CULIKID
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 ABOUT CULIKID

Culikid’s mission:

Culikid’s mission is to empower neurodiverse and disabled individuals to live happier, healthier lives. Culikid creates an inclusive community where people of all abilities can be themselves while exploring food in a supportive environment that promotes wellness, self-worth, independence, and belonging.

What makes Culikid unique:

Culikid believes cooking is an important life skill for everyone to learn, and we believe that cooking looks different for different people. It could mean making complex recipes from scratch, making yourself a sandwich for lunch, or reheating food in the microwave—and everything else in between. More importantly, we believe everyone CAN cook if given the opportunity and the right supports. Our multidisciplinary team—social workers, occupational therapists, nutritionists, educators, chefs, and more!—customizes cooking classes to meet each persons’ needs, goals, and interests. Culikid uses culinary programs as an opportunity to address skills other than cooking that are especially pertinent to the neurodivergent community.

Why cooking?

Why does Culikid concentrate on culinary programs? Learning basic cooking skills is necessary to live independently but cooking also builds motor skills and social skills and uses all the senses to help diversify diets. We know these skills are important for everyone but focusing on these areas is often even more crucial for neurodivergent people.

Cooking increases independence.
Learning to cook will increase independence now and in the future. Kids and teens will experience more independence at home by being able to make snacks and simple meals on their own. When transitioning to adulthood, they will already have a foundation of skills that allows them to prepare their own meals. On top of learning to cook, Culikid participants learn related skills including kitchen hygiene, grocery shopping, and making healthy choices.

Cooking strengthens motor skills.
Every cooking task requires the use of fine motor skills, gross motor skills, or both! Cooking requires proper posture and utilizes trunk muscles and leg muscles to maintain that posture. Gross motor skills are also utilized to make larger arm movements such as rolling dough, mixing batter, and putting pans in the oven. Fine motor skills are utilized during measuring, sprinkling seasonings, pinching dough, and tearing herbs. Every cooking task allows the participants to practice and strengthen their motor skills. P.S. We also make adaptations for those that need it.

Cooking class participants practice social skills.
In group classes, participants practice social skills through interactions with their peers and facilitators. Social skills that are naturally present in nearly every class include: following directions, taking turns, compromising, controlling impulses, and asking for help. Additionally, specific classes are set up to encourage communication between participants such as making meals to match each other’s preferences and eating a meal together while making conversation.

Cooking leads to sensory exploration and expanded diets.
Cooking engages all the senses—sight, smell, touch, taste, and sound. During classes, participants are encouraged to pay attention to all of these. All of the senses are important when cooking because they can help you know how the food is cooking (like smelling bread bake, hearing onions sauté, feeling if meat is done cooking, etc.). Senses can also give you a hint at what things will taste like. Participants are encouraged to smell fragrant ingredients like herbs, vinegar, and vanilla. Every sensory exposure to a new food can increase the likeliness of someone eating the food. So even if participants cook with a new food but don’t eat it, it can still have an influence on their diet and food preferences. More often than not, participants will want to try the food they make at the end of class even if they said they’ve never had or don’t like a particular ingredient.

Cooking boosts confidence!
One of our favorite side effects of learning to cook is the boost it gives to participants’ confidence and self-esteem. Participants feel proud after making a meal from start to finish. They feel accomplished having produced something that is tasty, that they can share with others, and that they didn’t think they could do before. We see this firsthand in every one of our classes at every age and skill level!

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