The best invention EVER! AND how you can use it to promote communication skills

Okay, mama’s. If you have a little one who likes to be attached at the hip, you may appreciate this. I saw one of these go up for sale in a facebook group. Before that, I had NO clue such a genius invention existed. I mean, seriously, whoever came up with this had the best interest of my back and my cooking needs in mind! HA!

So, I look around a bit and saw that target sold these for $200 and had a bit of sticker shock. In my mind things from target aren’t supposed to cost that much. Am I right?

Of course, my next stop was amazon where I found this one: http://amzn.to/2jkg0f0

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A super cute, sturdy, adorable “kitchen helper.”

I ordered it in white since that was the cheapest option at the time. Now it seems the cheapest version is the neutral color…which in retrospect actually matches my kitchen better…oh well!

If you’re anything like me, you’re excited by the thought of not having to hold your 16-month-old (or older child!!) on your hip while trying to make dinner and clean the dishes. BUT if that is not enough, this little clever creation also FOLDS UP!!! YUP…with the push of one button and the raise of a wooden board, it folds up with ease to be stored away. This was a big selling point for me since everyone likes to gather in the kitchen and our kitchen always seems to be packed!

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Get yours here: http://amzn.to/2jkg0f0 or here http://amzn.to/2j8ZBgl (best prices I could find!)

Now if that wasn’t enough…they added cut out shapes, a chalk board and a white board to sides. So now it can double as an activity station, too. So far Lily loves it. Here’s a video to show you Lily and her kitchen helper in action.

And last but certainly not least, having this in your kitchen allows your child to see you cook and be a part of the action. This could be beneficial if you have a child who has sensory feeding challenges  and want to get them up close with some new foods, while not expecting them to eat them yet. It could also be helpful to have them prepare the foods with you so they see what goes into a dish (another strategy I often using for our sensory feeding kiddos). From a language standpoint, you can talk about what you are doing (stirring, mixing, dumping, cutting, seasoning, chopping, frying, baking, etc…), label the foods you are using, and ask your child if they want to “help” (e.g., allowing them to dump ingredients into the bowl and stir, for example. Lily LOVES doing this!)

Does your child like to help you in the kitchen? Or do they like to HANG on you in the kitchen? This will be a lifesaver! For real!

 

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