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My daughters and I enjoy a good tea party, and a Back-to-School Tea Party is one your kids will be sure to love.
I love hosting tea parties, especially for our daughters, and now our granddaughters! Some of my most cherished memories are from moments spent in our kitchen over a cup of tea with cookies or a scone. Or maybe just pretend tea–that’s fun, too.
Make Invitations and Plan a Theme
In years past, I would surprise our daughters when they got off the bus, to have the kitchen table all set for a tea party when they came inside. Sometimes, I’d send cute invitations the week before, asking them to invite a special friend, or even a favorite doll or teddy bear.
As a grandmother, I love to host tea parties when our granddaughter comes to visit. I always invite her to dress up and to bring a “friend” whether it be Peter Rabbit, or one of her favorite dolls. She’s pictured here in a sweet Victorian Tea Party Dress that I made for her 6th birthday.
Plan Child-Friendly Activities
No matter whether it’s a big party or a miniature-sized version, it’s always a special time, and we so look forward to our tea time together. Her mommy and aunts do, too. Having a special miniature tea set at the table for the children to play with is always a good idea.
Another great idea is to plan a few fun activities for the tea party. Play Bingo, color pictures, or have everyone name their favorite subject in school and tell an interesting story from their school days. This can be especially fun and educational if you have multi-generations sitting at the table. Think grandmothers or great-grandmas, or even a favorite teacher or two!
Children’s Tea Party Foods
Because this is a tea party for children, I always try to serve kid-friendly foods and do away with serving courses. No child wants to sit through a 90-minute tea party, let alone two hours, so serve everything at once and allow the children to fill their plates as they wish.
Pick foods that kids are going to enjoy, but not too many. After all, you’re going to want them to eat their dinners. I’ve offered several suggestions below, so maybe just pick one or two from each category.
Sweets for the Table
Kids always love some sort of sweet with their tea, especially cookies. When planning your Back to School menu, prepare small, bite-size sweets. You might even consider sending guests home with a box or gift of sweets or cookies, just in case “their eyes were bigger than their stomachs.”
Tea Party Scones
When serving scones, you may select a sweet scone, which doesn’t require any accompaniments, or a plain scone with honey butter, jelly, or lemon curd. Here are a few of our granddaughter’s favorite scones!
A Few Savories
Plan serving a tea sandwich for the party. This could be as simple as Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches cut into small triangles or even with a cookie-cutter to make teddy bear or heart sandwiches, which could be done for any of the sandwich selections below.
Choosing Teas and Beverages for the Party
Last but not least, choose teas and drinks that are fitting for a children’s tea party. Our youngest grandson (now 2 years old) loves drinking tea from grandma’s cup. As long as it isn’t too hot! But our granddaughter preferred strawberry milk or lemonade. At age nine, she now will drink some tea with us, along with milk and sugar.
Recommended Teas for Children
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Buy Now → When choosing tea flavors for the party, keep your child in mind. Plan on serving fruity or floral teas or tisanes (herbal) over dark and strong teas flavors such as earl grey. And be sure to teach your children proper tea manners while they are young. This will go a long way in teaching them table manners when they are older.
Plan on serving at least one other drink to go with the tea. As mentioned above, strawberry milk or lemonade are good choices. Another option is an icy drink such as Orange Julius.
I hope this gives you a few ideas for planning a Back to School Tea Party for your children. No matter what you serve or how small or large the party, remember to be “young at heart” and have lots of fun, giggle and laugh, and be sure to take pictures if you can!
May you spread the love for tea to those in your household, whether young or old.
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“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.”
~ C.S. Lewis
