Cook and Connect Social Skills Group – Our Cooking-Based Therapy
Cook and Connect is our therapist-led cooking social skills group, where children practise following instructions, working alongside peers, and trying new foods — all while making something together. If your child is a hesitant eater, struggles to follow multi-step instructions, or finds it hard to collaborate and share tasks with other kids, this group turns those exact challenges into something they actually look forward to on a Saturday.
What does a cooking social group session actually involve?
Each session follows a simple recipe, broken into small, manageable steps that a speech pathologist or occupational therapist guides the group through. Along the way, children practise listening to and following sequential instructions, negotiating who does which task, waiting their turn at the stove or chopping board, and having a conversation with peers while their hands are busy — which often makes conversation feel easier, not harder, for children who find eye-contact-heavy chat overwhelming.
Cooking also naturally builds in repeated, low-pressure exposure to new foods and ingredients, which matters for children who are selective eaters. Research on food exposure and peer modelling shows that combining repeated exposure with peer modelling and a positive, non-pressuring atmosphere is one of the more effective ways to reduce food neophobia and build willingness to try new foods over time — a well-known school-based program using exactly this combination showed effects that persisted six months after the program ended (Food Dudes intervention, ScienceDirect). A more recent scoping review of interventions for picky eating in children reached a similar conclusion: structured exposure, positive role modelling, and non-pressured group settings all show good evidence of effectiveness (Interventions for Picky Eaters, PMC).
Why does a cooking social group work for social skills, not just food?
Cooking is a naturally cooperative task — it can’t really be done well without following instructions, negotiating jobs, and communicating with the people next to you. This means the social skills we’re targeting (turn-taking, sharing tasks, asking for help, tolerating a peer doing something “differently” to how your child would do it) come up organically throughout the session rather than being drilled in isolation. Children get to practise these skills in a genuinely engaging, hands-on context, with a therapist right there to support and guide the interaction as it happens.
Sessions run for 75 minutes at our Blackburn clinic and cost $195, reflecting the cooking materials and higher level of hands-on support involved. Groups are kept small, and sessions can be run in English, Cantonese, or Mandarin, which also means parents get strategies they can use with confidence around family meals at home, in whichever language the household speaks.
Who tends to benefit from this group? We typically see children join Cook and Connect when a parent is concerned about a narrow range of accepted foods, when a child struggles to follow multi-step verbal instructions, or when a child needs more practice with turn-taking, sharing, and conversation in a setting that feels far less like “therapy” and more like a fun Saturday activity. It also suits children who find highly verbal, sit-down social groups harder to engage with, since the shared task of cooking gives them something concrete to focus on while the social practice happens around it.
As with our other groups, we run a short intake call before your child starts, so they’re matched with peers working on similar goals from day one.
Do the skills actually carry over to mealtimes at home? That’s the goal, and it’s part of why we run this as a group rather than a series of individual sessions. Children get to see peers try foods they might otherwise refuse, which taps into the peer-modelling effect the research points to, and parents receive a short update after each session with what was practised, so the same food or strategy can be gently reintroduced at home without pressure. Progress in a group like this tends to be gradual rather than instant, and that is exactly what the evidence would predict — lasting change in food acceptance comes from repeated, low-pressure exposure over time, not a single session.
How do we get started on cooking social group?
If mealtimes or group cooperation are a source of stress at home, Cook and Connect gives your child a supportive, hands-on space to build both eating confidence and social skills at the same time. Have a look at all our current group therapy programs or speak with one of our occupational therapists about whether this group is the right starting point.
To enquire about a spot, fill in our service request form and our team will be in touch to talk through the right group for your child, in English, Cantonese, or Mandarin.
This article is for general education only and is not a substitute for individualised clinical advice from a qualified therapist.
