Inside Jozi WAHM's Kitchen- Pizza Night

When I am not working, I try to do as many activities with the kids as possible, some for their educational development and some just for fun. We play in the garden, read story books, ponder life questions (which four year old Noodle has an endless stream of), or do more structured activities.

We also do a lot of tinkering in the kitchen, which kills two birds with one stone as we get food on the table while the children learn and have fun. I am perhaps not the best chef in the world but I do enjoy experimenting in the kitchen and the little ones enjoy getting their hands dirty. I adore kitchen activities for  Noodle especially, as the educational possibilities are endless. Besides creativity and motor skills, there is a lot of opportunity for enhancing mathematical skills (I get her to measure out ingredients, press the right numbers on the microwave or count how many of a certain item we have). For Squish, I try to use cooking time as an opportunity for him to experience new tastes and textures and  learn new words (or just to have fun bang spoons on pots).

Today's culinary activity was making pizza. I made the dough, cooked some spicy chicken and the tomato sauce, chopped up the desired toppings (mushrooms, peppers and spring onions being today’s selection), grated the cheese (Noodle helped with this part) and then let the minions get decorating. I had to stop Squish from eating the raw dough (although he may have gotten a lick or two in) and a lot of grated cheese was consumed before making it onto the pizza.

They also enjoyed playing with the leftover dough and Noodle made little cocktail rolls with the dough after I showed her how to roll it into balls and then brush these with egg. The rolls turned out beautifully and were perfect for lunchboxes. She also made a tiny marble sized one for her dolly (which she of course ate).