Thanks to Sarah Leigh's suggestion I thought I'd share a little tip about having fun with children during the school holidays. My speciality isn't paint though - mine is FOOD!
As a household we do eat plenty cakes & cupcakes, well, I do need someone to taste everything, but I also let my children (aged 3 and 4) make decisions about meals and a very popular choice is pizza made with their own little hands. It's not as complicated as it might sound either as you can buy ready made pizza bases from the supermarket, both small and large. Also, it takes up more time than you think - a great way to keep children's attention for about half an hour or more without really trying!
Instructions:
Adult job: Chop, slice and grate lots of different toppings and pop them on plates and in bowls ready for little hands to get messy ;-)
For example: Ham, bacon, chicken, salami, chorizo, sausage, sweetcorn, pineapple, mushroom, cherry tomato, green/red/yellow pepper, herbs, mozzarella cheese, goats cheese and regular hard cheese. These are simply examples, if your children are like mine there's probably not a lot on that list that they'll eat! But then, this can be more about having fun than healthy eating...
Adult job: Score the top of the pizza base with a sharp knife, this helps the sauce stay on the base. (I place the bases on greaseproof paper on a baking tray).
If your little ones are able they can add a few spoons of passata (pureed and sieved tomatoes) or pasta sauce (there's really no difference but the pasta sauce comes with 'hidden' vegetables like tomato chunks, mushrooms and pineapple) on to the base, if not, this might be another adult job.
Push the sauce to the edge of the pizza base, this stops the base burning.
Right! Messy fun time! Let the children lose on the bowls & plates and let them make up their own pizza. I tend to give them one topping at a time otherwise you'll end up not being able to distinguish between the bowls as the contents get mixed up ;-)
You might need to give a little guidance about not putting all the toppings in the middle of the base and making something to rival the Eiffel Tower!!!
Cook, slice and serve! I cut the pizzas into small 1"x1" pieces which are easier to eat.
Tonight we made 2 pizzas, 1 with sliced hot dog sausage and cheese and 1 with sliced hot dog sausage, sweetcorn, cheese and tomato chunks....
As a household we do eat plenty cakes & cupcakes, well, I do need someone to taste everything, but I also let my children (aged 3 and 4) make decisions about meals and a very popular choice is pizza made with their own little hands. It's not as complicated as it might sound either as you can buy ready made pizza bases from the supermarket, both small and large. Also, it takes up more time than you think - a great way to keep children's attention for about half an hour or more without really trying!
Instructions:
Adult job: Chop, slice and grate lots of different toppings and pop them on plates and in bowls ready for little hands to get messy ;-)
For example: Ham, bacon, chicken, salami, chorizo, sausage, sweetcorn, pineapple, mushroom, cherry tomato, green/red/yellow pepper, herbs, mozzarella cheese, goats cheese and regular hard cheese. These are simply examples, if your children are like mine there's probably not a lot on that list that they'll eat! But then, this can be more about having fun than healthy eating...
Adult job: Score the top of the pizza base with a sharp knife, this helps the sauce stay on the base. (I place the bases on greaseproof paper on a baking tray).
If your little ones are able they can add a few spoons of passata (pureed and sieved tomatoes) or pasta sauce (there's really no difference but the pasta sauce comes with 'hidden' vegetables like tomato chunks, mushrooms and pineapple) on to the base, if not, this might be another adult job.
Push the sauce to the edge of the pizza base, this stops the base burning.
Right! Messy fun time! Let the children lose on the bowls & plates and let them make up their own pizza. I tend to give them one topping at a time otherwise you'll end up not being able to distinguish between the bowls as the contents get mixed up ;-)
You might need to give a little guidance about not putting all the toppings in the middle of the base and making something to rival the Eiffel Tower!!!
Cook, slice and serve! I cut the pizzas into small 1"x1" pieces which are easier to eat.
Tonight we made 2 pizzas, 1 with sliced hot dog sausage and cheese and 1 with sliced hot dog sausage, sweetcorn, cheese and tomato chunks....
And of course having fun with food doesn't have to be kept to the school holidays - getting them involved in food preparation is a great way for children to learn about food and at the same time learn about being independent! It doesn't have to stop with pizza either - tortilla wraps are also great but for little hands but it's best to half or even quarter the tortilla first. A great meal and cheap too!
Have fun!!!
Helen @ Lippylicious Cakes
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment