help them by making cooking into a fun speech and language activity!

Recipes are a great way to target a variety of speech and language goals in a fun, unstructured way. There is a lot of planning and processing needed to execute a perfect recipe and let’s face it, even the adults don’t always get it right – I know I’ve made a mistake or two! (Why is that cup of flour still sitting on the counter when my cookies are already in the oven?)

Here’s a list of speech and language activities you can tackle with some fun, kid-friendly Thanksgiving desserts from food.com:

• Sequencing: Read through the recipe and have your child identify what step is first or last. You can incorporate concepts such as before, after, and next. For example, “What comes after the eggs?” You can also have your child repeat the directions in order – if it’s not too complicated! Feel free to use a visual with this task, draw a simple pictures (i.e. a mixing bowl, spoon, cookie sheet) to support each step. Read more