Numbers & Counting
Activity Summary
Make your own mini-pizzas with whatever toppings you like. The tips included with this recipe will help you to practice some special counting skills, such as counting out the same number of objects as someone else, or counting out exactly five objects.
Recipe
Cooking Time: 25 minutes
Ingredients
Enough English muffins or sub rolls for your family
Pizza or spaghetti sauce
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Your favorite pizza toppings, such as pepperoni, black olives, cut-up Canadian bacon, canned sliced pineapple, chopped up bell pepper, or mushrooms
Materials
Baking sheet
Directions
- Everyone washes their hands with soap and water while counting to 20 before starting to cook.
- Preheat oven or toaster oven to 375°F.
- Use a butter knife to split English muffins (or sub rolls) and place the muffins cut side up on a baking sheet.
- Spread 2 spoonfuls of pizza or spaghetti sauce onto each of the muffin halves.
- Top each muffin half with shredded mozzarella cheese and your favorite pizza toppings.
- Bake for 10 minutes in preheated oven, or until the cheese is melted and browned on the edges.
Math Tips
- Once you determine how many English muffins are needed, ask your child to count them out of the package. For example, say, “Can you get us six English muffins?”
- Add toppings to one of the muffin halves and then ask the child to put the same number of toppings on a different muffin half. For example, make a pizza with five pieces of pepperoni but don’t tell them how many pieces you’ve put on. Then ask your child, “Can you put the same number of pieces of pepperoni on your pizza as I have on mine?” They will have to first count your pepperoni and then count their pieces.
- Have your child count as they add two spoonfuls of sauce to each of the muffin halves. Explain why you are measuring. For example, ask, “If we add more or less than two spoons of sauce, what will happen to the way the pizzas look and taste?”