haha ha sarada wo tiisai sara ni sukosizutu moritukete, kodomotati ni saki ni dasimasita.

は marks 母 as the topic of the sentence: as for mother, ...

It does not mean she is the direct object or the destination of anything. It simply sets her up as the person the sentence is about. After that, the sentence tells us what she did:

• サラダを ... 盛り付けて
• 子供たちに ... 出しました

So 母は is the starting point for the whole statement.

In Japanese, when talking about your own mother to someone else, it is very common to say 母 rather than お母さん.

A rough pattern is:

• 母 = my mother / our mother, in a more neutral or outward-facing way
• お母さん = mom / mother, often when addressing her directly or referring to someone else’s mother more politely

So 母は sounds natural in narration or explanation.

を marks the direct object of the verb.

Here, the action is 盛り付ける, which means something like to arrange/plate/serve food onto dishes nicely. The thing being plated is the salad, so:

• サラダを盛り付ける = to plate the salad

Even though the salad ends up on plates, the salad itself is still the thing directly affected by the action, so it gets を.

Here に shows the destination/place onto which something is put.

So:

• サラダを盛り付ける = plate the salad
• 皿に盛り付ける = plate it onto a plate
• 小さい皿に盛り付ける = plate it onto small plates

So the roles are:

• サラダを = the thing being plated
• 小さい皿に = where it is plated onto

Because 小さい directly modifies the noun 皿, just like an adjective in English.

• 小さい皿 = a small plate / small plates

This is a basic noun phrase, so no particle is needed between the adjective and the noun.

Compare:

• 赤い車 = a red car
• 新しい本 = a new book
• 小さい皿 = a small plate

Yes, 小さな皿 is also possible.

Both 小さい皿 and 小さな皿 mean small plate(s). In many contexts they are very close in meaning.

A simple way to think about it:

• 小さい is the regular -い adjective
• 小さな is a special modifier form used only before nouns

In everyday use, 小さい皿 is very straightforward and common.

少しずつ means little by little, a little at a time, or in small amounts each.

In this sentence, it most naturally means the mother put the salad onto the small plates in small portions. In other words, she divided it up little by little among the plates.

So it is not just about the speed of the action; it suggests small portions distributed gradually/one by one.

盛り付ける means to arrange food on a dish/plate, to plate, or to serve up attractively.

It is more specific than just put. It often implies preparing food neatly for serving.

So:

• サラダを小さい皿に盛り付ける = to plate the salad onto small plates

The て-form here, 盛り付けて, connects this action to the next one.

The て-form is being used to link two actions done by the same subject.

The sequence is:

1. 母はサラダを小さい皿に少しずつ盛り付けて
2. 子供たちに先に出しました

So the meaning is roughly:

• Mother plated the salad onto small plates little by little, and then served it to the children first.

The て-form often connects actions in order, especially when one action happens before the next.

Yes, 出す often means to take out, to put out, or to send out, but with food it commonly means to serve.

So in this sentence:

• 子供たちに出しました = she served it to the children

This is a very common extended meaning of 出す. The core idea is still putting something out for someone.

Examples:

• お茶を出す = serve tea
• 料理を出す = serve food
• 客に出す = serve to guests

Here に marks the recipient of the action 出す.

So:

• 子供たちに出しました = served it to the children

This is similar to other verbs where に marks the person who receives something:

• 先生に本をあげる = give a book to the teacher
• 友達にメールを送る = send an email to a friend
• 子供たちに料理を出す = serve food to the children

先に means first, ahead of others, or before the others.

The に here is not the same as the に in 子供たちに. In 先に, the word acts like an adverb:

• 先に出しました = served first / served them first

So the sentence means that the children were served before someone else.

You can think of the two に's separately:

• 子供たちに = to the children
• 先に = first

They just happen to appear next to each other.

The omitted object is understood from the first part: the salad.

Japanese often leaves out words that are already clear from context. So after saying:

• サラダを...盛り付けて

the sentence does not need to repeat サラダを again before 出しました.

In English, we often repeat or use a pronoun:

• She plated the salad onto small plates and served it to the children first.

In Japanese, leaving it out sounds natural.

It means served it to the children first.

More naturally in English:

• She served the children first
• or She served it to the children first

The word 先に tells us that the children got it before others did. It does not just describe the order of motion; it describes the serving order.

The final verb 出しました is in the polite past form.

• 出す = dictionary form
• 出しました = polite past

Since the last verb is polite, the whole sentence sounds polite. The earlier verb appears in て-form because it is linking into that final verb.

A plain-style version would be:

• 母はサラダを小さい皿に少しずつ盛り付けて、子供たちに先に出した。

So the sentence is simply choosing a polite style.