I made some cute little fruit cups for my daughter’s preschool class party today and wanted to pass along this idea. I love these fruit cups because they are so lovely in person- my little girls were THRILLED to see these come out of the fridge.
It is so quick and so easy and this would be a great option for birthday parties or class parties as an alternative to sweets.
I have two ways to serve the fruit cups and I can tell you first hand I ate two of these today so they are delicious.
The first option is just to layer several kids of fruit into little clear plastic cups. I found that 3 colors or more is best and you can use any fruit that is in season. I ran low on fruit and had a few cups that were just raspberries, pineapple and grapes and they still looked great.
A few other suggestions:
- I used Kiwi to create my green layer and found it didn’t hold up nearly as well as the green grapes (sliced in half). You might also try Honeydew.
- Purple grapes would be a great addition if you use honeydew or kiwi for the green layer.
- I would avoid apples and bananas for the yucky browning factor.
- I used tangerines for the orange layer but mango would be fantastic as well or cantaloupe.
- Layer it all at the last minute to keep the colors nice and bright.
I just cut up all the fruit the night before- and for little ones I diced the fruit for small bite size pieces.
The next morning right before the party I just layered all the fruit in little cups and I found some plastic cups that came with lids. Poke a fork in the straw hole and you have a treat with a lot of wow factor.
If you want to make something a little sweeter (for say a birthday party)- I mixed up some fresh whipped cream and added a nice dollop on top. I also topped with sprinkles because everything is better with sprinkles- #obv. This was so delicious!! Chopped nuts, shaved chocolate or toasted coconut would also be fantastic! Just a little goes a long way.
In our school snack time is at 9:30am- so the kids are celebrating with cookies and cupcakes and getting all that sugar first thing in the morning. This is a great alternative. I would just bring the whipped cream and dollop it as you hand out the cups.
It really is very simple and the children will love it.
Enjoy!
PS: Reader Jason made 32 of these cups for a sports team and was kind enough to share the quantity of fruit used as a reference point:
Grapes- about 4 lbs
Blueberries- 3 lbs
Pineapples- 3
Clementines- 7lbs
Strawberries- 8 lbs
And here is another fun snack idea– Watermelon lollipops!
And one more of our favorites– watermelon sorbet. No ice cream maker needed!
These look scrumptious — and I’m sure the teachers are
thrilled to see a healthy party treat. Well done!
These will go great with the rainbow cupcakes at my daughters party this weekend! I was going to do the “rainbow” fruit anyways, but now I will put them into the cups. Such a cute idea!!
Nicole the cups make it so much easier to manage. I hope you have a great party!
I saw the most beautiful party the other day:
http://www.thehandmadehome.net/2013/01/watercolor-party/
Really puts anything I have ever done to shame and a lot of her ideas are very simple 🙂
charlene, i loved looking at the watercolor birthday party idea. i think you could do that at any age. maybe combine with decorating your own cupcakes/cookies (art on paper, art on cupcake…).
do you think a dollop of vanilla yogurt would work? i don’t keep whipped cream around my house but usually have yogurt. maybe a parfait with some granola. makes me hungry…
Wow, that is so cute and creative. Way above anything I am prepared to do this year. The seven month old might have something to do with that! Thanks for the party ideas!!
No kidding! Somehow my DIY never turns out that cute 🙂
@ Cathy- absolutely! The homemade whipped cream is easy and so delicious though. You should try it sometime 🙂
Oh Nicole, I pinned this the other day too.
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/7599893094671032/
I was thinking it was so pretty! I wouldn’t normally give the kids Fruity Pebbles but you could buy white cupcakes at whole foods and look how pretty those are on top.
Love these! Any reason why the colors are “upside down”? I’m sure my kids would ask.
Ellen- I have never once had a child ask why it is upside down :). I bring these as treats for class parties and other things all the time. I just layered the red on the bottom because the blueberries would have been squished otherwise. I think it is perspective though. It doesn’t look upside down to me. Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue and that is the order they are in the cup 😉 If you use frozen blueberries you could probably layer the other direction or purple grapes instead of berries.
Where do you get the cups with the lids??
Stacy- I used Saran Wrap to cover the cups.
youhave some pretty beautiful things look delish keep up the good work im making a suprise for my family using one of your recipies i love you guys
Please contact me now in email I want to have a great talk with you about what did you put in the cup so I can make one
Thanks
Hi Ghazal- I actually listed what I put in the cups in the post so you should be able to get all the details there.
Good luck!
Yum!
These look amazing, I really love the idea and would like to try it for my son’s birthday. Could you please tell me the cud size, are they 24 or 32 oz? I am trying to find on amazon some with lids.
Hi Ana,
I am thinking 24 or 32 oz would be too big for kids? That would be a really generous portion. Maybe older boys would have a big enough appetite- you know your guy best 😉
I am pretty sure these are the ones I ordered. I got a huge pack but we used them for ages and the lids are very handy.
https://www.amazon.com/Plastic-Clear-Drink-Cups-Flat/dp/B01HHQ40IC/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1488163278&sr=8-3&keywords=plastic+cups+with+lids&_encoding=UTF8&tag=myfrugadve-20&linkCode=ur2&linkId=1c64a794abdaf2eba0c89378a7586e13&camp=1789&creative=9325
I used these all summer when kids came over to play, for trips, we packed snacks for soccer teams and such in them and I made these cute watermelon fruit cups for class parties. They are super handy.
http://myfrugaladventures.com/2016/01/one-in-a-melon-valentine-for-kids-free-printable/
Thanks for the quick reply, orderd them