On a Friday afternoon, our classroom turned into a real Italian restaurant. Tables pushed together, red-and-white checkered tablecloths, candles (LED, of course — for safety), Italian music playing softly from a speaker. And in the middle — six chefs in aprons reading “Pizzeria Krasnoludek”. Each of them barely six years old, rolling out dough, arranging ingredients, directing attention like a real Italian master. One of them, in his small broken speech, tried to say “pizza”, but it came out “picca”. That sound made everyone laugh.
In this article we want to tell you why every now and then we “travel” to another country through the kitchen, how we organized our Italian day specifically, and why learning the world through taste is one of the deepest pedagogical tools at our disposal.
The world through the kitchen — a pedagogical philosophy
A five-year-old is like a cultural sponge — absorbing everything they are shown. You can teach them geography from a map. You can teach them culture from books. You can also — and this is our favourite method — teach them through what is most concrete: taste. A five-year-old who has personally made pizza will never forget that pizza comes from Italy. A five-year-old who has baked a St Martin’s croissant knows what Poznań cuisine is. A five-year-old who has baked a Toruń gingerbread knows Toruń through its smell.
Taste is the sense most deeply written into the brain. Contrary to appearances, not sight or hearing — but precisely taste (and the smell linked to it) leave the most lasting traces in memory. That is why our preschool culinary journeys, whether around Poland or around the world, are so pedagogically effective. A Krasnoludek who has made pizza “remembers Italy”.
In our annual calendar, at least once a month we “travel” to another country or region. Sometimes it is Italy with pizza. Sometimes France with pancakes. Sometimes Mexico with tortillas. Sometimes Poland — with our own specialities. Each such day is, for the Krasnoludki, a small journey without leaving Warsaw.
What actually happened on Friday
Introduction. Miss Justyna greeted the Krasnoludki with the words “buongiorno!” and explained that today we are turning into Italian chefs. “Has anyone of you ever been to Italy?” — a few hands went up. “And what did you eat there?”. “Pizza!”. “Pasta!”. “Ice cream!”. “And gelato!” — shouted Antek, who had been to Rome with his parents.
The day began with a short lesson about Italy. We showed the map — the five-year-olds saw that Italy is far from Poland, that it is shaped like a boot (“Miss, this country looks like a boot!”), that its capital is Rome, that there is also the Vatican in Italy. We showed photos of the Colosseum, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the canals of Venice. The Krasnoludki gasped at the images.
First stage — pizza dough. Each Krasnoludek received a portion of flour, yeast, water, olive oil, salt. Kneading the dough took almost twenty minutes — because pizza dough must be worked a long time to become elastic. The Krasnoludki kneaded, slammed it on the counter, rolled it out. This was work that required strength and patience — exactly the kind that takes care of fine motor skills and hand strength.
After kneading, we set the dough aside for half an hour to rise. The Krasnoludki in the meantime worked on the sauce and the toppings.
Second stage — tomato and mozzarella salad (insalata caprese). A classic of Italian cuisine. Tomatoes sliced, mozzarella sliced, alternating on the plate, decorated with fresh basil leaves, drizzled with olive oil and a little balsamic vinegar. The Krasnoludki cut the tomatoes themselves with children’s knives (the soft kind, so safe), placed the mozzarella, decorated with basil. Some Krasnoludki had never tried basil before — for them the taste was new, intense, “strange” at the first moment, fascinating at the second.
Third stage — preparing pizza toppings. Tomato sauce (made themselves — tomato passata, oregano, salt, olive oil). Grated yellow cheese. Fresh vegetables to dice: pepper, mushrooms, olives. The Krasnoludki diced, made order on the cutting board, tasted each ingredient separately.
Fourth stage — shaping the pizzas. Each Krasnoludek got their risen dough. Rolled it on the counter, formed a circle (with mixed results — some pizzas came out more square than round, but each was original). Spread it with tomato sauce. Sprinkled with cheese. Decorated with vegetables. Each pizza was different — because each Krasnoludek was an artist who knows what they want.
