Last week I had the pleasure of attending Healthy Living’s “Kids in the Kitchen” tomato starters and pizza class. I had been wanting to do one of these classes for some time so when the chance to review one of them came up, I jumped at it! But I was also a little nervous given how introverted my son can be. With that, I was thrilled when Wyatt was treated with open arms and grand hello’s from Brian and Clarina. Brian immediately greeted Wyatt by name as soon as I introduced myself (as well as the other children that came in) and gave them all the opportunity to get comfy before the class even started. We were off to a great start! Wyatt picked his seat at the table that was perfectly set for littles and waited patiently for the other kids to join in. Being himself he wanted me to sit nearby and there were plenty of extra seats for parents to sit around to watch as their kids learned how to cook. Some parents that have been to the classes before even dropped their kids off and went to do their shopping or get some quiet time to themselves! Either option (stay or leave) is up to the parent and of course the comfort of the child but I was immediately comforted knowing that if I did choose to leave, Wyatt would have been in great hands.
Now onto the class itself!
I honestly had no idea what to expect. Before the class I wasn’t sure if this was a parent + child class or how involved the parents would be. I quickly learned that one of the nicest elements is that it really was built for the kids and the kids only. Parents of course are welcome to help their children if they needed it, however everything was well prepared and set up to make all of the steps as simple as possible for little hands and curious brains. We started class with the prep work of folding out the dough and learning how it felt, what the texture was like, and how pizza dough stretches and can be pulled to form the crust of the pizza. Wyatt immediately loved this and opened up to his teachers. He thought it was super funny the way the dough moved and really worked hard on watching it stretch and move and giggled as he pulled it apart. Brian and Clarina were very hands on in helping all of the kids stretch out their dough and getting them ready to be placed on the pan. Once all stretched, the kids all took their dough and carefully molded it to the pans to get ready to build their personal pizzas!
With all the pizza crusts created, the kids each took turns putting sauce on their dough. Some used little spoons, some used bigger ones, and they chose to cover the dough as much as they wanted too. For the kids that didn’t like crust, they learned that they could cover the entire dough with sauce and they would have a crust-less pizza! They then all took turns putting as much or as little cheese on their pizzas as they wanted. Wyatt loved this part and may have gone a little overboard on the cheese, but hey, who doesn’t love a cheesy pizza!
Next was my favorite part of the pizza. Clarina and Brian brought over all sorts of healthy vegetables to put on their pizza as toppings. Some kids chose to keep their pizza’s cheese only, some (like Wyatt) went a little overboard with the veggies. Which is somewhat humorous for me given Wyatt won’t touch veggies on a typical day.
Something about making the pizza himself made him decide that vegetables were suddenly ok. I’ll take it!
There were even shaved carrots as a topping, which I have honestly never thought to put on a pizza. Genius. I’m totally pocketing that idea for sneaking some veggies into homemade pizzas in the future.
While Brian placed the pizza’s into the over Clarina started setting out tomato planters, soil, and seeds. The children all learned about where the pizza sauce came from and how to plant their own tomato seedlings. They all carefully learned how far you put a seed into the soil, how to plant the decomposable container, and when to water your plants. Wyatt especially loved the little hearts that Clarina placed under the names to distinguish who’s plants belonged to whom when they were carefully set aside.
Planting the seeds was perfectly timed and as soon as the activity was complete the pizza’s began to emerge. They looked awesome!
Brian and Clarina set the table with a fresh tablecloth and carefully served each kid the pizza they made. Every kid GOBBLED down their pizzas with a sense of pride and love. Any kids with leftovers got to bring them home to save for later or share with their loved ones. Wyatt loved his carrot pizza and even shared a few pieces with me.
The verdict: This class was awesome.
Wyatt loved it and I loved watching him go outside of his comfort zone and have a fun time. He keeps asking me when we are going to cook pizzas of our own and thankfully we went home with recipes for everything that was made (including the homemade dough and pizza sauce from scratch)!
I will absolutely be going back!
Ready to win a class for your kiddo to try??
Healthy Living is giving one of you a chance to win a spot in any upcoming Kids in the Kitchen class (as long as the class is not sold out). Enter the rafflecopter giveaway below for your chance to win!
Ohh, they all look great!
I did one of these classes with my little one and they are great.
Looks awesome!