Things I stumble on.

I stumbled on this in the scene in the dramatic play center the other day. 

Before I put out the felt pizza in our room I modeled how to make it at least twice. I also read this book, Pizza, while I modeled. Each page has a word such as, "Pour, mix, spread, sprinkle, bake, smell, eat." I figured it would help them to know how to make the pizza and a couple of them might even use the book while they made it. 

Modeling. We don't want it to limit children. We just want them to have a foundation for building a higher level of creative play. 

As it turns out, I see my kids using this book a good bit while they make pizza. In fact, on Friday, Reagan spent about five minutes getting it just right. While she was doing it, Beth and Martha were literally sitting completely still with their hands in their laps at the table. I, for one, was confused about why they were doing nothing, but shortly after Reagan came to the table with a smile and said, "Excuse me, ma'am! Your pizza is ready. Be careful. It might be a little hot!" Ah, then I understood. They were simply waiting at the restaurant, as polite people do. Waiting more patiently than ANY other two children in my class would wait, mind you. (However, within several minutes, Reagan was waving dessert in the air while Martha squealed and tried to grab it from her. Oh well, we catch the picturesque moments when we can!)