Pizza Craft

Today I had so much fun making this paper plate pizza craft with friends from all over the world on Facebook. We talked about how we all like different things on our pizza, did some counting, and of course, talked about the shape toppings we added to our pizza craft. Food is a great topic to use in your classroom or in your home to talk about different points of view. Not everyone puts ham on their pizza, or even cheese, we all do things a little differently.  Talking about diversity in various ways, yes even pizza toppings,  helps when we are talking about diversity in bigger ways. This isn’t meant to be an anti-bias or anti-racism lesson but when we include these messages about diversity into lessons like this it helps support our explicit lessons about things like race and racism, bias, family structure, and gender identity. Remember as an early childhood educator one of our main tasks is to break down larger ideas into lessons that tiny humans can take in, and apply elsewhere as they develop. So this lesson includes pizza, shapes, different options, as well as fine motor and scissor skills.

You can see the video of this lesson here 

 

Shape Pizza Craft

Gather your materials. You will need some construction paper, glue, scissors, a paper plate, paint, and a paintbrush.

Start by painting the red sauce on your pizza.

Now cut out the shapes that will make the toppings. This is where we sit and talk about toppings and how many options there are. What do you like on your pizza? In the video, I talk about how some people don’t eat ham or pepperoni because they are vegetarian or because their religious beliefs are against eating those types of animals. Talk about tastes too.  This doesn’t have to be a huge lesson but discussing differences here is what I’d call a teachable moment.

Add glue

Add the toppings!

Let dry.

For older students, you can also do a writing activity after having your students write out a recipe for their pizza. Younger ones can dictate this to a teacher or parent who is writing it down. This helps young children learn that their spoken words can be written into a text. Obvious to adults but an important step in early literacy.

“My pizza has cheese, ham, green peppers, and olives. It is super yummy!”

 

Books About Food for Preschool

Don’t stop with making pizza, it’s time to read about all kinds of foods! See the full list with reviews here.