Thanksgiving Food Ideas for a Preschool Party

Children love to learn about new foods, especially when they are as colorful as the foods in this menu.

To add learning to the Thanksgiving experience, you may want to decorate your tables with a variety of gourds. Not only are they colorful, but they also have unique shapes and textures. Be sure to let the children hold and touch the gourds; they can tell you about the various textures that range from smooth to bumpy.

Tasty Treats

Before giving any food to the children, it is important to make sure that no child has a food allergy. Additionally, the foods you prepare for a Thanksgiving preschool party will depend a lot on whether you have a kitchen in your facility. Having a refrigerator opens the door to many foods that would not otherwise be possible.

For instance, you can make a large sheet pan of orange, yellow and green gelatin. Use one-third less water than the regular recipe calls for. This will add more body and strength to the gelatin, and it will be more wiggly and fun for the kids to pick up and eat. Use cookie cutters to make shapes like pumpkins, turkeys and corn, and prepare one or two for each child to try. Gelatin is usually safe for children with allergies, but check with parents first by sending home a menu of foods that you plan to serve.

A Turkey Dinner

Because cranberries are naturally tart, you may want to buy cans of jellied cranberry sauce for kids in your preschool class to try. You can open the cans at both ends and cut slices that are about one-half inch thick. Cut the slices into small pie-shaped pieces for each child to try. An easy way to serve turkey is to roll medium-thick slices of turkey deli meat and cut them into small pieces for the children to eat.

Many preschoolers will not have tasted pumpkin pie, or if they have, they probably do not remember it from a previous Thanksgiving. You can bake or buy pumpkin pies and slice small pieces for each child to taste. You will need to be aware of any food allergies that a child may have to the pie's ingredients. Most pumpkin pies contain milk and eggs, and these are common allergies among children.

Keep It Simple

It does not take much time to prepare gelatin cut-outs, cranberry sauce shapes, turkey deli meat slices and pumpkin pie for preschoolers. You can buy a ready-made pie in the bakery of your local grocery store. The entire menu is simple to prepare and requires no cooking. If you have children with milk or egg allergies, you may want to ask their parents to send a treat that does not contain the allergen that could make them sick or cause a dangerous reaction. You can also have red and green apple slices for the children instead of pumpkin pie. Most children like apples, and the colors will add even more brightness to your celebration.