Table 2.

Deconstruction and mapping of 32 cooking skills to different developmental skills.

Cooking Skill	Frequency of Appearance through Identified Sources	Deconstruction	Fine Motor Skills	Gross Motor Skills	Food Hygiene and Safety Awareness
Washing Fruit and Vegetables	18	Holding items in a palmar grasp and or a pinch between index and thumb under running water	Forming palmar grasp and pincer grasp	Requires strength and movement of arms as well as accuracy	No
Stirring and Mixing	32	Holding a spoon in closed fist (radial palmar grasp), moving hands and arms in a circle. Holding pot handle using radial palmar grasp or bowl with flat palm spread or raking grasp on bowl edge	Forming radial palmar grasp and engaging intralimb coordination between wrist, elbow and shoulder	Requires strength and movement of arms	No
Mashing	10	Holding masher or fork in a radial palmar grasp with force, moving hands and arms up and down	Forming radial palmar grasp and engaging intralimb coordination between wrist, elbow and shoulder	Requires strength and movement of arms	No
Sprinkling and Rubbing In	6	Moving finger tips, rubbing them together, forming pincer grasps between the thumb and each finger	Rubbing fingertips together, forming pincer grasps	Requires strength and movement of arms	No
Spooning	12	Holding a spoon in radial palmar grasp, keeping a steady hand and firm wrist, rotating wrist to pour ingredients into bowl	Forming radial palmar grasp and differentiating pronation and supunation	Movement of arms and wrist	No
Weighing and Measuringa	15	Holding a spoon in radial palmar grasp, or a container in an open radial palmar grasp rotating wrist to pour ingredients onto scales	Forming a radial palmar grasp or an open radial palmar grasp	Movement of arms and wrist	No
Cutting, Chopping and Slicing	29	Forming a firm grip around the knife using radial palmar grasp and lateral prehension, forming a claw around food when holding it	Forming radial palmar grasp with lateral prehension, forming a firm claw to grip food safely and engaging intralimb coordination between wrist, elbow and shoulder	Requires strength and movement of arms	Yes- knowledge of proper way to hold foods (claw) and knowing to be careful when using a sharp knife
Breading, Flouring and Dipping	3	Lifting up food with a tripod or quadrupod grasp and dipping it	Forming a tripod or quadrupod grasp	Requires strength and movement of arms	No
Kneading and Mixing with Hands	10	Making claws and moving fingertips with force, pulling and pushing the mixture whilst applying force, opening and closing hands into a palmar grasp	Forming claws and moving fingertips, moving hands open and closed, forming a palmar grasp	Requires strength and movement in arms	No
Tearing	9	Holding onto food with a palmar grasp and tearing with force	Forming palmar grasp, holding food in hands and pincer grasp	Requires strength and movement of arms	No
Using a Rolling Pin	7	Rolling a rolling pin with fingers and palms of hands, gripping the rolling pin with a flattened palm and raking grasp	Forming a raking grasp	Moving arms at the elbow, requiring strength and movement of arms	No
Using a Cookie Cutter	6	Holding cutters using a radial digital grasp and pressing down into dough	Forming a radial digital grasp and pincer grasp	Strength and movement required in arms	No
Spreading and Buttering	9	Holding knife with radial palmar grasp and lateral prehension with force, moving around the surface being buttered	Forming radial palmar grasp with lateral prehension	Strength and movement of the wrist and forearm	Yes – awareness of possible sharp edge
Picking and Podding	18	Using tripod grasp to pull apart ingredients	Forming a tripod grasp and quadrupod	Requires strength and movement of arms	No
Using Scissors	5	Holding scissors with a combination of a palmar radial grasp, raking grasp and open radial palmar grasp	Forming radial palmar grasp, raking grasp and open radial palmar grasp and bilateral coordination	Requires strength and movement of arms	Yes – knowing to be careful with sharp scissors, how to properly carry them
Using a Grater	12	Holding food with an open radial palmar grasp perpendicular to the grater held in a radial palmar grasp and rubbing the food up and down with force	Forming an open radial palmar grasp and radial palmar grasp	Movement and strength in arms required	Yes – awareness of sharp object, knowing to stop when coming close to the end of the food being grated
