The Language of Food

Sometimes there is no better place to engage a child then in the kitchen. Reading recipes aloud not only improves decoding skills but also provides an opportunity to improve children’s abilities to follow directions, expand their vocabulary, and strengthen their memory.  Following a recipe can be particularly effective for children with language based learning disabilities. They often struggle with directions that are only delivered in an oral manner. Learning opportunities that couple oral directions with visual and tactile experiences are more likely to ensure the successful encoding and retrieval of memories. Overall, there is nothing better than ending an afternoon of hard work, and hard thinking, with a scrumptious dessert.

Here are some recommendations for how to build a child’s memory and vocabulary while creating a whimsical “dirt cake”.

Ingredients

1 package of Oreo cookies

1 package of instant chocolate pudding

1 1/2 cups of milk

1 small container of Cool Whip

6 gummy worms

Tools

Rolling pin

Large plastic bag

Mixing bowl

Spatula

Measuring cup

Flower pot

Mixing spoon

Aluminum foil

Toothpicks

Directions

1. First place cookies in plastic bag, seal and crush with rolling pin until cookies are crumbs.

2. Next mix pudding with 1 ½ cups of milk in mixing bowl, and stir spoon until smooth.

3. Fold Cool whip into pudding with spatula.

4. Line inside of flower pot with aluminum foil.

5. Put ½ cookie crumbs on bottom of flower pot.

6. Place pudding over layer of crumbs.

7. Top with remaining crumbs.

8. Poke holes with toothpick and place 6 gummy worms in dirt.

9. Last, put cake in refrigerator until cold.

Vocabulary Words

MATCH WORDS with NUMBERS that MEAN the SAME, as WORDS with LETTERS by DRAWING a LINE.

1. RECIPE                         A. DIG

2. CONTAINER             B. COOKING TOOL

3. MEASURE                   C. BOX

4. ROLLING PIN            D. STEPS

5. PACKAGE                     E. POT

6. SPATULA                     F. CALCULATE

7. CRUMBS                      G. COOKING TOOL

8. CRUSH                          H. SQUASH

9. POKE                             I. SCRAPS

Answer these questions about how you made the Dirt Cake.

1. What was the first thing you did with the cookies?

2. Where did the milk go?

3. How many containers of cool whip were mixed into the pudding?

4. What tool did you use to fold in the pudding?

5. Where did ½ of the cookie crumbs go?

6. What came next?

7. The rest of the crumbs were put on the _____.

8. Where did you dig holes?

9. What was the last thing that you did with the cake?