Still sporting her crisp chef’s hat, Leah Raak beamed as she hoisted up a freshly made “dirt cup.”
Raak was part of a trio of kids participating in one of the Munroe-Meyer Institute’s Occupational Therapy Summer Camp sessions.
This is the third year for camp sessions hosted by the department. Campers meet once a week for five weeks.
In addition to the cooking session that Leah participated in, other camps focus on daily living skills, as well as sensory and social skills.
The sessions are open to campers ages 4-21 years. Campers work on new skills and build confidence in practicing fundamental abilities.
Teaching skills in a camp format rather than therapy can bring out motivation and creativity, said Sam Montemarano, an occupational therapist who runs three camp sessions.
“It’s showing the kids that daily living skills can be fun,” she said. “It’s showing parents that you can start teaching these skills at any age.”
The cooking session, led by Montemarano, started with the basics — kitchen safety. Campers also shared their food likes and dislikes, and crafted paper chef’s hats.
In the final week, they’ll put their chopping skills to the test by whipping up fruit pizzas.
Campers started by donning their paper hats and washing their hands. Then Montemarano led them through reading a laminated list of necessary ingredients and supplies.
Chefs scoured the nearby apartment kitchen to find what they needed.
Leah kicked things off by opening the box of pudding mix. Her fellow chefs jumped in, helping to pour the mix into the bowl and measuring out the right amount of milk. They took turns learning how to whisk the mixture together.
While the pudding went into the fridge to set, campers crushed Oreo cookies to make “dirt.” They improvised, using measuring cups or their hands instead of a rolling pin. To accommodate sensory needs, music played in the background to put one chef at ease with the loud noise of the measuring cups.
While they worked, the chefs described their favorite foods, such as buffalo wings, and talked about current movies.
Still waiting on the pudding, they tackled a team-building exercise requiring them to pick up cards to assemble s’mores.
By the end of class, the pudding was still a little runny. But it was a lesson that cooking isn’t always perfect.
“I always remind the kids that creativity carries over into the kitchen,” Montemarano said. “This pudding mistake is no different. We immediately pivoted from ‘dirt cups’ to ‘mud cups.’”
Leah and her fellow chefs dropped cookie crumbs onto the “mud” and topped them with colorful gummy worms.
While they may have lacked a little in presentation, the chefs gave their desserts a thumbs up on taste.