Is it just me, or does it seem like adopted kids have more than their fair share of sensory processing issues?  Maybe it’s that we talk about them more than other parents do.  I don’t know about you, but I need all the support I can get.

Here is a great recipe that get kids literally “in touch” with their food.  And, as a bonus, it is perfect for the holidays.

Gingerbread Cookie Sculpture

5 ½ c. flour

3 t. baking soda

1 ¾ c. dark brown sugar

¼ c. dark molasses

4 ½ t. ground cinnamon

3 t. ground ginger

½ t. cloves

¼ t. salt

1 c. melted butter

½ c. boiling water

1 egg, beaten

1. Combine flour and soda.  Set aside.
2. In large bowl mix sugar, molasses, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt.
3. Add butter, egg and water.
4. Beat until sugar dissolves.  Gradually stir in flour mixture.
5. Mix to form stiff dough.  Cover immediately.
6. You may refrigerate for up to two days or freeze.
7. Bring dough to room temperature before shaping.
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-20 minutes depending on thickness of cookies.

Note:  You can substitute 5 tsp. pumpkin pie spice for the combination of cinnamon, ginger and cloves

Invite your children into the kitchen to do the following activities – all of which are fantastic ways to stimulate their sensory system:

• Whisking eggs
• Pouring ingredients into the bowl
• Feeling the warmth of the melted butter through the bowl
• Stirring
• Rolling out dough with bare hands and shaping it into anything their hearts desire

Michelle Stern owns What’s Cooking, a certified green cooking school for children in the San Francisco Bay Area.  When she’s not teaching or in the kitchen, she is the full time taxi-driver to her two children, one adopted from Guatemala and one home-baked.