Week of the Young Child: Veggie Pizza Pinwheels
Children help make a healthy snack for WOYC Tasty Tuesday.
Children help make a healthy snack for WOYC Tasty Tuesday.
What you'll need
- ingredients: 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, 3/4 cup mixed frozen vegetables, red tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese (shredded), cheddar cheese (shredded), 1 egg (beaten), Italian seasoning
- baking sheets
- parchment paper
- bowl
- hot water
- colander
- paper towels
- spatulas
- knife
- hand mixer
- basting brush
Step by step
Step 1
WOYC Tasty Tuesday promotes educating children about nutrition and making cooking fun and exciting. The following recipe includes several steps the children can do. This recipe makes about 8 pinwheels. Adjust as needed.
Step 2
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Help the children wash their hands. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Step 3
Place the frozen vegetables in a large bowl, cover with hot water (adult only), and cook for about 1 minute in the microwave. Drain completely, and spread the vegetables on paper towels. Pat dry.
Step 4
Roll out the pastry. Invite children to take turns spreading red tomato sauce across the surface until it is well covered. Then, have them sprinkle cheese and the vegetables over the top.
Step 5
Starting with the shorter side of the pastry, tightly roll it up. Then, cut the roll into approximately 8 pieces. Beat the egg, and add a bit of water to make an egg wash. Invite each child to brush a bit of egg wash over each pinwheel, and then sprinkle a little Italian seasoning over top.
Step 6
Place pinwheels on lined baking sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes. Let cool, and serve.
More ideas
Caution: Always check for allergies before serving foods. Make substitutions as needed.
Observe: Are the children excited to help cook? What tasks are they able to complete? Provide opportunities for children to chop, spread, pour, sprinkle, and mix during cooking activities. Invite them to take an active role in preparing snacks and meals occasionally.
Playful questions
What are your favorite pizza toppings?
Have you ever helped your family make pizza? Tell us about it!
Learning outcomes
Physical Development and Health
Physical Health, Growth
Begins to identify healthy and unhealthy foods; tries new foods, expressing preferences for some foods over others; explains that some foods help our bodies grow and remain healthy; begins to help with food preparation (mixing, etc.)
Exhibits knowledge about healthy eating and good nutrition; expresses some benefits of a healthy diet; tries new foods; shows willingness to eat a well-balanced diet; interested in various tastes, colors, and textures of food; helps with food preparation (mixing, measuring, etc.)
Social-Emotional Development
Self-Awareness and Self-Concept
Expresses preferences; chooses activities that are preferred or come easily
Expresses personal preferences and opinions; makes choices
Shows awareness of ability to do many things and interest in work of others; cleans up work/play space with little adult prompting
Shows confidence of self as having certain abilities; displays interest and respect for the work of others; exhibits increasing awareness of own character traits; takes pride in cleaning up work/play space independently
Social-Emotional Development
Self-Regulation
Demonstrates increasing self-direction, independence, and control; calms self with minimal adult support; increasingly handles transitions appropriately
Manages own behavior and shows age-appropriate self-regulation; calms self and shares strategies with others; considers social standards of environment before responding to emotions or actions of others