Of all the presents under the tree, the one that has brought the most giggles is the book “Secret Pizza Party” by Adam Rubin and Daniel Salmieri.

After just a few readings we were all craving pizza but we couldn’t just have a plain old pizza dinner… we needed a secret pizza party dinner!

Make-Your-Own-Pizza night is a staple for many families, adding in just a few elements turns it into a great math lesson.

* We created a simple graph with the names of everyone eating and available
toppings. The 3yr old took all the orders and plotted them on the graph

* Cooking is full of measuring! We also had to make sure we matched up the right toppings based on our graph and divided up the dough.

* Setting the table not only reinforces counting but also has one-to-one correspondence, since each chair gets one napkin and one set of silverware

Besides all the math built right in, you can also have fun literacy elements. We made a sign for our party and, of course, read the book together. You could do place cards or ingredient lists or anything else to make your party special.

Of course, the best part (besides finally satisfying that pizza craving) is how proud the little chef is as they announce that dinner is ready and they “cooked it themselves.”

Enjoy! Watch out for raccoon sniffing broom-bots (you’ll get it when you read the book!)