I am always looking for new and interesting snack ideas for my children. In case you are too, here are eight snack and food prep trays that we've used recently.

Jam on Pikelets - spreading strawberry jam onto pikelets. We often use crackers for spreading activities so it's nice to use pikelets for something different.

Melon Balls - my three-year-old finds this difficult but it's worth the challenge. We use a small melon baller and some cocktail picks to make it easier to share. I've cut the rounded end off the melon so that it sits flat on the chopping board.

Savory Kebab Hedgehog - threading is a fantastic fine motor activity and threading food is purposeful! Fruit and vegetable kebabs are huge favourites in our home. Here we've used tomato, cucumber, diced turkey, and cheese. We've threaded them onto cocktail sticks and then put them into half an orange to look like a hedgehog. The hedgehog makes it really easy to share.

Avocado Toast - we all love avocado toast and this is a child-friendly version. We use Biscotte Toast (sliced baguette is also a good size), cubed avocado, goat's cheese, and some Dukkah. The child mashes the avocado and spreads it onto the toast. Then we use the mini tongs to put the goat's cheese onto the toast and spread it, then sprinkle the Dukkah on top. A little messy but super tasty. 

Grated Cheese on Crackers - this is an activity to purposely promote grating. Cheese is one of the easiest things to learn to grate as it's soft and who doesn't love cheese on crackers.

Pitted Cherries - this is super simple, put the cherries into the cherry chomper (AU link) and press down. The chomper removes the pit from the cherry. The child can eat the cherry or put them aside to share or eat later.

Pistachio and Peanut Shelling - these shelling activities are designed to promote coordination and strength in the hands. These really work the little muscles in the fingers. Both of these activities are new to my child so I've shelled some nuts and placed the nuts in one bowl and the shells in another so the child knows what to do.

Pea Shelling - another shelling activity to help develop coordination and strength in the hand and fingers. Again this is a new activity so I've shelled one pea pod for my child to follow. Otto loved this so much he shelled all the peas in the tray and asked for more, although I had hoped he would eat the peas but he didn't like them.

Making melon balls.

Then add a cocktail pick. You can see here how I've cut the end of the melon so that it sits flat on the chopping board.

This threading activity held his attention for around 20 minutes, he was super interested. First, we thread the food onto the cocktail sticks. 

Then we put the cocktail sticks into the orange.

My older children love this as an after school snack. 

Avocado on toast. 

Cherry chomper. Remember to add a sponge to your tray and have the child wear an apron, this can get messy. 

Shelling peas. This was a surprisingly calm and relaxing activity.

For more food snack and food prep trays, you might like Independent Snack Making - at Three Years.

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