If you're looking for fun and creative veggie tray options for your next kids' party, this Under the Sea Veggie Tray is the perfect centerpiece. It transforms an ordinary vegetable platter into a vibrant underwater adventure that will have children excited to dive into healthy snacks.
Assemble a playful strawberry crab, a mandarin orange turtle, and a bright bell pepper and cucumber fish swimming in a blueberry ocean. It’s an engaging, visual way to encourage kids to eat more fresh produce while fitting perfectly into an ocean-themed event.
Keep the fun swimming along with these healthy dip recipes that pair perfectly with chips, fruit and veggies!
This colorful underwater platter is loaded with a wide variety of fresh, raw vegetables and fruits that provide essential vitamins and minerals for growing kids. Serving a diverse mix of produce helps support overall wellness and energy in a fun, approachable format.
(Instant Download)
Sign Up for instant access to your free cookbook plus our most popular quick and healthy recipes!
Kids usually gravitate toward mild, crunchy, and familiar vegetables like baby carrots, cucumber slices, and snap peas, which are all featured heavily in this sea-themed platter.
It is generally much cheaper to make a veggie tray at home, especially when you are building a custom shape or theme like this fish and ocean platter, as you can buy bulk produce and assemble it yourself.
Along with this fun veggie tray, you can serve fish-shaped crackers, star-shaped sandwiches, blue gelatin cups to represent water, and fresh fruit skewers to keep the menu colorful and kid-friendly.
If your little ones loved diving into this ocean-themed platter, keep the mealtime imagination going with these other creative, animal-shaped snacks that make eating fresh produce a blast.
Round out your party spread by pairing this vibrant underwater veggie tray with more crowd-pleasing, vegetable-packed healthy appetizer recipes that guests of all ages will love to dip and share.
Recipe yields 12 servings
Grab a large, rimmed baking sheet (an 18x13-inch half-sheet pan works perfectly for this amount of food).
Build the “Fish”: Pile the grape tomatoes together on the far left side to form the rounded face of the fish. Place one small round slice of summer squash near the top of the tomato pile. Place a small blueberry (or a candy eye) in the center of the squash. Right next to the tomatoes, layer the cucumber slices in overlapping rows to look like “fish scales.” Next to the cucumber slices, layer the remaining summer squash slices in overlapping rows to create more “fish scales.” Next add a curved column of cheddar cheese cubes right next to the squash. Next to the cheese, lay the snap peas in a slightly smaller curved column. Follow the snap peas with a smaller curved column of cauliflower florets. After the cauliflower, add a small stack of baby carrots to taper the body toward the tail. Fan out the slices of bell peppers on the far right side, radiating outward to create a colorful “tail fin.” Using the top of the red bell pepper, segment into one large piece and two smaller pieces. Place the large piece on top of the cucumbers and squash and the two smaller pieces on top and bottom of the squash for the “fins.”
The Blueberry “Ocean”: Pour the blueberries around the edges of the “fish.” Spread them around to cover the bottom and push them to the edges of the tray.
Assemble the Strawberry “Crab” (Top Left): Use your wood toothpicks to help assemble the “crab.” Use a whole strawberry for the main body. Slice the remaining strawberries into small curved pieces for the claws and thin strips for the legs. Arrange them around the main body and attach with small pieces of toothpicks. Place the assembled “crab” in the top left corner of the tray on top of the blueberries.
Assemble the Mandarin “Turtle” (Bottom Right): Use a whole peeled mandarin orange for the “turtle shell.” Use individual mandarin segments for the four flippers. Cut a round segment from the mandarin peel for the head. Place in the bottom right of the tray on top of the blueberries. If using, place two candy eyes on top of the piece of mandarin peel.
Kiwi “Seaweed/Lily Pads”: Scatter the kiwi slices around the "ocean" on top of the blueberries to add bright pops of green.
Serve with small bowls of ranch dressing, blue cheese dressing, and hummus for dipping.
Serve this platter alongside kid-friendly mains like healthy chicken nuggets or a build-your-own taco bowl station. It also pairs perfectly with simple dips like low-sodium hummus or a creamy Greek Yogurt Salad Dressing.
You can use yellow bell peppers or extra cucumber slices if summer squash isn't available.
Green beans or celery sticks work perfectly to build the green portions of the fish body.
If you don't have enough blueberries for the ocean, blackberries or purple grapes make excellent "water" alternatives.
If your little ones enjoyed snacking on this creative Under the Sea Veggie Tray, they will love exploring these other fun party recipes for kids that turn healthy eating into an interactive adventure.