Anyone here put on a tea party for little girls? Seeking recommendations....

[Happy2BaMom]

My 4-year-old daughter REALLY wants to have a tea party (her cousin in another city just had one). I would like to support for a variety of reasons...she doesn't ask for much, overall; it's a good chance for her to have a special time with her preschool friends before we move out of the area and start from scratch, etc.

 

I'm not really sure how to do this, however, and am wondering if anyone has any tips (schedule of events, did you play games, etc.) Hiring out is not an option.

 

Any input is appreciated!

[MelanieM]

How fun! I've heard good things about How to Host a Flower Fairy Tea Party by Cicely Mary Barker. It's on my wish list. :D

[TXMomof4]

We did a tea party for my oldest dd a few years ago. We had a very good friend act as "The Butler". All of the girls came in their fancy dresses and sat at the table done up in my good china and crystal. We had a few different kinds of tea,hot chocolate, fancy sugar cubes, tea sandwiches (cream cheese and dill, peanut butter, plain cheese) all cut out with little cookie cutters, pretty thumbprint cookies, etc. Our friend really played up the service - he went all out.

 

For the crafty part of the party we had little travel pillowcases and each girl made fingerprint flowers on each pillowcase. I had printed up the phrase, If friends were flowers, I'd pick you and ironed it onto the pillowcase. That was the party favor. It was a lot of fun and each girl had their friends fingerprints to take with them. One of the girls was visiting from Chile so it was very special to each of them.

 

Mostly make sure it's pink and ruffled and it will work.

[MariannNOVA]

We've done this a couple of times - let me see if I can remember the most important components:

 

Pretty invitations (evites has cute ones)

Favorite Stuffed Animals are Usually Invited

Pretty Attire (not necessarily dresses, but something 'pretty')

 

Have your dd help you make little cupcakes if you are not going to buy that kind of stuff: we bought petit fours, pretty decorated cookies, little tarts, dipped fruit (you can easily do this yourself).

 

Decide what kind of tea you will serve and maybe juice for those little girls who won't drink tea.

 

We also had little tiny sandwiches - crust cut off, cute little shapes we made with cookie cutters (hearts and stuff)

 

Celery stuffed with cream cheese, olives, cherry tomatoes - anything that a frilly toothpick could go in.

 

Fresh flowers - or make crepe paper ones -- that's a fun activity for them to do - pipe cleaners and crepe paper flowers.

 

I would scour the aisles at Michael's for inexpensive but not junky craft projects - you should only need one or two - maybe painting a flower pot (put hefty trash bags over everyone's clothes) or making lollipops (kits at michael's, or decorating cookies.

 

Or, finally, making beaded necklaces for themselves and their favorite stuffed toy who is also attending the party.

 

You probably don't need more than 90 minutes to 2 hours (definitely NOT more than that) and it can be lovely and cute -- your table should be set with cloth, china, or whatever you have that will do the trick -- it doesn't have to match - it can be a shabby chic look.

 

Have fun:)

[wulfbourne]

My SIL hosts tea parties quite often. My BIL just left for boot camp so we're helping to keep her busy while he's gone, and my little girls love it!

 

She has a beautiful tea set she got as a wedding present that the adults use, and my oldest gets to use a smaller sturdy teacup that's still cute. She varies the type of tea each time and she also makes a variety of little sandwiches and baked goods (she loves that type of thing). We're having one tomorrow, a 'post easter' tea party, so we'll dress up in fancy dresses for it. We put on some classical music in the background, drink tea, eat sandwiches, and just talk. I'll ask her tomorrow where she gets all her tea party sandwich and baking recipes, they are amazing!

[Aggie]

I always tried to avoid paint, so for the crafts they made picture frames one year. I bought acrylic frames, and they made scrapbook pages to put in the frames. The girls were 8-12 for this one, though.

 

Another year we bought little heart shaped boxes from Michael's, painted them ahead of time, and the girls decorated those with lace, buttons, etc. I love the necklace idea!

