Pre-School's Personal Pizzas

The children in Pre-School at Daisykins Whitehall have become little chefs creating their own personal pizzas. The children drew their pizzas first and then made them for themselves. A practitioner started by talking to the children in small groups about what their favourite pizza toppings were and what they would include on their own personal pizzas. The children were then encouraged to draw what they had talked about. There were lots of different toppings suggested like olives, mushrooms, pineapple, ham, sausage and some more unusual ones for example broccoli, brussel sprouts and even pickled onions! The children were given the opportunity to make their own individual choices and express their personal preferences. The practitioner then went out and brought all the toppings that the children had requested for their pizzas and the other ingredients they needed so that they could make them from scratch and physically create what they had drawn. [ngg_images source="galleries" container_ids="203" display_type="photocrati-nextgen_basic_slideshow" gallery_width="600" gallery_height="400" cycle_effect="fade" cycle_interval="3" show_thumbnail_link="0" thumbnail_link_text="[Show picture list]" order_by="sortorder" order_direction="ASC" returns="included" maximum_entity_count="500"]The activity was then carried out in small groups over a period of a week, ensuring that all children had the opportunity to make their own creations. The groups of children were gathered around a table and given instructions by practitioners on how to make the pizza dough. They took it in turns to add the ingredients to a bowl and mix it together. When a dough had been formed it was then left to prove for a couple of hours. During the next step in the process each child was given a ball of dough and encouraged to kneed it onto the floured table and then flatten in into a pizza base.The children smoothed tomato puree onto their pizza bases using a teaspoon and then added their chosen toppings. When it came to actually putting them on their pizzas some of the children changed their minds, especially the little one that had chosen pickled onions! These were then cooked and the children took them home so they could try their inventions. The practitioners at Daisykins Whitehall like to provide activities for the children that follow on from each other and that allow them to learn about the different stages in a process.