Turn on the music and teach your preschoolers some snazzy dance steps -- the pizza box shuffle. They won't even notice that they're developing important gross motor skills along with balance and coordination.
Take a pizza box and tape the lid down. Cut a hole in the middle of the lid. Repeat for as many feet as you have on your preschoolers. Have each preschooler stick her foot into the box and cue up the music. You can have them dance in the boxes or hold a pizza box shoe parade through the hallway of your school.
Cut out shapes of different pizza toppings from cardboard pizza boxes. Choose a variety of shapes, such as triangles for cheese, circles for pepperoni and squares for ham. For each topping, draw a picture of that topping on the inside of another pizza box. Line them up and have your students try to toss the cutout shapes into the correct pizza box with the matching picture.
Give each child in your preschool class a clean, empty pizza box. Let them choose construction paper of one or more colors and paste it onto their box. Give them markers or paint to decorate the box. Somewhere on the box, tape a name tag with the child's name on it. Then find somewhere to store the box. Throughout the year, have your preschoolers put their favorite artwork into the box. They'll have their own art portfolio in a pizza box to take home at the end of the year.
Get your preschoolers interested in science with this solar energy project. Though they may be too young to understand the science involved, they'll be fascinated by the "magic" of making simple treats in the sun. Glue aluminum foil to all inside surfaces of the pizza box except the top of the box. The shiny surface should face in. Draw a square on the top flap of the pizza box. Leave a one-inch margin around the square, at the edges of the lid. Cut three of the four edges of the square, leaving the fourth edge to act as a hinge. Fold the flap back. Glue aluminum foil to the inside surface of this flap with the shiny side facing out. Smooth out any wrinkles. Tape black construction paper to the bottom of the box. Stretch plastic wrap over the opening of the box and seal the edges with tape. Use tape to seal any air leaks, but make sure you can still open and close the pizza box.
Your pizza box is now ready for cooking. If the outside temperature is higher than 60 degrees, take it outside. Otherwise, use a sunny windowsill. Make s'mores for each child and place them in the pizza box. The opened lid will reflect sunlight into the box, heating the s'mores. Allow twice as much time for cooking as you would normally need.