During the holiday season, there are more occasions to gather and feast than many folks can fit into their calendar. There are classroom Christmas parties, neighborhood potlucks, family-friendly office holiday parties, and of course the traditions of each family that often center around sharing a meal. For students and parents of Montessori preschool in Winnetka, the classroom Christmas party is a great opportunity to sprinkle a dash of the Montessori philosophy into the festive and tasty treats served to your excited preschoolers, and perhaps learn some Montessori recipes to share at your other holiday gatherings too.
No matter if your child attends Montessori preschool in Chatsworth, CA or Sydney, Australia, there are several elements of the Montessori method and curriculum that can make the food at preschool Christmas party unique, festive, and even educational. For starters, the Montessori lessons in the world’s cultures are a perfect compliment to explorations of different foods and holiday traditions. Exercising their Montessori practical life skills, children can also help prepare the tasty holiday snacks while learning about where the ingredients come from and how healthy food helps them take care of themselves. Here are a few recipes that can help you and your Montessori preschooler enjoy delicious food while reinforcing learning from the classroom.
Festive fruit skewers
This easy snack gives the class something sweet to munch on without all the sugar of cookies and candy – and they are something children can help make too. With some blunted skewers, bananas, strawberries, and any other fruit you’d like to add to your designs, you can craft snowmen and Santas. For snowmen, cut the bananas into rounds, stacking three onto the skewer beneath a strawberry “Santa hat.” For Santas, skewer a three-inch portion of the banana and create Santa’s face with chocolate chips, raisins, or piped frosting.
Edible Christmas Tree Platters
If you are looking for a festive and filling snack platter, arranging fruits or vegetables into an edible Christmas tree is a great dish. For the central structure of these lovely food towers, you can use a pineapple or a butternut squash and toothpick all your favorite fruits or vegetables to the surface until the tree is looking full and abundant. You can also use a sweet or savory yogurt dip as the snow around the base of the tree.
Hot cider
While much of the attention at holiday gatherings is often focused on the food, there are delicious seasonal beverages that can be explored too. Hot cider is any easy crowd-pleaser that can be prepared in a crockpot the evening before and left to simmer throughout the Christmas party. Your preschooler can help add the spices like cinnamon sticks and cloves, measure the juice, or even help serve the cider at the party.
Babybel Santa’s Belly
If you don’t have a lot of time to put together an elaborate dish for the holiday gathering, don’t worry. You can still participate and enjoy a quick crafting activity with your preschooler with this treat. Babybel Santa’s Bellies are a cute and welcome addition to any food buffet and are very simple to make. Just buy Babybel cheese rounds, remove the packaging but leave the red waxy outer covering, and add a little black paper belt with a yellow belt buckle. With you and your preschooler working together you’ll have your Christmas party contribution done in no time.
Valor Montessori Prep’s goal is to develop confident, competent, self-disciplined and driven individuals, who can work cooperatively for the benefit of society. Schedule a tour of our Montessori preschool to learn more!