5 Sweet and Simple David and Goliath Snacks for Kids to Make at Home

Most little ones know just what it feels like to be the smallest one in the room. The one who can’t reach the top shelf, or keep up with the big kids, or do the thing everybody else seems to manage so easily.

So the story of David and Goliath tends to land with them right away. A boy too small for the armor, walking out to face a giant, and winning because God was with him. It’s the kind of story children hold onto for a long time.

And a snack is a sweet little way to help it stick. Whether you’re a parent at the kitchen table, a grandparent with the grandkids over, a Sunday school teacher, or a homeschool mama planning a lesson, these five snacks are simple to put together and easy to tie right back to the story.

Five snacks, one for each of David’s five smooth stones.

“The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” — 1 Samuel 16:7

5 sweet and simple david and goliath snacks for kids

Here are five easy snacks to make together, starting with the simplest and working toward the ones that take a little more time. So pick one for a quiet afternoon, or work through all five as you tell the story.

1. David’s pretzel sling snack

This is the one the little ones ask to make twice, and a grape or two usually gets eaten before the slingshot is even finished. If they love a Bible story with a bit of a battle in it, our armor of god crafts are a natural next one, all about standing strong because God is with us.

1. First, lay two thin pretzel rods on the plate in a wide Y, like the two arms of a slingshot.
2. Then tie the tops together with a thin strip of red fruit leather, or a lace of red licorice, so it stretches across like the slingshot band.
3. Next, tuck a little melted chocolate or a chocolate candy into the fork where the two pretzels meet, both to hold them together and to be the pouch.
4. Finally, line up five red grapes just below for David’s five smooth stones.

2. David and Goliath stone cookies

Five stones on a plate is a quiet way to bring the number right into snack time. As they line them up, you can ask the littles why they think David reached for five instead of just one.

1. Start with plain round cookies, since sugar cookies or vanilla wafers both work well.
2. Then whisk up a simple glaze from powdered sugar and a little milk until it is smooth and pourable.
3. Next, spoon the glaze over each cookie so it settles into a smooth, glossy coat that looks like a river stone.
4. From there, stir a tiny bit of cocoa or a drop of black food coloring into the glaze first if you would like a grayer stone.
5. Finally, let them set, and group five together to match David’s five smooth stones.

3. Giant footprint cookies

Nothing lands the size of that giant quite like a footprint cookie bigger than a child’s whole hand. It gives them something to hold up and measure themselves against, which is half the fun.

1. First, roll out sugar cookie dough and cut out big foot shapes, using a foot-shaped cutter if you have one or cutting them freehand with a knife.
2. Then bake them following your recipe, and let the cookies cool all the way before you decorate.
3. Next, use white icing to pipe an outline all the way around the edge of each foot, tracing the shape.
4. From there, add four little dots of white icing across the top of each foot for the toes.
5. Finally, set the giant footprints side by side so the little ones can see just how big Goliath’s feet were.

4. David and Goliath giant vs. little snack

This is the whole story on a plate, and the point is sitting right there in front of them before anyone says a word. It’s a good one for the very youngest, since there’s really nothing to build, just big and little set side by side.

1. First, set a small cluster of whole grapes on one side of the plate for the giant.
2. Then set a few raisins on the other side for the little one.
3. Next, talk about how a raisin is just a grape that dried up small, so the two make a perfect giant and little.
4. From there, notice how the grapes are smooth and the raisins are wrinkly, the way David chose smooth stones from the brook.
5. Finally, let the little ones eat their way from giant to little, however they like.

5. David’s shepherd snack

That picture of a shepherd out with his sheep comes back again later with Jesus, the Good Shepherd, and you’ll find more of it in our sweet jesus crafts. It’s a gentle reminder that God was shaping David out in the quiet field long before the day of the battle.

1. First, make the shepherd’s staff by gently curving a pretzel rod into a crook shape, like a little candy cane.
2. Then set a round vanilla wafer or tan cookie down for the sheep’s face.
3. Next, tuck white mini marshmallows all the way around the cookie for the woolly head and body.
4. From there, add a little round candy for the nose and two mini chocolate chips for the eyes.
5. Finally, dip four short pretzel pieces in melted chocolate for the legs, set them under the body, and stand the sheep beside the staff to remember David was a shepherd first.

the story behind these snacks

Long before David was a king, he was the youngest of eight brothers, out in the fields keeping his father’s sheep. He was the small one, the one left behind when the older boys marched off with the army. But God had already seen something in him that no one else had noticed yet.

One day his father sent him to carry bread and cheese to his brothers at the battle line. And when he got there, he heard the giant.

