Has your daughter been hosting elaborate tea parties with her favorite stuffed animals? You can turn her imaginary parties into reality by planning a tea party for her next birthday. By inviting her friends and asking them to bring their stuffed pals, she will be able to have the real-life tea party she's always dreamed of.
Getting Started
A tea party should be a smaller affair. Ask your child whom she wants to invite, and create a final list. Deliver the invitations to homes instead of delivering them during or after school so no one feels left out.
Why should the party be small? Because you are going to have extra guests. For a proper tea party, each guest should bring her favorite stuffed animal so they can enjoy all the fun. In the invitation, ask each guest to RSVP and include the name of the friend she will bring so you can make place cards. And, of course, let each girl know that she should wear her finest outfit to the party.
Setting
Invest in several small plastic tea party settings, enough for all the guests. Instead of using small tables and chairs, bring all the girls together by setting up a long folding table in your back yard or in a large room of your house, depending on the weather. Cover the table with a sheet of newsprint, and set out crayons in cups so the girls can draw pictures. While drawing on the tablecloth is not good tea-party etiquette, little girls will love the opportunity to draw and show off their work to their real and stuffed friends.
Set the table for each girl and her guest, and provide place cards for each one. Kids will probably fidget and switch seats later, but they will love arriving and seeing their names, plus the names of their treasured stuffed animals, on the table. Of course, the birthday girl will be at the head of the table.
Food
Young kids won't like tea, and they don't need the caffeine. However, you can serve punches in small tea pots so they can serve each other.
Even though tea won't be served at the tea party, girls will adore the child-sized sandwiches commonly served at tea, especially if the crusts are cut off. Prepare kid-approved sandwiches, like peanut butter and jelly. Cut off the crusts, and cut the sandwiches into quarters so they are easy to handle. So the kids don't get too hungry, prepare hamburgers and hot dogs, but cut them into small pieces, as tea party foods are typically dainty.
As a courtesy to the stuffed guests, set out plastic foods so the girls can feed them. Remind the girls that stuffed animals prefer plastic food, not human food, so you can reduce mess. However, you might want to invest in some cleaning products and give each of the stuffed animals a bib.
 | Revive the lost art of afternoon tea parties through the history of the British practice, delicious recipes and teatime manners. |
 | As we know, the act of having a tea became popular during the Victorian days. Most of us, when thinking of teas, think of all the Victorian printed linens and dainty flowered patterns on the china. The table elaborately set with the delicate doilies and the shiny silver servers. |
 | Children love tea parties! Not only do they get to dress up, they get to play tea party games and pretend they're all grown up. |
Try these ideas or use them as inspiration to create tea party favors that are elegant, kid-friendly and affordable. |
When you're thinking of tea party ideas for little girls, don't think juvenile. Little girls love having a chance to dress up and feel like a grownup, and a tea party offers the perfect occasion. |
