These cheese pencils make the most adorable snack for back to school season! They are easy to put together and a great way to get your kids involved in the kitchen. Making these snacks is also a great fine motor skill activity for younger kids!
I like to include them in Ella and Cam’s lunchboxes during the first week of school. For younger kids, you can skip using the appetizer pick and just place in their lunchbox so they can put the pieces together at lunchtime. Also, check out these 10 Lunchbox Ideas even picky eaters will enjoy!
Can I make a vegan option?
These pencils can easily be made vegan by using fruit. Pineapple sticks are great for the yellow part of the pencil. You can use apples or pears for the white part of the pencil and watermelon for the eraser. If you use apples or pears, soak them in lemon juice first so they don’t brown. For the pencil tip you can use pieces of black cherries or blackberries. Vegan chocolate chips are also great to use as the pencil tip.
If you want savory pencil snacks you can use vegan cheese. For the erasers, some options are vegan ham, hot dogs or jerky sticks.
Cheese Pencils Back to School Snack
Items Needed
- Cheddar cheese sticks
- Mozzarella string cheese
- Ham steak
- Black olives, whole
- Appetizer tooth picks or mini bamboo skewers
Cut the cheese sticks
First, cut the cheddar sticks in half, the short way. Then cut the mozzarella string cheese into 4 pieces, the short way.
Make mozzarella triangles
Place a piece of the mozzarella next to a cheddar stick to get an idea of how much you’ll need to cut when making the triangle shapes. Cut the triangles accordingly. Later when you cut the olives, you’ll need to cut the tip of the mozzarella triangle so the olive piece can fit properly.
Make olive triangles
Cut a black olive in half, the short way. Then carve triangles. Place the olive triangles next to the mozzarella triangles and cut the tip of the mozzarella so that the olive triangle can fit properly.
Cut ham erasers
Cut the ham steak into strips using the cheddar cheese stick to measure the width. Then cut the strips of ham into small rectangles. I love the Black Bear brand! Boar’s Head also makes a good ham steak.
Thread onto appetizer picks
Carefully thread the ham onto the appetizer stick, followed by cheddar cheese, mozzarella and olive.
Tip: Save the mozzarella cheese scraps. They look like pencil shavings! Serve these pencil snacks with notebook paper as placemats. Your kids will have so much fun pretending to write with the pencils!
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Cheese Pencils Back to School Snack
Ingredients
- 2 cheddar cheese sticks
- 1 mozzarella string cheese stick
- 1 ham steak
- 4 black olives
- 4 appetizer tooth picks or mini bamboo skewers
Instructions
- First, cut the cheddar sticks in half, the short way. Then cut the mozzarella string cheese into 4 pieces, the short way.
- Place a piece of the mozzarella next to a cheddar stick to get an idea of how much you’ll need to cut when making the triangle shapes. Cut the triangles accordingly. Later when you cut the olives, you’ll need to cut the tip of the mozzarella triangle so the olive piece can fit properly.
- Cut a black olive in half, the short way. Then carve triangles. Place the olive triangles next to the mozzarella triangles and cut the tip of the mozzarella so that the olive triangle can fit properly.
- Cut the ham steak into strips using the cheddar cheese stick to measure the width. Then cut the strips of ham into small rectangles.
- Carefully thread the ham onto the appetizer stick, followed by cheddar cheese, mozzarella and olive. Tip: Save the mozzarella cheese scraps. They look like pencil shavings!
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Genius idea thank you for sharing 🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽
That is so sweet! Thank you, I’m happy you enjoyed this post!