Gemma The seasons are starting to change in the UK. It has rained on and off this week and wet weather walks are now on the cards for us. If you are home with young children over the autumn and winter it can be easy to run out of ideas for wet weather games.
Connection doesn’t need to last hours.
Have you ever found yourself feeling guilty that you don’t spend your time with your children ever present and always connected? You aren’t alone… I am pretty sure it’s impossible to be present all the time.
In our house we like balance. The children aren’t constantly doing structured activities, my attention is often divided and we all love a bit of TV/down time. Little ones don’t need us to be “present” 24/7. In fact boredom feeds creativity. We don’t need to be facilitating deep connection in every moment we are together. We might even get in the way of our children’s imagination and independence. Having some balance means that we may find we have more time and energy for structured play and connection even if it is only for for 30 minutes every day.
The power of connection through play.
I made this game with some bits from our craft box but even that might feel like a big ask if you are struggling to find time. So I want to say first that play doesn’t have to be resource led. Some of the best games I play with our children consist of me lying down with them in our hammock and pretending to be their baby/a customer at their care. What our children really want, in these moments of play is our undivided attention – if only for 15 minutes.
Skills development
This pizza game is great for developing a number of different skills:
1. Counting together (add 3 capers and 1 tomato)
2. Labelling/identifying foods (where are the herbs?)
3. Recognising colours (red pepper, black olive)
4. Creative play (make and name your own pizza)
This game offers a structure for you to be intentional about at home. I like to have a day of balance between self led play, story and TV time, climbing and exploring, cooking, outdoor play and of course all the jobs I have to take care of in the background. I make little activities and games like this so that I can pause and play too.
How to play
1. Draw ingredients on to tracing paper and cut them out (or you could print images of the ingredients and cut them out instead) We used pineapple, herbs, mushrooms, tomatoes, sweetcorn, capers, pepperoni, peppers, ham and olives.
2. On a big piece of paper draw your pizza base and write some orders for pizzas. Think about asking for certain colours and quantities of ingredients on your order. Make the orders different each time.
3. Around your pizza base, place and label your ingredients.
4. Sit together to read out and point to the ingredients. Do this as many times as you both like. You may need to add reminders throughout the game.
5. Read out your orders and ask your little one to find the correct ingredients and add them to the pizza. Help them with any areas they need your support (counting, finding ingredients they are less familiar with)
6. You can pretend to taste the ingredients and describe the flavour and texture. You can expand your imagination by creating all sorts of combinations… maybe some of your ingredients are less traditional like: sprouts or honey.
7. Keep resetting your pizza chef station between orders and add in some freestyle rounds too. Ask your little one to name their creations and have fun coming up with funny names together. I like to use a different accent when I am ordering the pizza. Role play is a great way to connect with our children.
What next
If you want to take this game to the next stage you could have the real ingredients to hand too. Together you can touch, smell, taste the ingredients and explore new flavours together.
If you are looking for a cooking activity you can make a pizza together in much the same way. Fill bowls/ramekins with the ingredients and add sticky notes as labels for each. Then you can make your own or buy pizza bases to decorate, cook and eat together.
Depending on your child this activity can be adapted to meet their needs and interest. If your child has some safe, supervised, basic knife skills they can even get involved in chopping mushrooms and olives with you.
You can play this same game with the concept of decorating a cake or pancakes too. This is a nice little activity to do in the wet weather. I would recommend real life pizza making as a way of teaching your little ones about fresh, homemade food and facilitating genuine moments of connection when our attention is not divided.
