Getting crafty and creative in the kitchen is always fun! Today we are going to do just that by decorating sandwiches to look like a fish and a cat. School age kids will be able to hone their fine motor and creative skills while also having fun with this activity. The materials needed are easy to come by and can be substituted with vegetables of similar shape, so you have a lot of options!
You Will Need:
Bread
Your preferred sandwich fillings
Whole black olives
Sliced carrots
Sliced cucumbers
Cheese
Chives, cut into 2-inch-long pieces
Knife
Cutting board
Preparations
Always remember, safety first! Be sure to have an adult watching over you and don’t be afraid to ask for help while cutting the vegetables!
Also make sure your cutting board or workspace is clean. Because you will be touching a lot of food, be sure to wash your hands for at least 20 seconds before starting.
Lastly, before we start decorating, make a sandwich with your favorite ingredients. I went for a simple sandwich with turkey, cheese, and lettuce. Now that your sandwich is complete, let’s start decorating!
Cat
Step 1: First, carefully use a knife to cut three carrot slices into triangles. Set aside.
Tip: Make all the triangles as close to the same size as possible so it won’t matter if they get mixed up.
Tip: Don’t have carrots? You can use a different circular sliced veggie like a radish. The same goes for the cucumbers!
Step 2: Next, cut an olive in half lengthwise. Place it in its longest position and cut from top to bottom until the olive splits apart. These will be the cat’s pupils!
Step 3: Now, let’s decorate! Start by placing a slice of cheese on the top piece of bread of your sandwich.
Step 4: Then place one of the carrot triangles on the top left side of the sandwich. Do the same on the top right. Now you have cat ears!
Step 5: Next, put two slices of cucumber next to each other on the top half of the bread. They should be right below the ears.
Step 6: Place one olive half in the center of each cucumber you just placed.
Step 7: For the nose, place the last carrot triangle upsides down in the center of the bread right below the eyes.
Step 8: Lastly, add three chives beneath one of the eyes horizontally (from left to right). Do the same on the opposite side. These are the cat’s whiskers!
Tip: If you don’t have chives, the stems of herbs like cilantro or parsley work just fine too!
Fish
Step 1: First, cut about 8 carrot slices in half. When you’re finished, you will have 16 halves. These are going to be the fish’s scales! Set them aside for later use.
Step 2: Next, cut off the end of the olive that has a star-like shape on it. Put the end of the olive in a safe place so you can find it easily when it’s time to use it. We are not using the rest of the olive, so you can
put it away; or if you’re like me and love olives,
you can just eat the rest of it!
Step 3: Cut one of the cucumber slices in half. Set aside.
Step 4: Just like we did with the cat, place a slice of cheese on top of the sandwich.
Step 5: Then place a sliced cucumber on top of the cheese in the upper left corner.
Step 6: Add the end of the olive to the center of the cucumber slice just placed. This is the fish’s eye!
Step 7: Next, place the halved carrots diagonally from the bottom left corner of the bread to the top right. The carrots should be positioned with the round side up. Continue to place the carrots like that until
you reach the bottom right edge of the bread.
For reference, I used 15 carrot slices.
Step 8: Lastly, add the cucumbers that were sliced in half to the bottom right corner next to the sandwich. Now your fish has fins!
Viola! Your animal sandwiches are done! What other animals can you create with these ingredients?