Making a Christmas charcuterie board for kids is an easy and great way to get into the holiday spirit. With that being said . . . welcome to another festive charcuterie board post! Somehow, this is my first time making a Christmas charcuterie board. I know—I’m just as surprised as you are!
Once Thanksgiving is over, my kids officially love doing everything and anything Christmas-related. Making gingerbread houses and Christmas crafts are all good fun, but with a charcuterie board, you cannot go wrong. If your kids are anything like mine, then they love to snack.
You can choose many different options for your boards. I prefer a mix of healthy snacks and, of course, some treats!
Making a Christmas Charcuterie Board for Kids
Like I said, I decided to do a variety of healthier options and some cookies and treats because, well, it’s Christmas!
Firstly, decide what route you want to go. Here’s what I used on my Christmas charcuterie board:
- Two different kinds of salami
- Apples
- Blueberries
- Strawberries
- Bananas
- Mangos
- Raspberries
- Green grapes
- Carrots
- Celery (with peanut butter)
- Cucumbers
- Pretzels
- Tortilla chips (for the guacamole)
- Popcorn
- Assorted crackers
- Two different kinds of cheese (I used pepper jack and cheddar)
- Yogurt pretzels
- Christmas-colored M&M’s
- Gingerbread cookies
- Peppermint bark
- Garnish items such as candy canes, marshmallows, and candy eyes
Putting Your Christmas Charcuterie Board Together
I know a few items on my ingredients list sound odd for a Christmas-themed charcuterie board, but hear me out. My favorite Christmas movie of all time is How the Grinch Stole Christmas, so I knew I had to use the Grinch somewhere on my board.
Guacamole and tortilla chips might seem out of place on a Christmas charcuterie board, but I figured a bowl of guacamole would make the perfect Grinch face! My kids got a kick out of it too. I used marshmallows and green M&M’s for his eyes, and a red M&M for his nose.
Another idea similar to this would be to put peanut butter or caramel in a dish for dipping. You could use pretzels for the ears, candy eyes for the eyes, and a red M&M for the nose—make a reindeer dip instead! Again, there are plenty of creative dips out there for you to do.
Other cute ways of adding some decorative aspects while making Christmas charcuterie boards would be to decorate some of the celery pieces. You can fill in the middle with peanut butter, and spruce it up similarly to how you did the peanut butter/caramel dip option. Make handheld reindeer snacks!
Other Cute Snack Ideas
For another cute snack idea, take some green grapes, banana slices, strawberries, and marshmallows (in that order) and make little Santa hat sticks. I used kebab sticks to keep them together. If you have been following my holiday charcuterie boards for a while, then you know I love to use cookie cutters for everything. I’ve used them for dishes in the past, but I mostly love using them to cut shapes out of cheese and fruit.
This Christmas charcuterie board was no exception! For this board, I used star cookie cutters to make shapes out of my various cheese and melon slices. I didn’t use one, but I figured a snowflake cookie cutter would be cute too! You could even use it to hold some of the M&M’s instead of using a small bowl.
Every year, I make Christmas crunch popcorn for my nieces and nephews (and now my own children). To make this, take buttered popcorn and drizzle it with melted white chocolate. From there, I add Christmas-colored sprinkles, M&M’s, and crunched up pretzel pieces. The kids love it—and so do the adults! For this Christmas charcuterie board, I gave my popcorn a little something extra and made it similar to my Christmas crunch popcorn.
Making a Christmas Charcuterie Board for the Whole Family
My kids absolutely love watching me make these boards, and helping along too. I like to ask them questions as I make it. “Where would you put this snack?” “What else would you have added?” “What’s your favorite part about making these boards?”
I love asking these questions to connect with them and make them feel included. Making Christmas charcuterie boards can be a great family activity! If you re-create my charcuterie board, let me know something different that you added! I love hearing new ideas for these.