Goliath was a Philistine, and he was enormous, somewhere around nine feet tall. Every single day he came out and shouted at God’s people, and every day the soldiers, grown men in armor, were too afraid to face him. But David wasn’t afraid, because he knew the battle belonged to the Lord.

So he turned down the king’s heavy armor, since it didn’t fit and it wasn’t his to begin with. Instead he went down to the brook and chose five smooth stones, the kind worn round by the water, and slipped them into his shepherd’s bag. Then he walked out with nothing but his sling and his God.

He only needed one. David swung the sling, the stone flew, and the giant came down. The smallest one on that whole field brought down the one everybody else was scared of, and he did it because God was with him. David wasn’t the first unlikely person God used this way, either, and if your little ones love these Old Testament accounts, our samson crafts for sunday school tell another one worth sitting down with.

why kids love a good david and goliath snack

Children know exactly what it feels like to be small. To be the one nobody picks, or the one who gets told they’re too little for something. So a story where the small one wins speaks right to them.

That’s the same reason they love jonah and the whale crafts, where God turns out to be bigger than the very thing that swallowed him whole. Kids feel the size of these stories in a way we sometimes forget to.

And there’s real comfort in it. Our verse says the Lord doesn’t look at the outside the way people do, He looks at the heart. God noticed a shepherd boy the world walked right past, the same way He noticed a small man up a tree in our zacchaeus craft ideas. A snack is just a small doorway into a big truth like that.

simple supplies to keep on hand

You don’t need much for any of these. A bag of pretzels, sticks and rods both, will carry the slingshot and the shepherd’s staff, and a bag of mini marshmallows makes the woolly sheep. Keep a small bunch of grapes and a box of raisins on hand for the giant-versus-little plate and the slingshot’s five stones, and a little peanut butter or frosting works as the glue that holds everything together.

For the cookies, a tube of sugar cookie dough will do the job, with a little powdered-sugar glaze or white icing to smooth the stones and outline the footprints. A strip or two of red fruit leather ties the slingshot together, a bit of chocolate holds it at the fork, and a handful of shredded coconut is nice for a woolly sheep, though it’s easy to skip.

Most of it is probably already sitting in your pantry, and whatever’s missing is a quick grab on the next grocery run.

tips for making these with little ones

A little prep goes a long way here. So if you can slice the fruit leather, unwrap the candies, and bake the cookies ahead of time, the little hands can get right to the fun part without much waiting.

Keep an eye on allergies too, since these go out to a lot of Sunday school tables and classrooms. Sunflower butter stands in nicely for peanut butter, and most of these snacks work just fine with a swap or two if you’ve got a nut-free room.

And don’t fuss over how they look. A crooked slingshot or a lopsided sheep is part of the charm, and it’s the making and the talking that the little ones remember anyway. If you want to send the story home with them, pair the snack with the week’s memory verse, the way our bible verse crafts do, so the words have something sweet to hang onto.

pick one snack to make this week

You don’t need to make all five. Just one good snack and a little glue of peanut butter is plenty to open up the story.

So pick the one that fits your supplies and the ages around your table, and let the little ones make something with their hands while you tell them about David and the giant. The snack is fun on its own, but that bit of truth you plant while they’re busy tends to stay with them far longer than the treat does. Remind them that God looked at David’s heart, not his size, and that He looks at theirs the very same way.

And one more thing before you go. If you make any of these with your little ones, I’d love to see how they turned out. Leave a photo in the comments when you get a chance, or send one our way, and with your okay it may even be featured here on the site to encourage other families doing the same. There’s no pressure at all, just a friendly little invitation to share. So glad you are here.

Warmly,
Betty

frequently asked questions

what age are these david and goliath snacks best for?

They work well for toddlers on up through early elementary. The giant-versus-little plate and the stone cookies are easy for the very youngest, while the pretzel slingshot and the shepherd snack are a nice fit for children who can handle a few small pieces.

what is the main lesson of david and goliath?

That God is bigger than any giant we face. David was small and overlooked, but he trusted the Lord, and God gave him the victory. It’s a gentle way to talk with children about facing scary things with faith instead of fear.

which bible verse goes with these snacks?

We used 1 Samuel 16:7, where the Lord says He looks at the heart rather than the outward appearance. If you’d rather lean into the battle itself, 1 Samuel 17:47, “the battle is the LORD’s,” is another lovely one to say together.

can i make these nut-free or allergy-friendly?

Yes, and it’s easy. Swap sunflower butter or a dab of frosting for the peanut butter, and check your cookies and candies for the label you need. Most of these come together fine in a nut-free room with a simple substitution.

how long do these snacks take to make?

The simplest ones, like the giant-versus-little plate and the stone cookies, take just a few minutes. The footprint cookies take longer since they bake and cool, so plan around half an hour to an hour if you’re baking from scratch.