Smiley Summer Fruit Pizza!

In the good ol' summertime... this refreshing and fun fruit pizza will make the kids smile as they make their pizza smile!

Playing with their food and making funny faces with fruit?

Yep... they're gonna love it... let's do it!

Smiley Summer Fruit Pizza

3 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

6 (6-inch) flour tortillas

2 tablespoons water

1 (1-ounce) package instant vanilla pudding (the 4-serving size!)

1 banana

1/2 fresh mango

1 kiwi fruit

Fresh strawberries

Seedless raisins

Cooking spray

All righty... there is very little of this that the kids can do by themselves with an adult helper overseeing building smiley fruit pizzas!

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

In a small bowl, still together the sugar and the cinnamon. Using a basting brush or a new 1-inch paint brush, brush the tortillas lightly with a small amount of water.

Note: It's best to put the water in a ramekin that the kids can dip their brushes into. Also, you might show them how to blot their brush out a bit on a folded paper towel.

Sprinkle the sugar mixture on top of the tortillas. Spray a baking sheet. Place the tortillas on the baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes. Watch them so they don't get too brown... ovens vary and so do tortillas! You want them just lightly browned.

While the tortillas are baking prepare the pudding according to the package directions. In making instant pudding it's a lot more fun for the kids to have their very own little whisk that fits their little hand and that they can control and really learn. Yes, it's quicker to throw the pudding in the blender... however, let the kids use their whisks and stir it up by hand!

Place the pudding in the fridge and let the tortillas cool for a short time. Meanwhile, let the kids peel and slice the bananas and the strawberries with a plastic knife. The adult helper will need to peel and slice the mango. Place each fruit in a different bowl, creating a fruit palette for the kids to chose from.

Have the kids measure out about 1/3 cup of pudding on each tortilla (it doesn't have to be an exact measurement on this one) and spoon it onto each tortilla.

Let the creative juices flow and encourage the kids to create a happy face or a design on the tortilla with the fruit. The face can be a smiley face... a silly face... or a design can be created... it's up to the child... the tortilla is their canvas and the fruit their medium! Yum!

The most important part of this little adventure in fruit pizzas is for everyone, including the adult helper, to have fun, laugh and learn. Then, of course, to eat the bounty!

Happy Summer!

Jan McCracken, Culinary Coach for Kids