Pizza is one of my favorite foods. I will take it in just about any variety from thin crust to New York Style to cheese filled crust. I love pizza. Happily that seems to be a pretty popular opinion. Today’s storytime leans into that delicious pizza pie craving and celebrates it with delightful read alouds and fun pizza themed activity ideas.
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Pizza Read Alouds
Secret Pizza Party
by Adam Rubin and Daniel Salmieri
All Raccoon wants is some pizza. It’s delicious and wonderful and he has a plan to throw a secret pizza party, but can he throw it off. Action packed, humorous and fun to read aloud.
Pizza Day
by Melissa Iwai
Have you read SOUP DAY? That’s one of our favorite read and cook books. PIZZA DAY is by the same author. You follow a child as they make pizza with their dad. It’s straight forward and invites you to do the same with recipes in the back. The only downside in terms of read to a group is the smaller book size.
Pete’s A Pizza
by William Steig
A classic Steig. Pete is grumpy because it’s a gloomy day outside. His dad decides to cheer him up by turning him into a pizza. A playful, goofy read aloud that is a lot of fun to read when you’ve just read a more serious book about how to make pizza. If you’re reading it at home, you could also play the game Pete’s dad just invented when you’re done. The short phrases and silly, simple illustrations also work well for reading to a group.
A Pizza with Everything On It
by Kyle Scheele
illustrated by Andy J. Pizza
Over the top – this is a fun read aloud picture book. The dad owns a pizza shop so the boy can put whatever he wants on his pizza and he wants everything. This obviously goes to ridiculous lengths which makes it the type of book that’s fun to laugh about at storytime and then ask – what would you put on your pizza?
Read: The Little Red Hen (Makes a Pizza)
by Philemon Sturges
This is one of our favorite versions of The Little Red Hen. It follows the traditional format, but instead of bread the Little Red Hen is making delicious pizza. I love doing a story study with this story. Read a few different versions – some classic and some twists like this one and then talk about how they’re similar and different.
Also Read: That Sounds Yummy! Books to Read and Cook
Pizza Storytime Rhymes & Songs
- Pizza Party (watch on YouTube)
- Silly Pizza Song (watch on YouTube) – it’s fun to let kids each pick something silly to add to the song as you go. I recommend having them picking food from visuals you have so you can put them all on the board as a visual guide as you work through the song. A dry erase board or chalk board also works if you’re comfortable drawing their ideas.
Activity: Make Pizza of Course
If you have access to a kitchen, then making pizza together is the obvious activity to follow a pizza storytime. We love making individual pizzas so everyone can choose their own toppings. Here is a recipe using pizza dough, but you can also make mini pizzas on english muffins to simplify the steps.
I realize not everyone has access, time, or space for a cooking activity so there are more options below. They also work as art table stations as well.
Alternative Pizza Activity Ideas:
- Pizzas Craft from Learning Puddles or these slightly more complicated and adorable Pizza Crafts from Handmade Charlotte
- Make Pizza Party hats (from Spot of Tea Designs) and order pizza to share.
More Pizza Themed Picture Books to Recommend
The Princess and the Pizza by Mary Jane and Herm Auch A fractured fairy tale where a princess is vying for the heart of a prince. It is fun and I love the ending – not what you expect from a typical fairy tale. And of course, pizza is involved. Find Online
Secret Pizza Party by Adam Rubin and Daniel Salmieri. Made by the creators of DRAGONS LOVE TACOS, this is a goofy book. A Raccoon loves gooey, cheesy pizza but everyone is always chasing him away from it. The obvious solution is a secret pizza party! Find Online
More Pizza Ideas
- Pizza Sensory Bin Idea: Flour (will need at least 5 large bags depending on your sensory table size), cookie tools such as; wooden spoons, measuring cups, sifters, etc. We also did this for a pancake theme and it was a ton of fun.
- Pizza Pretend Play – my kids adored this play pizza kit in their pretend kitchen from Melissa and Doug.
- More Pizza Themed alphabet, number and more ideas from Teaching Expertise
- Pizza delivery game from Learning Puddles
