Choosing Ingredients for Foods | Life Skills & AAC Cooking
by Atypical Living © 2026
Price: $5 USD
Subjects: specialed,speech,adultSpeech,specialAdults,Special Autism,lifeSkills,cognitionProblemSolving
Grades: 0
Description
Help students build functional cooking and life skills by deciding which ingredient belongs with a food. Students view a picture of a dish and select the ingredient that makes the most sense, supporting reasoning, comparison, and real-world decision-making. This resource includes 11 common spices, condiments, and ingredients: salt, pepper, sugar, cinnamon, oregano, ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, honey, garlic powder, and onion powder. Two Levels of Support: Level 1: Students choose from 3 ingredient options, reducing visual load and supporting structured decision-making. Level 2: Students consider the food alongside all 11 ingredients, creating an open-ended format for discussion, reasoning, and flexible thinking when more than one choice may be appropriate. Each ingredient is introduced at the beginning with a simple, student-friendly definition explaining what it is and what it’s made from, helping learners build understanding before applying that knowledge. Designed for special education, life skills instruction, and speech therapy, this activity supports AAC users and verbal communicators across a range of levels. How to Use: Practice single-word responses (“Salt.” “Ketchup.”) Build 2- and 3-word utterances (“Add salt.” “Ketchup on salad.”) Encourage students to explain their thinking and preferences Skills Targeted: Cooking and food preparation life skills Problem solving and decision making Expressive language and AAC use
Acknowledgements
Font Credit: Salt & Pepper: Fonts & Typefaces