adminDisclosure: This is a sponsored post, but we really do enjoy family pizza night on the regular. Barbie just happened to join us this time around.
When our family does pizza, we go all out. Dave’s favorite thing to make (and all of our favorite thing to eat) is pizza. Hands down. And everyone knows (just ask the kids) that homemade pizza is better than anything else. Hands down. And when you get to have a pizza night with Barbie, life is just that much better.
Penny’s favorite is cheese pizza, so she usually gets a pizza all to herself. The rest of us like a little bit of meat and veggies on ours, and we usually have at least 3-4 different kinds of pizza. Life is too short not to have ALL the pizza choices.
Penny did succumb to Barbie’s preferences though and made her a pepperoni pizza with her very own Pizza Chef Barbie Playset. From crust creation to sprinkling the cheese to stamping the pepperoni, this playset is full of opportunities to learn and imagine. The fine motor skills supported through rolling, patting, grinding, sliding, shifting, and sprinkling are so good for toddlers.
And Penny had endless fun thinking of different ways to make pizza and pretending to box it up and deliver a play-do pizza to every member of the family!
Her big brother couldn’t even resist getting in on the pizza making game. I was pretty sure he was ready to kick her own and embark on his own pizza empire right then and there! We had to drag him away to go eat his own pizza when it was ready. And naturally, that occurred after him complaining about the fact that Penny is a girl and loves to play with dolls and why can’t she just get a commando Barbie tank? Honestly.
And really, I couldn’t sit out the fun either. Penny and I practiced taking the pizza out of the oven with a Barbie pink pizza peel, cutting her play pizza with the enclosed pizza cutter, and serving it “steaming hot mommy!” on plates just for us. Nothing brings me joy like seeing imaginary play skills develop in my kids. Play teaches toddlers so much: empathy, problem solving, sharing, curiosity, courage, language development, and on and on and on. It’s the vehicle through which she learns independently by exploring her environment.
With this toy, she also learned the importance of following a sequence of steps (you can’t add cheese without first making a crust, for instance) and cause and effect (turning the crank for the “cheese,” sliding the pizza crust long the assembly line). Finding toys like this one, where she gets to practice a real life skill with a hot pink flair, make incorporating pretend play into daily life so easy. And on top of all that, pretend play brings Penny so much joy. And these days, Barbies are legit her favorite.
Pizza night became a learning experience for Penny and a chance to broaden the taste buds for the older kids too. That night, we made 6 different styles of pizza (including the plain cheese for the unenlightened).
Prosciutto, tomato, parmesan.
Sweet potato, chicken, red onion, cilantro.
Brussels Sprout, craisin, bacon, and balsamic.
Sausage, onion, sauerkraut.
Sausage, green pepper, green onion.
All delightful. All made on this crust. I’m sure you’re drooling now, so just do me a favor. Wipe the saliva off your keyboard and plan your own family pizza night for this weekend!
