Is there anything cuter than a group of toddlers dressed up as princesses and superheroes at a tea party? Here is my guide to hosting an adorable toddler tea party!
One day, my three-year-old daughter and a friend were having a pretend tea party at a playground, and it inspired me to put together a real tea party for Gwen and her friends.
Tea Parties are easy to put together, and the food is toddler-friendly. I created a simple menu, made an invitation (I removed the party details so you can use the template if you like), and ordered some adorable tiered cardboard tea platters and paper tea cups online.
I think that there are two essential tea party menu items: homemade scones and plenty of clotted cream. My recipe for homemade scones is incredibly quick and easy to make using pantry staples, and clotted cream is available at Whole Foods. If you don't want to make scones, you can buy frozen, ready-to-bake scones from Whole Foods. I do recommend serving fresh, warm scones.
The rest of the menu included tea sandwiches and store-bought pastries. The total preparation time was minimal. I made egg salad, ham and cheese, peanut butter, and cucumber sandwiches. I made 3 of each type of sandwich and sliced them into quarters.
Traditionally, several small desserts are served at an afternoon tea. But, since this was a tea party for toddlers, I wanted to limit the sweets. I made simple shortbread cookies and drizzled them with a little milk chocolate. They got a taste of something sweet, and I didn't have five sugared-up toddlers at my house.
Another thing that I did a bit differently was to have the tea party at lunchtime. Usually, afternoon tea is served later in the day (usually around 3 pm or 4 pm). It just made more sense to have the tea party at a mealtime.
Something tells me that this was the first of many tea parties. We may try different themes in the future, but the kids loved the opportunity to wear their fanciest princess dresses and superhero costumes.
