This is a cheerful holiday activity that is perfect for working together, eating together, and getting to play a little bit with our food. Invite children to help you chop, organize, and eat this toddler and preschool age friendly charcuterie board that is perfect for the holidays.
Note: Modify food as appropriate for children under 4 (e.g. quarter grapes and tomatoes) and always supervise children closely while eating.
For tips on how to work safely in the kitchen with children, see our Kitchen Safety themed activities in the search bar.
Set up Time: 5 minutes
Directions
- Select children’s favorite foods to create your charcuterie. Examples are crackers, cheese, tomatoes, grapes, sliced meat, fruit, goldfish, pretzels, etc. Add rosemary for decoration.
- Invite children to help you chop the foods with rounded or child-safe knives. If available, use cookie cutters on the cheese and turkey to make nice shapes, including a star for the top of the tree.
- Add different rows of ingredients to decorate your tree, that can represent ornaments, garlands, or the star on top of the tree.
Materials
- Variety of foods
- Cutting board
- Child safe knives (if choosing to use)
Learning Through Play
Physical: Fine Motor – Chopping, using cookie cutters, organizing your platter—these are all great ways to encourage children to use their fine motor skills. Be sure to wash your hands first though!
Social-Emotional: Bonding – How does it feel to create a communal dish like a charcuterie board? How can we use this to talk about sharing a creating something that everyone can enjoy? If children enjoy this activity and this food, do this again and at other holidays with different shapes, like hearts, suns, or whatever the occasion calls for.
School Readiness: Patterns – Organizing and designing the rows of ingredients is actually a great way to introduce patterns. Each row is its own unique ingredient, but at the end, the rows come together to create something beautiful (and delicious!)
See this activity in the Rayz Kidz app along with the other fun activities. Rayz Kidz is your trusted source for play-based activities featuring over 100 themes and 500+ hands-on activities and clear descriptions of the beautiful learning that is happening through play.