Fifth stage — baking and the shared table. The pizzas into the oven for fifteen minutes. The room filled with that incredible, delicious smell of Italian pizza. The Krasnoludki could not wait. When the pizzas came out, each Krasnoludek brought theirs to the big table, where we sat together. We also drank lemonade with mint (our childlike equivalent of Italian limonata).
And we ate the pizza. Each Krasnoludek their own, which they themselves had made. Some Krasnoludki, who are normally picky eaters, ate everything — because “I made it myself”. This is one of the most powerful pedagogical mechanisms: a child who participates in preparing food has a different relationship with it than a child who only receives it on a plate.
What is built in a Krasnoludek’s head after the Italian day
Cultural openness. A five-year-old who has spent the day in an “Italian restaurant” builds their first concept that there are other cultures, other cuisines, other traditions in the world. This is the foundation for later tolerance, curiosity about the world, openness to travel.
First concepts about Europe and geography. “Italy is far away”. “In Italy they speak Italian”. “In Italy they eat pizza and pasta”. These are, for a five-year-old, the first “geographical anchors”. A country shaped like a boot stays in memory.
Openness to new tastes. Basil. Olive oil. Mozzarella. Balsamic vinegar. These are tastes many Krasnoludki had never tried before. Every new taste is an expansion of the child’s sensory palette. The more such tastes, the better-developed the senses.
Teamwork. Preparing a meal for the whole group requires cooperation. “I’ll cut the tomatoes, you make the dough”. “Help me get the pepper”. “Can I have some olives?”. The Krasnoludki spontaneously organize into a small kitchen team. This is one of the best schools of early cooperation.
First Italian words. Buongiorno. Pizza. Pasta. Insalata. Bambini. Mamma mia. These few words, once learned in a pleasant context, stay in the head for years. And they are a good foundation for later learning of Italian — should the Krasnoludek ever want to.
What a parent can do at home
A home Italian day is extraordinarily easy to organize. A few ideas:
— Home pizza. Best to make the dough from scratch, but you can also buy ready-made (the quality is usually acceptable). The child very much enjoys “decorating” the pizza — let them choose what to add. Experimenting with flavours in the safe context of pizza is one of the best children’s activities.
— Italian caprese salad. Tomato + mozzarella + basil + olive oil + balsamic vinegar. Nothing simpler. The child can arrange the layers themselves.
— Spaghetti. A classic. The child can stir the sauce, cook the pasta, sprinkle Parmesan. Plus — spaghetti is great hand exercise, because you have to twirl it on a fork.
— Visit an Italian restaurant. In Warsaw there are plenty of good Italian places. A visit to a real Italian restaurant, with Italian music, Italian signs, Italian waiters — is for a five-year-old a real cultural adventure.
— Listen to Italian music together. Classics — Pavarotti, Bocelli. Or light — Eros Ramazzotti, Tiziano Ferro. Let something Italian play at home on a Sunday afternoon. The child soaks up the melodies.
— Show photographs of Italy. The Colosseum. The Leaning Tower of Pisa. The canals of Venice. The Amalfi coast. Pizza Margherita. These images, once seen, build a “map of the world” in the child’s head, to which one returns throughout life.
What stayed after our Italian day
For weeks after our Friday in “Pizzeria Krasnoludek” the Krasnoludki kept saying “pizza” with Italian intonation. Some families on the weekend made home pizza “because we made it at preschool yesterday”. Other parents took their children to a real Italian place — where the Krasnoludki, to their parents’ astonishment, identified “real” pizza and compared it to their own.
And this is precisely the meaning of these days. Because every international day at our preschool is not just nice play — it is the building of a global preschooler. A five-year-old who already knows that Italy, France, Spain, Mexico, Japan exist — will grow up into an adult who is not afraid of the world, who wants to discover it, who has in their head a wide, curious map.
And it all starts from one simple day on which a Krasnoludek rolls out pizza dough and says “buongiorno!”.