Tea Party Games and Activities

Flower Bookmarks
Before the Party
Buy pressed flowers or press them your self. Flowers such as pansies can be pressed between two sheets of paper in the pages of a heavy book.

At the party
Let children glue flowers to wide strips of heavy poster board. Use a foam paintbrush to lightly coat the flowers with white glue (you may need to thin the glue with water). When dry, bookmark can be laminated with self-laminating sheets. Punch hole at the top and add lace or ribbon.

Doll Dress-Up
Make hats for dolls or teddy bears by cutting a hole in the center of a paper plate. The resulting ring should rest on the doll's or bear's head. Decorate with ribbons, feathers, sequins, markers, etc.

Suggested Reading: The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch, Bears in Pairs by Niki Yektai (picture book), The Princess and the Pea by Hans Christian Andersen

Dough Dolls
These dolls are made of sugar cookie dough.

Before the party
Make or buy sugar cookie dough and chill. When chilled, roll out dough and cut out gingerbread sugar cookies. Transfer cookies to greased cookie sheets. There should be at least one cookie per child. Putting only three cookies on a sheet will ensure that children have enough room to work. Wrap cookie sheets with plastic wrap to keep the dough from drying out, and re-chill until ready to decorate. Set out decorations and egg wash paint with brushes on work area.

At the party
Divide children into groups of three. Give each group a pan of cookies to decorate. They can make hair by putting dough through a garlic press. They can brush on colors with the egg wash. When finished, bake according to directions and let children take home cooled cookies.

Equipment
Chilled sugar cookie dough, or refrigerated sugar cookie rolls.
Garlic press (to make hair)
Gingerbread man cookie cutter
Edible decorations like silver BB's, Red Hots, sprinkles, etc. Rolling pin
Flour Colored egg wash (use 1 egg to 1/4 tsp. water and food color)
Kitchen paint brushes or new watercolor paint brushes

Heart Sachets
Cut lace and felt hearts of the same size. A large, heart-shaped cookie cutter makes a good pattern. Let older children stitch 3/4 of the way around them with large embroidery needles and ribbon. Fill with dried lavender, rose petals or store-bought potpourri. Stitch closed.

Make Your Own Fans
Before the party
Paint the tongue depressors and let dry. You'll need two sticks per guest. If using wrapping paper for the fans, flatten overnight by placing the paper up on a table and pressing with heavy books on each end. Cut 24" x 30" paper into four 6" x 30" strips, one per guest. Cut 10 inch lengths of ribbon, one per guest.

At the party
Hand each guest a 6" x 30" strip of paper. Each child should fold the short end over one inch and continue making one inch accordion folds to the end of the strip. Staple one end of the folds together, about 1/2 inches in from the end. If using low melt glue gun, an adult should assist with the gluing. Glue one flat stick to one side of folds about a 1/4" above the staples. Glue the other stick to other outside of the folds in the same way. If using craft glue, wrap rubber band around to hold it tightly closed until dry. When dry, open fan and use a pretty ribbon to tie the sticks together to keep it open.

Make Victorian Fans
As an alternative to making your own fans, guests can use watercolor paints to paint solid white fans.

Paper Mache Heart Boxes
These special treasure boxes require a bit of preparation.

Before the party
You will need to spray paint the boxes inside and out. Cut out shapes of cupids, hearts, etc. from Victorian paper or collect Victorian or teddy bear stickers.

At the party
Children can glue on shapes using glue and paint brushes and then decorate with beads or ribbons. Note: Glue can be thinned with water in a bowl to make it easier to smooth on shapes with paint brush

Tea Time Gossip
This is a great game to play when all the guests are sitting down to tea. Have the birthday child thinks of a message and whispers to the guest sitting next to her, and have the guest whisper it to the next guest, and so on. When the message travels all the way around the table, the last person tells the message out loud. Have the birthday child announce what she really said, and expect it to be a surprise compared to the final saying. The final mixed-up message will bring giggles from the whole tea party!


