Charcuterie boards are not just for adults, they are actually perfect for kids. I am going to help you create the perfect grazing platter for your child and something even your pickiest eater will love.
I may be a little late on the bandwagon with the whole Charcuterie board phenomenon, but I just have to share my excitement with you!
My 6 year old daughter is theeee carb-Queen.
Do you have a carb King or Queen at home?
My daughter loves pb&J sandwiches and just about anything that is not healthy for a young body. I have resorted to making smoothies with green veggies, a variety of fruits, and these kid-friendly nutrient dense powders to sprinkle into these smoothies and to help her little body stay healthy.
But, its exhausting.
The arguing, bribing, pleading for her to try new foods. what I’d really love is for her to eat the foods (fruits and veggies) whole, without an all out brawl–joking, but sometimes it feels like that.
Am I right?
If you are having the same struggle getting your child to try new healthy foods I highly recommend creating a “grazing board”.
My daughter will now try anything on my charcuterie board, even green raw veggies that she wouldn’t normally eat.
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What is a charcuterie board?
Ok, lets get into a short history lesson.
Charcuterie (french word) is the art of preparing cured or smoke meats. Someone that prepares charcuterie is called a charcutier. The actual term Charcuterie only refers to meat, so basically a meat platter. But, more often than not you will see that on a modern Charcuterie board there will be: cheese varieties, olives, crackers, nuts, or fruits.
For an adult charcuterie board, just think of what would pair well with a glass of wine. But, we’re talking about kid-friendly, so maybe don’t do that.
Why should you make a charcuterie board for your kid?
Charcuterie platters are often thought of as fancy-shmancy-appetizers for adults, or at least that’s what I use to think. But, they are an ideal meal for children.
Grazing platters are visually pleasing
First and foremost, kids eat with their eyes first, and everything else second. So, when they see that beautiful platter full of color, different shapes, textures, something inside them wants to MAYBE (fingers crossed) try the food.
I mean, if something looks beautiful, I want to taste too!
Finger-sized-fun sized- bite sized
Grazing platters are the PERFECT size for kids, younger children will be be surprised tiny-foods perfectly sized for their little hands to hold.
Healthy foods
Alright, mama, this is your chance to add the healthy foods your kid normally wouldn’t eat. You can start slow and add a couple of foods (1-3 items) they wouldn’t normally eat onto the platter. Don’t go all out on the get-go, ya know, making a charcuterie board with every food item they despise.
Limitless
A charcuterie board really has no limit, you can do whatever you want with it.
You’re not limited to a specific meal that your child may not like or eat. My daughter is not a fan of my chicken tikka masala curry and only wants to eat the homemade naan ,that I make for it.
You can branch out and make a dessert platter, a fruit platter, breakfast platter, etc. Your imagination is the limit for these visually pleasing and tasty platters.
How to prepare a kid- friendly Charcuterie board
Quick tips on how to prepare a kid-friendly charcuterie platter.
- Make a rainbow! Add vibrant colored fruits and veggies.
- Do not put the same colored foods next to each other, i.e; strawberries, pepperoni’s, tomatoes. Break up the colors! for example, put celery, strawberries, and pineapples near each other since they are different colors.
- Mix the food around, don’t put all the fruits in one section of the platter and all the vegetables on one side. Make your children have to SEARCH for the food.
- Think about the food textures, hard foods, soft foods, crackers with ridges or different texture. This is a very sensory geared experience (excellent for kids!)
- Think about what food groups you want to incorporate into your kid-friendly charcuterie board (All fruit board, all veggie platter, or a mixture of everything?).
- Sprinkle in new foods your child hasn’t had or foods they typically refuse to eat.
- Remember to CUT ALL choking hazard foods like grapes, blueberries, strawberries, carrots!!
- Always cut to the length wise and not width.
- I actually do not buy baby carrots because I have a fear of my children choking on them. I buy regular carrots and chop them lengthwise and keep them about 4 inches long.
Choking hazard safety
When making a grazing platter for a child, it is of the utmost importance, to know what potential choking hazards may be on the platter.
