
Benefits of Cooking with Kids
The Kitchen Classroom is a special project for you. Can you explain a bit about this book?
What did you find as you applied this with your son? I believe cooking is indeed a large part of your professional life as well?
>> Gabrielle Kaplan-Maher >>Yes, I teach cooking to teenagers and work with kids with various disabilities–autism, down syndrome, intellectual disabilities. I discovered that my son felt really competent being in the kitchen with me. It was easy to engage him. We got to work on developmental skills while getting dinner made!
*What do you mean: “Parents don’t need to be “perfect chefs” or have special cooking background–everyone can cook”
What do you have to say about ingredients to parents? I live in a rural area but can still find basic healthy items.
Do you have any tips or tricks for parents with kids that find cooking hard? How would one start?
Gabrielle Kaplan-Maher>>Start with basics and keep in mind your child may have a short attention span and that’s okay. In the book, I have my recipes labeled “easy” to “hardest” so you can pick an easy one to start out. Maybe your first cooking experience is just washing some fruit or veggies together. Maybe the next day you wash and then peel. The next day you wash, peel and pull grapes off the stem and pluck them into a bowl. Within a week you’re making a beautiful fruit salad!
*Any tips on engaging a tween? Our 11 old daughter seems to like feeling in charge. She has special “spices” for her carrot “recipe”.
- He/she can help you make the grocery list.
- For engaging a tween, you want the child to feel like he/she has an important role.
- Give him/her some choices: if you’re making cookies, let him/her compare the smell of different spices and choose what he/she likes.
- He/she can help you find the ingredients at the store or if you’re ordering at Amazon can help you search for the items.
- Learning to cook can be both nutritionally beneficial in keeping away from fast foods. And at the same time good family fun.
- Cooking together and sharing meals together should be a vital part of home life!
- Cooking also incorporates reading, math, science, and sometimes social studies and writing.
In your book, can all kids, readers and nonreaders, follow along?
- It includes a book for parents and teachers with 32 quick and tasty gluten-free (GF) and casein-free (CF) recipes.
- It has specific teaching tips and a color photo of each finished dish.
- Oh yes! The book comes with a CD-Rom with all 32 recipes with step by step instructions for the kids.
- CD has 500 color photos illustrating the process of each recipe in detail.
- You can use the photos on a laptop, print them out, put them in a binder, whatever you prefer!
Can you speak a bit about your website, http://kitchenclassroom.squarespace.com/ ? I see it ties well with the book. I see there are lots or interactions possible. Even recipe of the week 🙂
Gabrielle Kaplan-Maher>>I set up my website to create a place for ongoing conversation like this one. Visit me at http://www.kitchenclassroom4kids.com/ , share your stories and pictures, and ask me any questions! Yes, a recipe of the week and you can sign up for my monthly e-news with more tips and ideas.
Teaching teens must have its’ challenges. What lessons have you learned that transfer to all settings?
Gabrielle Kaplan-Maher>>On my web site, I have a link to a podcast of one of my teen cooking classes–check it out! There’s some “immediate gratification” for TEENS too! I have always cooked with my kids. They each pick a menu and shop for and prepare it each week. Easier on Mom, too! Oh yes, teens love to taste what they’ve cooked! It translates well into my work with developmentally disabled adults. The confidence boost is awesome!
Any GFCF tips you’d like to share for parents feeling a bit nervous?
Gabrielle Kaplan-Maher>>Sure, I include extensive resources in the book, like links to the taca plan for removing gluten/casein over 14 weeks. That’s how we did it. One of the best things is to slowly introduce GF foods as you begin to remove gluten-based foods. GFCF Tip: think outside the box, literally. Real food like fruits and veggies are GFCF and are cheap.
*You follow the Relationship Development Intervention (RDI) model for autism – tell us about it.
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