The Pizza Peel Delivery

Children are pizza makers carrying a pizza (paper plate) on a peel (a large piece of cardboard held with both hands) along a path to the oven, then sliding it in. It builds carrying a balanced object with both hands and releasing it by sliding with control.

How to play

1. Each pizza maker "decorates" their pizza with a finger, naming the toppings out loud (1 min).
2. The teacher shows how to hold the peel flat like a table with both hands, then tilt it a little to slide the pizza into the oven (2 min).
3. Carry the pizza along the cone path to the oven (a box on its side) and slide it in (3 min).
4. Take the pizza out of the oven with the peel, no hands, and bring it back to the counter (2 min).
5. The path gets trickier: step over ropes, go around cones and duck under an "awning" (3 min).
6. Everyone leaves their pizza in the oven and the teacher counts: "Twenty-five hot pizzas!" (1 min).

Rules

• Hold the peel with both hands.
• No touching the pizza with your hands on the way.
• If the pizza falls, calmly go back to the start of the path.
• One pizza in the oven at a time.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: rest the peel on the knees while a classmate pushes the wheelchair.
• Low vision: mark the path with a rope on the floor they can follow with a foot, and put a bell inside the oven.
• Less hand control: use a tray with raised edges instead of flat cardboard.

Learning goals

• Keep an object balanced with both hands while moving.
• Release an object by sliding it with control.
• Get past small obstacles without losing the load.

Equipment for a class of 25

• Large pieces of cardboard: 25
• Paper plates: 25
• Large box: 2
• Cones: 10
• Jump ropes: 4

Teacher tip

Cut the cardboard about 16 by 12 inches from a sturdy shipping box. Kids usually hug the peel to their chest; ask for "arms a little out, eyes on the pizza."

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