Call me slow, but prior to lockdowns I had not really embraced online shopping. I remember collecting mail for a neighbour a few years ago and being completely astonished at all the parcels and boxes, in an array of fascinating shapes and sizes, that arrived daily to her porch…. my mail consists mostly of the odd windowed envelope with very unexciting contents.

These days there are a few things we do now have delivered, and I’m left with the conundrum of extra cardboard to recycle, so I always look for opportunities to re-use boxes first.

A box arrived today containing my son’s new skateboard. Long and flat it wasn’t a useful size for anything, but it’s broad smooth panels were perfect for one of my favourite imaginary play ideas… pretend pizzas.

Cardboard circles make sturdy ‘pizza bases’, which can be a fun spark for play which may extend into the making of imaginary toppings, taking orders, baking and serving. My kids absolutely loved this game.

To make a cardboard base find a nice flat box panel and simply trace around a plate to mark a circle. The cutting part takes sturdy scissors and an adult’s strong hand… you may even find a Stanley knife is helpful.

Once you have a few bases it’s time to pass the pizza production over to the kids. Their pretend play can be as simple as scattering a few leaves on top and calling it done, to setting up a whole pizza shop with ovens, tables and waiting staff.

Here are some extra thoughts:

• Offer a few bowls for toppings… these can be shapes cut from paper scraps, or you can simply collect leaves and pebbles from outside. Even dry sand or playdough will work, just use whatever you have on hand.

• If you cut out pizza base circles in a few different sizes you’ll have some extra words and choices to weave into the game, eg. “large, medium or small”.

• If you don’t have thick cardboard, make do with what’s around… a panel from a cereal box or manila folder works just fine.

• Another cardboard box makes a great oven, but your kids could easily use a shelf, cupboard or even the space under a chair as their baking space.

• Little spiral bound notebooks can be picked up at $2 shops and are a fun addition to any toybox. They’re great for jotting down pizza ‘orders’, and my kids used them in games long before they could write.

Pretend pizzas are such a deliciously easy way to spark some creative pretend play. Buon apetito!