Last updated on October 23rd, 2023
Inside: Cooking homemade pizza with your kids is so much fun! What kid doesn’t love pizza?! Getting your toddler involved in the kitchen is a fun way to teach them new skills and can even help mitigate picky eating. In this post, I’ll share an easy pizza night you can recreate in your home with your little one.
Cooking Homemade Pizza With Your Kids
I don’t know that I’ve met a kid (or adult!) yet that didn’t love eating pizza. There’s just something about the ooey gooey cheesy deliciousness that just wins everyone over.
When I am in a dinnertime idea rut, I like to do a homemade pizza night. I know that we all will devour it and a bonus is that we will have some fun in the kitchen making it together.
Bond Through Cooking
Cooking together is a great way to bond with your little one. I have fond memories growing up cooking with my parents in the kitchen. I learned so much from being included in this everyday task and I still use my parent’s tips when cooking in my own kitchen.
Cooking is such an important life skill that everyone needs to have. Getting your kiddo in the kitchen at an early age can help foster a passion for cooking and will help them become independent at meal preparation early on.
Cooking Together Can Help With Picky Eating
A huge bonus (HUGE!) is that when kids get to take part in cooking or baking, they are more likely to try new foods. Constant exposure is a huge factor when it comes to helping picky eaters explore more foods. And what better exposure than actually getting your hands on the ingredients and seeing how it all comes together?
I remember the very first time my toddler ate carrots was when we were cooking Carrot Muffins together. I had shredded the carrots to be used in the muffin batter, so they were sitting in the measuring cup waiting to be mixed in. While they were sitting there, my toddler grabbed the measuring cup and began chowing down on shredded carrots like it was his favorite snack.
I was completely shocked, because before that point, anytime I had offered him carrots he had turned them down. There’s just something about being a little kitchen helper that takes the pressure off of eating and makes it fun and exciting.
If your looking for some easy toddler meal ideas, check out this PB&J post and this toddler breakfast post for some inspiration!
Cooking Together In The Kitchen
My toddler gets so excited to help out in the kitchen; for him, it really is like any other fun activity we would do together. Whenever my toddler sees me laying out ingredients, he will shout, “toddler tower, toddler tower. help mama, help mama”. His joy at helping out is awesome to see, so I try to find ways for him to help in the kitchen whenever possible.
For anything you cook or bake together, have your toddler help you where it makes sense. When cooking with toddlers, you aren’t going to have them help with every single aspect of the recipe, but there are always steps that present the perfect opportunity for learning.
I’ll give you an example of where my toddler helped out and where I stepped in during our pizza making night.
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Dough:
We used a package of dry pizza crust mixture (any brand will do, we used Betty Crocker). My toddler pour the contents of the package and the water into the bowl and begin mixing. I finished up the mixing to be sure it was thoroughly done.
Afterward, I sprayed the pan (these are my favorite pans!) and formed the dough into a ball, but then I let him help press his hands onto the dough in the pan alongside mine and press out the crust together. He loved this part!
Sauce:
We used a jar of Aldi’s Marinara Sauce (sometime we use actual pizza sauce – any brand will do). I poured the sauce into the center of the curst and we spread the sauce together hand-over-hand. I evened out the edges myself.
Cheese:
We used shredded mozzarella cheese. For the cheese, he did it all. I would point to spots that were bare, saying, “Can you put some cheese here?”. He did great at the simple direction given. As you can see, there was a lot of cheese-eating going on in between spreading it, which is a lot of fun for him!
Toppings:
We used fresh diced pineapple – if you don’t have one, you totally need a pineapple corer! Other favorite topping ideas: bell peppers, bacon, chicken, pepperoni, spinach, sausage, etc. (Obviously not all together on one pizza! haha). I demonstrated topping the pizza with a few slices of pineapple and then let my toddler take over. He did this step on his own for most of the pizza until he became too distracted eating pineapple right out of the container and I finished out the job.
Oven Safety Is a Must
After we finished constructing our pizza, I handled all of the oven work. Always be sure to constantly reiterate oven safety with your little ones.
I pick a spot that I want him to stand in removed from the oven and instruct him to stand there while I open the oven. Holding that boundary every single time the oven door is opened is key. Now my toddler automatically gets in that spot when the oven mitts come out. I use phrases such as, “the oven is hot, the hot oven can give you a boo-boo, mommy needs you to stay right there when the oven is open”.
Honestly, having a little kitchen helper makes the menial task of meal preparation more fun and exciting. I always say that having children really changes your perspective on life, and it is so true. Where we might look at making a pizza as just one more task for the day, they look at it like this whole big adventure in the kitchen.
What meals have you prepared together with your toddler? Leave me a comment below to let me know how it went!
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