Pizza Report

21 March 2006

Date: 21st March, 2006 Title: Pizza! Targeted for children: 5 years to 10 years Duration: between 15 to 25 minutes Ingredients used : Pizza dough Vegetable Oil Flour Tomato sauce Tuna flakes Sliced olives Capers Sliced mushrooms Grated mozzarella Method: 1. The first thing we did was to tell the children what is going to happen and how it is exactly going to happen. 2. Then we gave a disposable plate to each child on which we poured a teaspoon of vegetable oil. This oil was smeared all over the plate. 3. A ball of dough, just a little bit smaller than a tennis ball, was given to each child. They were shown how to stretch it and then they did it themselves, using the flour so as to avoid the dough sticking to their fingers. 4. After every child was done from stretching his pizza on the given plate, the volunteers started going around with the toppings and the children choose what they wanted on their own pie. 5. The pizzas were now ready to be baked. Results: Telling the children what to expect from the beginning was the key to a good session. Some children were faster than others with the preparation, but since they knew what was coming next, they accepted the fact that at times they had to wait till everyone was ready before moving to the next step. As soon as they started with the oil, the children started enjoying themselves, especially those that were not (pretending to be) disgusted during this step. This is probably due to the pleasant feeling that the oil leaves on one’s hands. Recipe-wise the oil made it easier for the children to stretch their dough ball on the plates. Children naturally love cooking and the messing around with ingredients that comes with it. Infact, our problems happened after they were done from their pies. As the preparation does not take a lot of time, we had to fill the rest of the time with games and songs. Improvements: 1. Check that we have enough ovens and gas available so as to cook as many pizzas in one go as possible 2. Get more different ingredients. The children just love to “invent” new recipes. 3. Make it clear from the beginning that the children are going to help with the cleaning afterwards. Children will do their best to not mess their area or at least they are prepared for this ‘activity’. 4. Prepare games good enough to distract the children from the pizzas 5. Remove the ‘waiting to be cooked’ pizza from its plate or at least sprinkle a generous amount of flour under each one to avoid it from sticking. Additional information: We used ready made dough for this craft since we did not have the time to prepare it ourselves, but for those of you who want to do so, here’s a good recipe: Ingredients: ? 1 cup warm water ? 1 package active dry yeast ? 2 1/2 to 3 cups all-purpose flour ? 2 tablespoons olive oil ? 1/2 teaspoon salt Method: Combine the water, yeast, and 1 1/2 cups of the flour in a large bowl. Mix well. Add the oil, salt, and remaining flour. With large wooden spoon or your hands mix the ingredients together until the dough holds its shape. You may need a bit less flour, so add the last half gradually. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. If the dough becomes sticky, sprinkle a bit more flour over it. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled 2-quart bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel, and let the dough rest until it has doubled in size, about 1 hour. When the dough has risen, place it on a lightly floured surface, divide it into two or more parts and roll them into balls. Cover them with a towel and let rest for 15 minutes. The dough is ready to be shaped, topped and cooked.