I try do to baking once a week with my class. Try being the operative word, sometimes time doesn’t allow for this or things don’t always go to plan. My class will be in until 2:30 instead of 1:30 from October so that gives me a whole extra hour for the fun stuff!
Baking and making snacks etc is a great way to promote life skills and independence in children. There are so many benefits including
Developing new vocabulary
Improving fine motor skills
Working in a group
Developing social skills
There are also challenges, including,
1. Sensory Challenges
2. Fine and Gross Motor Issues
3. Following Directions
4. Food Aversions
Processing information is difficult for people with ASD so recipes need to be broken down into manageable parts. Visuals are a must with younger children or clear simple instructions given one step at a time.
I can’t recommend the NCSE page highly enough for resources. Here is a link to their page on baking. https://ncse.ie/theme-of-the-week-baking
The NCSE page has everything you need to get you started and set up for baking with your class!
I also have a recipe teacher resource available here: http://www.muinteoirvalerie.com/product/life-skills-teacher-resource-simple-recipes/