Math Basics Are Focus of New “Pizza” Exhibit at Kohl Children's Museum

Glenview, IL – Kohl Children’s Museum opens its newest traveling exhibition, Pizza: Any Way You Slice It! on Monday, Jan. 18, 2010. This interactive exhibit, created by Omaha Children’s Museum, will continue through Sunday, May 24, 2010.

Pizza: Any Way You Slice It! teaches the basics of math by encouraging playful, open-ended exploration based on one of America’s favorite foods. Using the activities of making pizza, delivering pizza and pretending to eat pizza, children are learning. Hands-on exhibit areas encourage counting, sorting, measuring, gathering, matching, patterning, sequencing, role-playing and sharing. The exhibit was last on display at the Museum in the fall of 2002.

“This exhibit takes a familiar family experience—having pizza for dinner—and turns it into a sophisticated learning environment,” said Sheridan Turner, President and CEO of Kohl Children’s Museum. “This is something that blends in very well with the rest of the Museum environment, creating fun, inviting places for children to learn through play.”

“We’re glad to bring back the exhibit to Kohl Children’s Museum and play a role in kids getting excited about math and math concepts at this exhibit,” said Tom Simons, Omaha Children’s Museum director of education. “By utilizing a familiar and favorite food, Pizza: Any Way You Slice It! immediately relates to kids.”

Areas in the Pizza: Any Way You Slice It! exhibit include:

• Pizza Parlor: Kids can get behind the counter, put on an apron and take pizza orders. When kids answer the phone, they will be greeted with a number of entertaining recorded pizza orders.
• Pizza Kitchen: A wide variety of toppings are available to make pretend pizzas. Measuring cups and recipes are available for kids to make their perfect play pizza.
• Delivery Spots: Children can make deliveries to family and friends at three locations, complete with kid-sized doors that open.
• Giant Pizza Couch: Visitors get into this massive pizza where they can pile up super-sized toppings to make their own larger-than-life pizza.
• Pizza Fact Fun: Guests will learn fun pizza facts, including information on popular pizza toppings around the world.
• Slice-It-Up Table: Kids can work on division with pizzas that can be ‘cut’ into different fractional sections. They will learn how fractions change by taking slices away or putting them together to make a whole.
• Pizza Book Stop: Guests will learn about pizza through a number of books on the subject.

Pizza: Any Way You Slice It! has been sponsored locally by the Gantz Family Foundation, with additional sponsorship from Pizano’s Pizza and Pasta.