Pizza Day!

Our September craft day was a huge success! The theme was PIZZA and we had so much fun! First our class made paper pizzas with ripped paper toppings. This was a great way to open up some discussion about likes and dislikes. Some of the kids got really creative with their pizza toppings- who says yellow has to be pineapple? Let's make a banana pizza!

Next, we explored some real veggie toppings like peppers, tomatoes, pineapple, and mushrooms. We touched, smelled, and made some observations. We even cut open the toppings to check out the inside. 

We used these veggies to make paint prints on our aprons. These turned out so cute! I completely forgot to take pictures the first part of the morning, so you'll have to just trust me! 

Our aprons were put outside to dry and we relaxed with a snack- pineapple slices, mozzarella cheese sticks, and a few pepperonis. After that was some outside play to burn off some energy ;)

We watched a YouTube video of a preschool class that visits a pizzeria and learns all about making pizzas! You can check it out here: http://youtu.be/fD6jKeqIqIs

Next, we read Little Nino's Pizzeria and talked about the jobs at a pizza restaurant.

And finally, my favorite part- dramatic play centers! (And I finally remembered to get out the camera!)

Here, one student takes orders like a waiter. He asked each customer what toppings they would like on their pizza slice. There were pizza books at the table to read while they waited for their order to be ready.

   

Next, the order was passed to the kitchen workers who used this Green Toys pizza set (made completely out of recycled milk jugs) to assemble the orders. The waiter took each plate back to the customers so they could check the order.

Our next center was this adorable DIY pizza oven! The adorable little menu cards were found here via Pinterest, and the felt pieces were hand-cut by yours truly. It was a little labor-intensive, but I love the way everything turned out! 

First we had to count the number of each topping on the recipe card and put it onto the pizza crust. Then the pizzas went into our oh-so-fancy pizza oven to bake.

Our pizza day was so much fun! A big thank you goes to H&H City Pizza (located at Arizona Ave and Ocotillo Rd if you are a local Arizonan) for providing our class with the pizza boxes and menus to use in our play centers. I can't wait for our October craft day- Monster theme!