Angela's Pizza Recipe
A rainy day (or any day!) is a great time to make your own pizza. This recipe is from our own extraordinary cooker, Angela-la, is an LCC classic and offers some alternatives if you don’t have the ingredients to make your own dough. Post your pizza making and pizza party photos in the comments and/or tag us in your posts! We’d love to see your creations.
Materials need
2 cups of warm water (at least 110 degrees)
1 Tb olive oil
1 pinch of salt
1 Tb yeast
5 cps of flour
2 cups pizza sauce (we add extra Italian herbs to make our sauce extra flavorful)
16 oz mozzarella, shredded
Your favorite toppings!
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, mix flour, salt, and yeast. Add olive oil and water. Stir, stir, stir. Coat your hands and your helper’s hands in olive oil and knead the dough. The dough should be a little sticky. You can also knead in a little water if it is too dry or flour if it is too wet. Sprinkle flour on your workspace so your dough doesn’t stick to your counter.
Spray a pizza pan or baking pan with oil. Often we “paint” the pan with a pastry brush and a splash of olive oil.
Roll out the crust in the pan to your desired thickness. I roll it thinner at school. Poke with a fork. I like to invite kids to make a pattern. It can be simple as making rows. Set the dough someplace warm for 8 minutes. Check it out…it will rise!
Place dough in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes. Once it is partially cooked, remove from the oven. Pizza crust and pan will be hot! Let it cool to keep your little helper safe. While the crust cools, prepare your pizza toppings and set them aside. Get some extra spoons to spread the sauce around.
Once the crust is cool, drop pizza sauce onto the crust. Encourage your helper to cover the whole crust.
Next, my favorite part, sprinkle the mozzarella all over. Arrange and sprinkle toppings. Cook in oven for 12-18 minutes. Enjoy with your family!
*La La's notes:
In February, we tried broccoli on pizza. (The idea emerged from play one morning in our common's house area) Many kids tried it and some loved it! I highly recommend broccoli, sweet peppers, red onion, and feta).
I love spinach on pizza! To get it to cook as fast as a pizza lightly spray or brush spinach with olive oil.
Pitas, english muffins, bagels, french bread, and naan bread can be used as pizza crust, too!
This dough can easily be shaped into individual size pizzas so everyone can make their favorite. Any extra pizzas can be frozen for later. It is fun to make small snack size pizzas with a variety of toppings, too!
Finger play!
Hey all! I recorded a video of yours truly singing a finger play tune! It might remind your preschooler of some Pea Pods...
I was wanting the video to stay short enough to upload, so I have a couple additional thoughts to add here:
Go outside to sing this as it could be really loud! (Plus our weather is really improving for outside play!)
If using props, be ready for some rambunctious “Bams”! Maybe talk about some ground rules before starting or use materials that are soft or squishy?
Ask your child what items they want to fry in the pan?
Do it partner-style - one person is the pan and one person the hotdogs! Then switch!
Kids LOVE repeats!
"Princess Smarty Pants" as read by Nora Johnson (LCC alumni)
Enjoy “Princess Smarty Pants,” read by Nora Johnson, daughter of LCC teacher Sara Johnson and LCC alumni! Thank you Nora! Do you have a favorite book that you would like to read for kids? Email Molly (molly@leelanauchildrenscenter.org) and let her know!
Rachael's Fizzy Painting
Hi Everyone! I wanted to share a really fun art activity that also incorporates some science! Mixing colors and substances and watching the reactions happen is so amazing and can promote so much conversation. Asking and answering questions such as: “ What do you think will happen?” “What is happening?” and using descriptive vocabulary to describe what you see, hear, feel, or maybe smell, can be a fabulous learning opportunity.
Some of the materials may be unavailable, so substituting any type of paper is fine. Put a tray or cookie sheet underneath it to contain messiness. Use a small spoon or straw to drop the colored vinegar onto the baking soda, or any other modification you think would work! Consider the instructions to be a leaping point into however you want to explore these materials. And above all, have FUN!! <3 Rachael
Materials Needed:
- watercolor paper
-food coloring
- baking soda
- vinegar
- pipettes, straws, or droppers
Sprinkle the baking soda onto your watercolor paper.
Mix a few drops of food coloring with a tablespoon of vinegar.
Use the pipettes to drop the colored vinegar onto the baking soda and watch it fizz where the drop lands.
Let dry.
Scrape off the leftover baking soda once the paper has absorbed all of the colored vinegar.
Outside activities!
Looks like we’re going to have perfect days ahead here in Northern Michigan to get outside! Check out this link for some fun nature activities for kids: https://handsonaswegrow.com/nature-activities-kids/
Yoga at Home!
Our LCC kids love to do yoga! Here are a few links to help guide a little home yoga. The first article uses the same "Yoga Pretzels" cards that our classrooms use. The other link is to some kid yoga videos from Preschool Inspirations.
Link 1: https://www.pragmaticmom.com/…/fun-yoga-poses-kids-hola-yo…/
Link 2: https://preschoolinspirations.com/kid-yoga-videos/
DIY Sensory Table!
DIY sensory table! You don't need a real sensory table to actually provide great sensory experiences for your kiddos! Here's a couple of ways Cassie, LCC Crib Teacher, improvised in her house (photos from snow days past). Any type of shallow tub or container works great. And what a great way to use this freshly fallen snow 😜
You can fill it with water, snow, sand, beans, corn kernels, rice, etc. Add measuring cups, spoons, small plastic animals, cars, diggers, tractors, water colors (just mix water and food coloring), little people...there are endless options!
Cassie chose a space that had a water resistant surface such as the kitchen counter/bar if you have one or a tiled/wood area of flooring. If you are worried about the mess, lay down a bedsheet or a few towels for an easy clean up. Sensory tables are messy, but that's the whole point! 😄
LCC's famous cooked playdough recipe
Here is one of the Leelanau Children’s Centers favorite recipes for homemade playdough. We have found through years of experience that the cooking method provides a better playdough than the non-cooking method. This is one of our go to materials that we have available every day for our children. Obviously if there is an illness or children sneeze or cough on it we throw it away and make a new batch!
We store it in an airtight container or large ziplock bag. You can play with it as is or you can add many household materials such as pizza cutters, rolling pins, small plates and bowls, pine cones, Popsicle sticks…the possibilities are really endless with playdough! This is a cheap and easy activity that you can do with your child that helps build so many of their developmental domains such as language, fine motor, cognitive, and scientific skills!
COOKED PLAYDOUGH
1 c. flour
1/2 c. salt
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 c. water
2 tbsp. oil
1 tsp. food coloring
Combine 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup salt and 2 teaspoons cream of tartar in a large saucepan. Gradually stir in 1 cup water mixed with 2 tablespoons oil and 1 teaspoon food coloring. Cook over medium to high heat, stirring constantly until a ball forms. Remove from heat, cool, and knead until smooth on wax paper. Store in an airtight container. We often add essential oils like lavender or mint to add a sensory bonus!
