Don’t settle for a just a birthday party; make it an event by having a formal English tea.
Don’t be put off by the immediate mental image of snobby little girls in pinafores and ringlets ordering you around like an indentured servant. A tea party can be loads of fun! What little girl doesn’t serve her dolls and teddy bears tea at least once? Celebrate your young daughter’s birthday with a nice tea.
Key Points
- You don't need to stick religiously to the theme. It's okay to deviate from the theme if it would be more fun for your child.
- Consider serving cookies along with the tea, for a truly fun and tasty experience!
- Have your guests dress up in fancy clothes to fit the theme! You can even turn this into a game by seeing who can get dressed in their costume the fastest!
High Tea for the Queen’s Birthday
Uhh, They Threw the Tea Overboard
One glitch that might be floating around your brain is that most three to eight-year-olds don’t drink tea, at least not a typical English tea. This does not seem to prevent them from filling Teddy’s cup with a steaming hot cup of imagined tea. In other terms, don’t feel compelled by the bonds of authenticity to serve real tea. You could have hot chocolate with marshmallows and flavored creams instead of tea with cream and sugar. You could serve a variety of herbal teas in pretty colors the girls will love. Or you could skip the warm liquid altogether and serve Kool-Aid in a tea pot. The bottom line is most children won’t really care as long they can pretend.
What Do I Put Beside It?
There are a wide variety of foods that can be served. The main theme though should be daintiness. A formal tea is all about presentation. Children may not like water cress and cucumber finger sandwiches, but a peanut butter and jelly sandwich cut into fancy shapes with a cookie cutter is sure to be a hit.
Cookies are a must. To dress up common favorites (even the store bought variety), try melting a few chocolate chips and drizzling them over the cookies to make a pretty zigzag. Varieties of cookies that are not conducive to chocolate zigzags can be dressed up with a dusting of powdered sugar. Serving little teacakes can be a great idea too! Pick a flavor that the partygoers will love, or settle for adding the chocolate zigzags we just talked about!
A Slice of Cake
Any cake will do, let your little one choose. Remember: we are not going to sacrifice birthday enjoyment for authenticity. If your little one does want to make it authentic then choose a Bundt cake. These are commonly served at teas, and are very dainty.
Another option is to shape a cake like a teacup or kettle. This might be best done by an experienced baker, but if you enjoy making fancy cakes then why not give it a shot? Decorate it with blue and white frosting, or whatever other colors you think your birthday kid will love. Go for their favorite cake flavor, or keep the theme by using vanilla. Vanilla cake is subtly sweet, which will fit the dainty theme quite well.
Girls Just Want to Have Fun
Are you ready for tea party games? Well, here is some great news. Since the tea, cakes and playing pretend are central to the event, games become unnecessary! You can heighten the fun by preparing fun hats each child can wear (or decorate, then wear) during the tea. A pair of kid gloves for each child will also go a long way to make the pretend much more real. It always helps to dress the part. Hat decorating and fancy kid gloves for each child takes care of the games and party favors. All that remains is to set the table, and have fun.
If your child insists on a party game, then why not have a costume contest? Have each guest show up dressed for the theme. Or, pick a time period and have kids dress up like they come from that era. Have your birthday kid pick out the guest they think did the best job! Your birthday kid can come up with their own costume to wear, either from scratch or from what they already have! A trip to the costume store can always be fun, too.
It's okay to play traditional party games, like musical chairs, too. Remember: this is your child's birthday, so if they want to deviate from the theme, that's okay! Your guests having fun is the most important thing. Ask your child what sort of activities they'd prefer for their tea party, and go from there!
The image featured at the top of this post is ©boiling/ via Getty Images.