Teddy Bear Finger Puppets
Before the party
Copy bear pattern onto thick white paper (80 pound or heavier would work well). If you do not have access to a copier, cut around pattern and trace onto thick, white paper. If your guests are six years of age or younger or you have a large number of guests, you should cut out the bears before the party. If seven or older, children will probably enjoy cutting out their own bears.

At the party
Provide children with a bear, scissors, markers and decorative items such as buttons, sequins, ribbon, glitter and tulle to glue onto bear puppet. Let dry. Older children may want to create small skits with their puppets.

Birthday in a Box Sticker Tea
If using one of the Birthday in a Box sticker activity boxes, children can use long strips of repositionable stickers to decorate placemats, favors boxes and or paper "tea cups."

Edible Jewelry Making
This delicious jewelry is made from licorice strings, round candies, and cereal.

Before the party
Buy candy and cereal and separate them by style or color into bowls. We suggest candy such as red licorice strings, Fruit Loops®, Lifesavers®, and Gummy Lifesavers®.

At the party
Children string candy onto licorice. When finished, wrap around wrist and tie ends together.

I’m a Little Tea Pot
Teach this classic song and dance to your guests!

I’m a little teapot, short and stout
Here is my handle
(Put one hand on hip)
Here is my spout
(Extend opposite arm sideways, hand out)
When I get all steamed up, then I shout Just tip me over and pour me out
(Bend body toward extended arm)  

I’m a very clever pot, it is true.
Here’s an example of what I can do.
I can change my handle and change my spout
(Change position of hands)
Just tip me over and pour me out.
(Bend body in opposite direction)


Games

Sugar Lump Relay
This is a traditional relay race, tea party style.

Setup
Place two large teacups on a table about 15-20 feet from the starting line (distance can be adjusted for age or setting). Divide the guests into two teams. Have each teams form a line, one behind the other. Place sugar lumps and spoons next to each team.

How to Play
The first child at each team places a sugar cube on the spoon. The first members of each team walk or run with the sugar cube to the teacup, drop the cube in the cup, run back to the next teammate and hand off the spoon. At the handoff, the second member of each team places a new lump on the spoon and repeats the process. The first team to get all of their lumps in their teacup wins.

Jewelry Hunt
Before the party
Collect inexpensive beads, rings, hair clips, etc.

At the party
Hide the items around the house or playing area (keeping them within a defined space). Hand each child a bag or pouch to hold the collected treasure. It may be a good idea to add each child's name to bag or pouch. Similar to an egg hunt, let children search until they find as much jewelry treasure as possible.

Tea Party Quiz
The object of this game is to correctly guess the names of famous girls from the clues given. For children who are not yet writing, read each question aloud and let the guests shout out their answers. You may want to hand small prizes or candy to the children when they answer correctly. Older children can be given paper and pencils so that they can write their answers as the questions are read.

Sample questions:
1. Who fell in love with a beast which released him from a spell?
Answer: Belle (Beauty)

2. What was the name of the girl in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" who loved to chew gum? Answer: Violet

3. What famous girl tried to get home to Kansas in a hot air balloon?
Answer: Dorothy

4. What girl had a pig named Wilbur for a friend?
Answer: Fern (Charlotte's Web)

5. Who chased a rabbit and found the Queen of Hearts?
Answer: Alice (in Wonderland)

6. This girl and her brother get captured by a witch that lives in a gingerbread house. Answer: Gretel

7. This girl brings a basket of goodies to her grandmother.
Answer: Little Red Riding Hood

8. This girl lived with seven little men.
Answer: Snow White

9. This girl snuck into the bear’s house and ate their porridge.
Answer: Goldilocks

10. This girl was locked in a tower by a witch who used to climb up on her long, golden hair. Answer: Rapunzel

11. Who pricked her finger on a spinning wheel and fell into an enchanted sleep? Answer: Sleeping Beauty

12. Who longed to be a human so much that she sold her beautiful voice for a pair of legs? Answer: The Little Mermaid

13. This girl lived in Europe. She longed to be back in the mountains with her grandfather, so she left the family that she was living with in the city and returned to him. Answer: Heidi

14. Who is the tomboy who loved to write plays in "Little Women?"
Answer: Jo

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