 

We always went all out for our tea parties because we don't have birthday parties. China, crystal, silver, and very nice food. A little etiquette lesson at the beginning, too.

 

One year we had a mother/daughter/sister tea party because we lived so far out in the sticks that the parents wouldn't have been able to just drop the girls off.

 

Have fun!

[specialmama]

I won a lot on ebay for 12 brand new little purses from Gap and those were their loot bags. I made a teapot pinata to mimic the teapot candles on the cake and invitations, and they put the pinata loot in their purse. I also bought big, floppy hats, like easter hats, and had the girls choose artificial flowers to glue onto the brim.

 

We played "walk like a lady" where I laid bubble wrap down a hallway, and the girls walked in dress-up heels, all the while strutting their stuff.

 

As for decorations, the best tip I can give is this: get little chairs. Many of them. We borrowed 12 of them from the daycare down the street. Go to a second hand store and purchase just as many flowery pillowcases in pinks and yellows and purples. Those little chairs fit PERFECTLY inside pillowcases... use ribbon across the back of the chairs and tie in a pretty bow. Those chairs were amazingly easy to do and very beautiful!

 

We went all out too, and had lessons (picture uber-snooty here!) on how to hold you pinky up when you sip tea, how to dap your mouth with your napkin (over emphasize EVERYthing snooty!) and then place your napkin in your lap, how to eat a sandwich with your pinky up and how to laugh while chatting. "Oh dahlink, you don't say!" The girls loved it!

 

I didn't want the girls to use my good china, so I did purchase demi-cups, saucers and teapots at the used stores. It was all mix and match which I think added charm. Plus, the demi cups are smaller than full sized, but larger than toy ones, so I liked that.

 

One of the best decisions I made was to ask a hobby-photographer-friend over to capture the whole day. I was so busy that I would have missed many moments. She got it all on film and oh how I wish my scanner was plugged in so I could share the awesome shots!

 

Have fun!

[OnTheBrink]

You've gotten some great ideas, so I'll only add two food suggestions:

 

Cream cheese and jelly sandwiches were a HUGE hit at a tea party we went to. I used cherry and peach butter with the cream cheese and the girls loved it.

 

Madagascar Red Vanilla tea was very popular, too. My dd, who hates tea normally, loved it.

[NancyNellen]

We have done this. Here are some things I remember:

 

*handmade frilly invitations

*bring your favorite doll

*come dressed up

*we had a dress-up box with gloves, hats, and beads - everyone got dressed up before we ate

*heart-shaped finger sandwiches (I just did cream cheese/strawberry jam and turkey/cucumber)

*lots of fruit

*pretty cupcakes and petit-fours for dessert

*each child had a small pretty frame as a place card w/ their name in it. During the party I took pictures of my daughters with each of their guests. Then I printed them off quick and sent them home with the picture in the frame as a party favor.

 

We had lots of fun!

[Sasharowan]

DD wanted a teat party for her 5th birthday, but over half of her guests were boys (due to having 2 brothers). We had it at the park with thrift store tea cups, iced tea or juice for the guests, thrift store hats. The boys could go play on the playground while the girls and the moms wore the hats, had tea and chatted. The tea party was only maybe 20 min and the rest was playing on the playground and birthday stuff, but she was happy.

[Jenmomof3]

My dd went to a tea party and the craft was a picture frame to which they just applied jewel stickers. During the party, the dressed-up girls had close-up individual pictures taken (there were extra bangles, tiaras, glasses, etc. if they wanted them). The pictures were printed and placed in the frame while the party went on. When the girls left, they received their frame with their picture inside. It's a great reminder of the fun party every time we see it.

[Happy2BaMom]

I was not really looking forward to planning this/putting this on, but with all these ideas, it is actually sounding pretty creative/fun. My daughter will love it.

 

Thanks, hive!

[Time4tea]

This time of year we make blueberry iced tea. The girls almost always bring doll. I haven't done it yet, but next time we will have chocolate dipping sauce for strawberries. I usually serve fruit as well as a sweet.