Introduction
This activity can be used to teach or review vocabulary such as tomato sauce, mushrooms and cheese, as well as the process of making and eating an imaginary pizza. The group is divided into pairs. In each pair one learner sits with his or her elbows on their knees, eyes closed and neck relaxed. The other partner is the pizza baker and assembles the imaginary pizza on the back of their partner.
Target group and Time
Let's Make a Pizza can be adapted for many ages. If there is enough space, this activity works best when children lay down on the ground. The pizza is made with simple ingredients prompted by pictures or the actual items. For older learners, the pizza baker might be "forgetful". "I've added flour and water. What else do I need to add to my dough?" (Salt, yeast and maybe oilve oil?) "What comes first, the cheese or the tomato sauce?" Baking and eating one pizza takes 5-7 minutes and then the roles are exchanged.
Learning objectives
Be creative and enjoy yourselves, but please be safe and put away any sharp knives after slicing the onions.
Instructions to set up the activity
Who has made pizza before? What kind of pizza do you like? Who wants to be the pizza and who wants to be the baker?
Photo by Dale Cruse at Flickr with Creative Commons BY-NC License
Letting it run
First let's start by getting some flour. (The dough can be made in a bowl in the crux of the baker's arm.) We waited for the dough to rise. Now it is time to knead the dough. (This results in kneading movements, followed by stretching the "dough" into a circle. Now it is time to take a spoon and spread the sauce. Make sure you get the sauce all the way to the edge of your dough. What else do we want on our pizza? Does everyone like onions?
To "bake" the pizza, the bakers rub their hands together and touch them to the different parts of the "pizza" until the whole pizza has been baked. When the pizza is done, it is gently cut and then eaten. Of course, the pizza tastes yummy. After the baker has eaten all the pizza, the roles are exchanged.
