Taste of Italy for nursery schoolers?

My son's nursery school hosts an annual International Day, and I'm manning the Italy table. In addition to making Italian flags together, I need to provide them an "authentic" snack but one that is nut-free and low in sugar. I could do a basic pizza but thought I might try to be a bit more creative with the kiddos. Thoughts? It needs to be something that can be left out as the morning runs for two hours. Also something that doesn't require silverware would be great. There will probably be 50 or so children coming though...Many thanks!

em-i-lis
  • Posted by: em-i-lis
  • February 23, 2012
  • 3584 views
  • 8 Comments

8 Comments

lorigoldsby
lorigoldsby February 23, 2012
What about a caprese skewer? 1/2 or 1/4 of a cherry tomato, a mini mozzarella ball and a basil leaf...and bonus... It's the colors of the flag!
 
em-i-lis
em-i-lis February 23, 2012
thank you all so much! what wonderful, creative, non-pizza ideas!!! many thanks!!!
 
Devangi R.
Devangi R. February 23, 2012
I go with amysarah for paninis, you can make them ahead and pack them also..how about some panini with grilled apples with honey-lemon-rosemary dip. It will be low in sugar, no nuts and easy to serve.
 
amysarah
amysarah February 23, 2012
At that age, my kids were especially fond of ravioli and tortellini - a fun shape had a lot of appeal. Or, maybe some kind of panini, cut into quarters, or fritatta in bite-size pieces. But I'd stick to generally young child-friendly ingredients - I never assumed that because my kid might like, e.g., mushrooms, all nursery aged kids did.
 
sexyLAMBCHOPx
sexyLAMBCHOPx February 23, 2012
Little meatballs would be adorable!
 
POTATO
POTATO February 23, 2012
How about Arancini with a basic risotto recipe. They can be made small for little hands, and in Italy they sit out room temperature all afternoon.

Other finger food that comes to mind -- meatballs, cauliflower fritters, calzones. Or you could always get tiny tin foil cups and make little servings of eggplant parm (or eggplant involini) or bake some other type of pasta or lasagna in the cups. Another option might be to make different types of fritata's and cut them in pizza-shaped bites to try. Sounds like a fun learning experience!
 
Panfusine
Panfusine February 23, 2012
AARGH, I meant Zeppoles..
 
Panfusine
Panfusine February 23, 2012
How about Zepploes?
 
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