Playing with Oliver & the Osmo Pizza Co. Game!

Last night, Oliver opened up his Valentine's Day Eve gift: the Osmo Pizza Co. Game! As soon as he saw the packaging he exclaimed "OSMO!!!!" I asked him how he knew what it was and he said because of the letters "O-S-M-O means Osmo! I've seen it before!" I'm not sure what ad he saw but he knew exactly what it was and was so excited to play with it!

The debate on whether technology is good for our littles, how much screen time to give them, and what they should learn from is a hot topic. For me, as a mother and educator, I take an all-in-moderation approach. Just like the foods that we consume, I want my child to be exposed to a little bit of everything in healthy doses. Technology is an integral part of our daily lives and quite honestly, it saves me from time to time as a busy mom who sometimes needs a time out or the entertainment to get things done! But I try to stay well aware of what my child is watching and continuously educate him on what is appropriate (so much so that he will come and tell me that he shouldn't be watching certain things because "they are not being kind" or "they used mean words." With that being said, I want my child to be a learner of the present and future (just like my students). I'm all for technology that allows my child to be creative, explore coding, learn, and think outside the box. 

If you haven't heard about Osmo, it is an educational system to use on your iPad or iPhone- it has different programs you can collect that help kids learn educational concepts like coding, math, reading, art, music, etc. The particular system Oliver has is the Pizza Co. Game which centralizes its educational approach on fostering kids' social-emotional learning, money, math and owning a business. I first let Oliver explore the game as is, and it quickly introduced the premise- he is left to run a pizza shop and has to make his customers happy by getting their orders correct and giving them the correct change. While, Oliver is really good at math already, he required assistance with it. You see, the characters don't speak, captions show up on the screen and you can decipher what they are saying by their gestures and the graphics on screen. I ended up changing it to Junior Mode to see if he could do it on his own!

It was so neat to see his face light up when he realized his actions could be seen. He was able to successfully fill his customers' orders by paying attention to the graphics and visual cues! I'm a total visual and kinesthetic learner, and I think my kid is, too- we learn by seeing and doing. He was able to manipulate the pieces and pay attention to the characters' cues and expressions; this non-verbal communication is so key to relationships- I'm so glad Osmo thought of that, too! Every year on Valentines, we make or order a heart-shaped pizza and I'm already thinking his new Osmo Pizza Co. game will make an appearance!  I'm excited to continue exploring this game and growing our Osmo collection! 

 Click Here for 30% your own Osmo Pizza Co. Game!!!

#OsmoPizzaLove

Barbecue Chicken Pizza

Sometimes we are extremely organized with our meals and those weeks are amazing! Other times, like this week, organized isn't even in our vocabulary. Our house becomes a mess, our schedules hardly enable any time for each other, and our work interferes with any personal or social time! Weeks like these resort to quick stops on our way home to grab fast food or whatever is more convenient. This week is one of those weeks but since I went grocery shopping during the weekend, I've been attempting to cook as much as possible. So on Monday while still at work, I started rummaging our fridge (in my mind); I remembered we had whole wheat pizza crust from Trader Joe's that Marlyna had brought us from L.A. If we didn't use it, it'd go to waste. So pizza it is! I ran to the grocery store and grabbed a rotisserie chicken and came home. My intentions were to make homemade chicken alfredo pizza! Yum! But once I got home I had to improvise because I didn't have all the ingredients for the sauce. So I rummaged through the fridge and found an unopened jar of Red Hot's BBQ sauce and voila! We ended up with one of the most delicious pizzas ever made in our kitchen!






Recipe
Ingredients:
-whole wheat pizza dough or any homemade or prepackaged dough
-1 cup chicken breast, shredded
-1 1/4 cups (or so) of Red Hot's BBQ sauce (we loved the spiciness of this one but you can use any you like).
-1/2 cup cilantro (or as much as you like)
-1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
-1-1 1/2 cups of shredded cheese (mozarella or colby jack
-1 handful of feta cheese
-1/2 cup of greek (kalamata) olives, sliced or diced

Directions:
1. Let your pizza dough rise for about 30 minutes. (I put a bottle of wine in the freezer and worked out to keep me preoccupied). Unless you have dough that doesn't need this step. Preheat oven to 450•F.
2. Stretch your dough into shape you want it (I pretty much am amateur at this, I need a lot more practice in kneading and stretching with my fists!) place your dough on a pizza stone or baking dish and cook the dough for about 6 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, mix your shredded chicken, BBQ sauce, and cilantro.
4. Once you take out your precooked dough, spread garlic onto the crust circumference. Then add your chicken/cilantro/BBQ spread. Add olives.
5. Add cheese over the top. Feta cheese on top.
6. Bake for 10 minutes or until cheese is bubbly is slightly browned. Cut and serve!





Soo easy and sooo delicious! Reheated leftovers were even better! So this would make a great make-ahead dish!