Happy Valentine’s Day! I don’t have a valentine-related DIY today because I figured everyone would be all heart-ed out by now…
But I do have an easy activity for one of those cold or rainy (or cold, rainy, or snowy) days! The inspiration came from this book: Pete’s a Pizza by William Steig (we borrowed ours from the library). In it, a little boy is stuck indoors while it is raining when his father decides to make him into a pizza using checkers, paper, and a lot of imagination. The boys were cracking up while we read this, and so it was decided. They needed to be made into pizzas, pronto.
After reading the book, we cut up pieces of paper (red circles for tomatoes or pepperoni, white strips for cheese, and small green squares for oregano), borrowed the olive oil, and got started!
Milo went first, and both Oliver and Emil enjoyed stretching him (pulling on his arms and legs), rolling him (being careful not to roll him off the table, of course), and sprinkling all the ingredients on!
Then, I carried him to the oven (our couch) and cooked him up!
The slicing was quite fun (I used my hand to chop, chop, chop and there were lots of giggles)! Next, Oliver’s turn.
Stretching the dough!
Oops! Swallowed a bit of paper…
Ready for the oven!
The game was tons of fun for all of us, and it took me back to the days when I used to roll Andrew’s little sister Katie in a blanket like a burrito, adding all sorts of burrito-like ingredients. I think kids really like to be rolled and flattened and carried and hugged– all in the name of play.
Just beware! The mess will be colossal. But we knew this going in, so I did it on a day I knew I needed to vacuum anyway. I had the boys collect the big pieces and I took care of the rest! Enjoy your pizza making!
*** P.S.- Thanks, Andrew, for taking all the pictures!***
What wonderful memories! Thank you!
I am also a mother of three (now 16, 14 and 11) we still have our copy of Pete’s a Pizza’. We made a lot of pizzas on indoor days. My kids loved the kneading and chopping parts the best.
Happy Valentine’s Day to you.
This is so cute. I can’t wait to try it out and get the book.
What a fun game! I love it when kids act out things they see in books. It just makes me happy. (And one day soon, you’ll have child labor that can vacuum that mess up for you. It’s a happy day when that happens.)
This is the most adorable activity ever! Love it. Happy Valentine’s Day!!
I love that book! I read it to the kids in my class where I volunteer. It is so much fun and brings alot of laughter.
That is the cutest thing ever!
Oh my!!! This is so amazing! What great memories and how much fun!! I love this and will definitely try this out with Lotus when she is old enough! 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
You hair looks pretty hot!
We love this book, and we have done this activity, but sans actual messy pieces…though, that looks like a lot more fun!
Um…that should be ‘your hair…’
That is so cute! My husband didn’t have as many moments like these growing up, with both his parents working, but I did since my mom was a teacher turned SAHM (and teacher in life matters). I love the fact that you can read the book with them and then recreate the experience yourselves. Constructive learning and fun like that is totally worth the mess!
I literately sent this post to my husband saying “THIS IS WHY I NEED TO BE A SAHM WHEN WE HAVE KIDS!”
And yeah, it’s Valentines day up the ying yang (all over FB and every few minutes I’m hearing it at work) and I hate to say I am a contributor by having a V-day post…
What an adorable indoor activity! I can see my little one getting a total kick out of the ‘pizza making process’. Thanks for such a fun idea!
Such a fun activity!! And all I can think every time I see pictures like this on your blog is that I so badly want Gus to have some brothers. They are so lucky!
This looks like so much fun! Extra high fives to you for actually making the “pizzas” on the table like the book.
A+ parents!
Oh my goodness this is the best! I plan our summer camp at preschool and I think this is a MUST! Thanks for putting this into such a cute post. 🙂