A Fall Tea Party With My Children – {Day 4}
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When I make memories with my children, many times the effort I give into those special things does not consist of hours of preparation. If I planned Pinterest worthy elaborate events they would never happen. 🙂
It’s the little things that our children will remember. The smell of fresh bread with melting butter on it. The time when mom actually jumps on the trampoline with them. Snuggling together reading books. Going on drives through the countryside, and feeling the fresh breeze in our face together.
When we moved into our smaller house I had to box up some thing because we just didn’t have enough room. I made sure to leave out a tea pot and just enough tea cups for some special parties with the children. They love it when I say we are having an afternoon tea party!
Putting together tea parties can be as elaborate or simple as you want it to be! We have our tea parties based on seasons, during the winter months we have hot chocolate, the hot months we use juice. The weather fluctuates so much during fall that it just depends on the day if we were to use cold apple cider or warm it up! We actually never use tea for our tea parties! The only tea I’ve found so far that my children like is pregnancy tea (Mama’s Red Raspberry Brew from the Bulk Herb Store). I always laugh when they ask for it!
I use tea parties as a way to knit my heart together with my children. I’ve found many times I don’t use it as a reward, rather when things are stressed, behavior is less than desirable, and my mommy heart is frustrated, I throw a tea party. This isn’t a once a week event (though I wish it were). Unless you want to set a day of the week you always do this, just be spontaneous with it! I’ve found that coming together in the afternoon for something fun can bring so much peace and cheer to the home.
For this tea party we invited my sister over at the last minute. I had just been to Aldi’s where I found a good price on apple cider, and grabbed the tin of cookies to use. We went through 2 teapots full of apple cider and ate almost the whole container of cookies. 🙂
You can use this time to talk or listen to a story or homeschool assignment on Cd. We listen to grammar songs, Mystery of History, or CD’s about the lives of classical composers. It is harder to listen quietly with younger children, I’m always trying to hush my toddler and 20 month old, so doing that during nap time is best.
Some good things to serve at Fall tea parties:
Anything pumpkin! Muffins, breads, scones, or cookies.
I found this lovely fall party on Pinterest and thought they did such a good putting it together!
Here is a fancier recipe for apple cider punch
Apple Cider Punch (recipe from BHG)
Ingredients
6 cups apple cider
2 cups orange juice, cranberry-raspberry juice, or orange-mango juice (I used orange juice)
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 750-ml bottle sparkling white grape juice
Directions
1. In punch bowl, large pitcher, or pitchers combine apple cider, orange juice, and lemon juice. Slowly add sparkling white grape juice. Serve immediately.
These Apple Cinnamon muffins look yummy!
The most important thing is just to do it. Set aside the 30 minutes to sit and chat. It is a great way to build memories!
*In other news..our Mackenzie Maxi Dress is on sale this weekend only!*
I’m linked up at:
I love your tea party pics! You are making wonderful memories! I’ve had pretend tea parties with my littlest granddaughter, Ellie, and her brother Ethan, if he’s home and in the mood. (It can get a little girlie for him.) Next time we’re together, I think we’ll do the real thing.
I am loving your autumn-themed posts. Blessings!
So much fun! I’ve found that most kids like peppermint tea, so you might try that. I’m a huge Irish tea girl and I agree, just make it happen, it doesn’t have to be elaborate! :>
We have Tea Time every day – my three daughters & I (ages 7, 6, & 2) – and they all have a different flavor of tea that they like (watered down, with a little extra honey!). They also enjoy homemade vanilla chai. You’re right, it is a special way to knit hearts together, and it doesn’t have to be elaborate (…even though my girls insist on “dressing fancy” some days 😀 ). It’s my favorite time of the day!
Right now I use coffee mugs to serve, but when my littlest one is a little older, I have a lovely tea set in storage that I plan on bringing out!
Enjoy your tea parties!
~Lisha
This is a cute idea to have fun with children!
We did a tea party for my daughters 6th birthday in June. Since then we have tried to do it weekly (on T days…Tuesday and Thursday). Its fun! Sometimes we do popcorn instead of baked goods and hot chocolate or iced tea.
This has been on my to-do list ever since you posted it and we had one today. Thank you so much for such a simple, special time. We got out our pretty tea cups and plates which are usually hung for decorative purposes and had hot chocolate with marshmallows and cookies. My toddler decorated the cookies, picked out the cookie platters and rinsed the cups in the sink while setting out “napkins” AKA paper towels. We talked about what we are thankful for and told a story about a tea party. Thank you for this idea! It will be a monthly regular for now on!