Greasing	8	Holding butter or margarine in digital pronate grasp or quadrupod grasp to spread it across the surface being greased and using finger tips to ensure the whole surface is reached	Forming digital pronate grasp, quadrupod grasp and movement of fingertips	Requires movement and strength of hands and arms	No
Peeling with Fingers	5	Holding the fruit with palmar grasp and using a digital pronate grasp and tripod grasp to peel skin off	Bending of fingers and finger tips and forming palmar grasp, digital pronate grasp and tripod grasp	Requires strength and movement of arms	No
Using a Peeler	9	Using a peeler to remove the skin/outer layer of an ingredient, holding it with a palmar grasp and the peeler with a radial palmar grasp or a digital pronate grasp	Holding food with palmar grasp and holding peeler with radial palmar grasp or digital pronate grasp and bilateral coordination	Movement and strength in arms required	Yes – awareness of sharp object
Using an Oven or Microwavea	17	Turning knobs on oven-top or microwave palmar supinate grasp or inferior pincer grasp, pressing buttons using pointer finger, rotating the wrist. Holding dishes and plates with various grips	Forming palmar supinate grasp or inferior pincer grasp	Ability to stand up and movement of wrist and arms	Yes – awareness of hot surfaces and food and need to use oven gloves
Using a Can Opener	11	Using a radial palmar grasp to hold onto arms of can opener and palmar supinate grasp to twist the dial of the can opener	Forming open radial palmar grasp and palmar supinate grasp	Strength and movement of arms required	Yes – being careful with sharp edge of can lid
Pouring from a Container	15	Holding the container or handle using an open radial palmar grasp and moving arm and wrist to pour the ingredient	Forming an open radial palmar grasp and holding onto the liquid ingredients	Some strength and movement of arms required	No
Crushing and Pounding	4	Holding a mallet, spoon or rolling pin with a radial palmar grasp or an open radial palmar grasp and beating the ingredient to crush or flatten it	Forming radial palmar grasp or open radial palmar grasp	Strength and movements of arms required	No
Rolling Mixtures into Balls	5	Scooping food up with fingers in raking grasp position and rolling it between palms	Forming raking grasp	Movement in arms required	Yes – working with raw ingredients requires knowledge to not put hands in mouth
Squeezing	8	Squeezing the fruit in a palmar grasp and using other hand to catch any seeds by cupping the underside of the fruit	Forming a palmar grasp and cupping position	Strength required to squeeze the fruit	No
Draining	4	Holding the can with an open radial palmar grasp and tipping it into a colander	Forming an open radial palmar grasp	Requires strength and movement of arms	No
Scraping Down a Bowl	4	Using a spatula, holding it with radial palmar grasp, to scrape batter from bowl, holding the bowl with flat palm spread or raking grasp on bowl edge.	Forming radial palmar grasp and raking grasp	Movement of wrists and arms required	No
Skewering	5	Holding the skewer using a palmar supinate grasp and the food with an inferior pincer grip, pushing the food onto the skewer	Forming palmar supinate grasp and inferior pincer grasp and pincer grasp	Strength and movement of arms required	Yes – awareness of sharp object
Brushing Oil on with a Pastry Brush	5	Holding brush with radial palmar grasp or digital pronate grasp, moving the wrist	Forming radial palmar grasp or digital pronate grasp	Moving the wrist and forearm	No
Using a Hand Mixer	5	Holding the hand mixer with a raking grasp or open radial palmar grasp and moving in circles	Forming a raking grasp or open radial palmar grasp	Strength and movement of arms required	No
Breaking Vegetables into Pieces	3	Holding the vegetable with a palmar grasp and breaking pieces off using a digital pronate grasp, rotating the wrist	Forming a palmar grasp and digital pronate grasp and bimanual coordination	Movement and strength required in arms, movement of wrist	No
Shaking Liquids in a Sealed Container	3	Holding container in an open radial palmar grasp and moving arms up and down at the elbow quickly	Forming an open radial palmar grasp	Strength and movement of arms required	No

^aSkills that require either numeracy or literacy skills, numeracy required for scale reading, setting timers and temperatures