In theory any food can be a choking hazard, especially for toddlers who like to just shove mass amounts of food into their mouths without chewing it properly.
But, especially if your child is under the age of 4 years old, be extra cautious or don’t feed your child this list of potential food choking hazards.
- Watch out for anything ROUND or HARD; foods like grapes, cherry tomatoes, blueberries, etc, if swallowed whole can block your child’s airways.
- Cut these little round foods in half (length wise) OR even better cut them into fourths (I still cut grapes and cherry tomatoes into fourths for my almost 7 year old daughter).
- Determine whether you want nuts and seeds on your platter.
- Do not place large chunks of cheese on the platter, always cut them up properly.
Foods you can add on a charcuterie board
- Meats
- Cheese: hard/ soft cheeses
- Bread and crackers
- Fruits and nuts
- Oils, dips, condiments, and jellies
Kid friendly items to put on your charcuterie board
- Salami
- Prosciutto
- Pepperoni
- Brie
- Mozzarella stick (cut lengthwise for toddlers)
- Whipped cream cheese
- Shredded cheese
- Sliced cheese
- Apple slices
- Fresh berries
- Watermelon
- Grapes
- Avocados
- Cucumbers (cut lengthwise)
- Sliced peppers (bell peppers or mini sweet peppers)
- Chopped broccoli
- Sliced Celery
- Black olives
- Green olives
- Pickles
- Deviled eggs
- Jelly
- olive oil
- Humus
- Ranch dressing
- Mustard
- Cool whip (fruit platter)
Step by step instructions: How to make a charcuterie board for kids
Step 1: Choose a cutting board or a platter
The first part of creating your grazing platter is to choose your serving-ware.
What do you have on hand in your cabinets? A cutting board, perhaps a large plastic plate?
I have a melamine plate that I bought from Target.
You can even incorporate mini-kids platter by just using a cutsie plate, like this one.
Ideally, you would use something, wooden or plastic because children and glass do not mix.
Whatever it is that you have, use it, no need for some fancy serving platter you saw off of pinterest. My personal favorite platter is a large plastic platter that we got from an “edible arrangement”gift.
Step 2: Set out your mini bowls
Yes, use mini bowls! Pinch pots, ramekins, etc
Mini bowls are great because they can contain all the little-hard to keep in place foods (blueberries, nuts and seeds) or dips you may want to add to you charcuterie platter.
For your toddler aged children, I suggest these plastic disposable condiment dipping bowls. Anywhere between a 2 oz mini plastic condiment dip or a 4 oz dip condiment bowl.
Step 3: Add your meats and cheeses
Cheese tips
When adding your cheese to the platter, feel free to use any kind your family likes, vegan cheese, soft cheese, hard cheese.
To save money you can buy a large block of cheese and cut slices off when needed.
We use this cheese slicer, or you can use a knife, just be careful because it can be tricky to cut thick blocks of cheese.
its best to cut your cheese into cracker sizes for easy application to crackers. If slicing cheese is not your thing, check your grocery store for pre-sliced cheese that are made for cracker application.
Meat tips
When it comes to adding meat, choose meats your children will eat. You do not need the fanciest meat or salmon.
I find that my children are just as happy if I give them deli ham as I would prosciutto. But, feel free to venture out once in a while an add something fancy like fully-cooked-ready to eat salmon.
Step 4: Add your vegetables, fruits, and crackers
Vegetable tips
You know your child best, add veggies they will eat and add one or two that you know they won’t eat. Because they may suprise you and eat some.
Remember, when it comes to raw veggies and toddlers be very careful because hard food items or circular food items can pose and potential choking hazard.
Fruit tips
Make a rainbow, use bright vibrant colors for your fruit choices, add different textures of fruits (hard/soft).
Green granny apples, bright red watermelon, rich blue-blueberries, yellow pineapples. There so many beautiful fruits to choose from.
Step 5: Look for gaps
You want to fill out as much of the platter as you can, step back and check if you need to add any other little filler items. Once you take your final glance, present it to your tiny little judges and you’re done!