「煮出連繫」（Cook and Connect）社交技巧小組上課時做些甚麼？走進我們以煮食為主題的治療小組
「Cook and Connect」是本中心由治療師帶領的煮食小組，讓兒童一邊一起製作食物，一邊練習聆聽指示、與同伴合作，以及嘗試新食物。如果你的孩子對食物較為抗拒、難以跟從多步驟指示，或難以與其他孩子合作、分配工作，這個小組會把這些挑戰轉化成孩子在星期六真心期待的活動。
「Cook and Connect」的課堂實際上包含甚麼？
每節課堂圍繞一個簡單食譜進行，由言語治療師或職業治療師把食譜拆解成小步驟，帶領小組逐步完成。過程中，孩子練習聆聽及跟從連續指示、協商由誰負責哪項工作、在爐頭或切菜板前輪候，並在雙手忙碌時與同伴交談——這種方式對需要眼神接觸的對話感到吃力的孩子而言，往往反而令交談變得更輕鬆，而非更困難。
煮食活動亦自然地讓孩子重複、無壓力地接觸新食物及食材，這對揀飲擇食的孩子尤其重要。有關食物接觸及同伴模仿的研究顯示，將重複接觸、同伴模仿，以及正向、無壓力的用餐氣氛結合，是減少食物恐新症、建立嘗試新食物意願的其中一個較有效方法——一個知名的校本計劃正正結合了這些元素，其成效在計劃結束六個月後依然持續（Food Dudes介入計劃，ScienceDirect）。近期一篇有關兒童揀飲擇食介入的範疇綜述亦得出相似結論：有系統的食物接觸、正向角色示範，以及無壓力的小組環境，均有良好的實證支持（《揀飲擇食兒童的介入方法》，PMC）。
為何煮食小組能訓練社交技巧，而不只是關於食物？
煮食本質上是一項需要合作的活動——若不跟從指示、協商工作分配，並與身邊的人溝通，便難以順利完成。這意味着我們希望訓練的社交技巧（輪流、分擔工作、尋求協助、容忍同伴以「不同」方式做事）會在過程中自然出現，而非被孤立地反覆操練。孩子能在真正投入、動手參與的情境下練習這些技巧，並有治療師在旁即時支援及引導互動的進行。
小組於本中心進行，每節75分鐘，費用為$195，反映煮食材料及較高程度的親身支援。小組人數維持精簡，並可以英語、廣東話或普通話進行——這亦代表家長能獲得可自信地應用於家中用餐時間的策略，並以家中慣用的語言進行。
哪些孩子較適合這個小組？ 我們發現，當家長關注孩子願意接受的食物種類過於狹窄、孩子難以跟從多步驟口頭指示，或孩子需要更多在輪流、分享及對話方面的練習——而希望這種練習在感覺不太像「治療」、更像有趣的星期六活動的環境中進行時，便適合考慮這個小組。對於難以投入高度語言化、坐着交談的社交小組的孩子，這個小組亦特別合適，因為煮食這項共同任務給予他們一個具體的焦點，社交練習則在過程中自然發生。
與我們其他小組一樣，孩子開始前會先進行簡短的入組電話評估，從第一天起便與目標相近的同伴同組。
這些技巧真的能延伸到家中的用餐時間嗎？ 這正是我們的目標，亦是我們以小組（而非一連串個別課堂）形式進行的原因之一。孩子能親眼看見同伴嘗試他們平時可能拒絕的食物，正正利用了研究所指的同伴模仿效應；而家長在每節課後會收到簡短的更新，了解當節練習了甚麼，讓相同的食物或策略能在家中無壓力地重新引入。這類小組的進展往往是循序漸進而非即時見效——而這正正是研究所預期的：食物接受度的持久改變，源於長時間、重複、無壓力的接觸，而非單一一節課堂。
如何開始？
如果用餐時間或群體合作是家中壓力來源，「Cook and Connect」為孩子提供一個有支援、動手參與的空間，同時建立飲食自信及社交技巧。歡迎瀏覽我們目前所有的小組治療課程，或向我們的職業治療師查詢這個小組是否合適的起點。
如欲查詢名額，請填寫我們的服務申請表格，我們的團隊將以英語、廣東話或普通話與你聯絡，商討最適合孩子的小組。
本文僅供一般教育參考之用，不能取代合資格治療師的個別臨床意見。