Wooden Pizza Party

Wooden Pizza Party - Life-sized wooden hand tools

Melissa & Doug have a lot of different wooden food sets, like Wooden Pizza Party, that are great for creative play. They all include numerous pieces and most even include hand tools, making them also a favorite with OTs. The pieces are all wood and typically well constructed. Wooden Pizza Party is no exception. 

The pizza pieces stick together with round Velcro tabs, and the pizza toppings stick on the pizza with Velcro, three toppings per slice. You can see a white, round piece of Velcro on the side of the piece of pizza that is lifted up (image above). The pizza cutter slips between the pieces and can be used to "cut" the pizza into sections. The first piece may be a little tricky to remove, just because there it not a lot of room to separate the Velcro when the pieces are tightly together. Cut through the Velcro on one side of the pizza and then as you are doing the same to the other side you are actually pushing the first side back against the Velcro again. This won't be a problem after the first slice is removed.

The plate is about 8" in diameter and the pizza is about 7" in diameter.

My biggest beef with Melissa & Doug is the packaging. Sets come in nice wooden boxes, but often without a lid, like this one. Nice if it will be sitting on a shelf, but less so if you carry your supplies from house to house. However, this box has separate compartments for the toppings, good for sorting.

Other wooden play sets in their line include fruit, salad, sandwiches, sushi, cookies, and birthday cake. 

Here is an image of a girl playing with the set so you can get an idea of size.

Try this:

• Top one piece of pizza with three different toppings. Then ask the individual to copy the same pattern on the rest of the pizza pieces.
• Place the toppings in a pile on the table. Order a pizza with a single topping so you can sort out all the mushrooms or all the peppers.
• Lift one piece of pizza with the spatula and carefully carry it to a plate in another location, such as on the counter. Place it on the plate without dropping it. Have six small paper plates lined up and repeat five more times.
• Order your pizza by the slice. Name three ingredients verbally and see if the individual can remember them and make your custom slice.
• Top all six slices with ingredients, but don't make any two the same.
  
• Show the individual one piece of pizza with three ingredients. Ask them to remember the ingredients. Then hide the slice and see if they can make one from memory. Then ask them to remember the ingredients and their locations on the slice and repeat on the rest of the pizza. Players may need to turn the pizza as they go to get the locations correct.
• Make six mystery slices. Place the ingredients face-down on the table. Randomly pick up one at a time and turn it over in-hand, then add to your slice. How many slices did you have to make before you got a slice with all the same ingredient? With one of each ingredient?
  
• Make a real pizza just like it as you play. There are plenty of mushroom and pepper pieces so that you can take off the pepperoni if you don't eat meat.
• Put the toppings away one ingredient at a time. She how many you can stack and then pick you to put in the box. 
  
• Pretend you own a pizza restaurant and sell the pizza by the slice. Make up your own order tickets. Serve up each order on a small paper plate. Practice pouring from a pitcher by setting up a cup near each plate and pouring from a pitcher of pretend soda (water).
• Work on visual discrimination, figure ground, spatial relations, visual memory, auditory memory, manual dexterity, in-hand manipulation, tool use, executive functioning skills, process skills, play and leisure exploration and participation, socialization skills  

In the box: Pizza pan, spatula, pizza cutter, 54 pizza toppings, 6 slices of pizza

If you are interested in purchasing this item or just want more information, click on the image below.