Inviting children over to play always seems like a good idea at the time! Planning is the key to surviving a childs tea party.
Imagine how the perfect party would go and then create it. There are two important aspects to a successful childs tea party; firstly plan it, secondly don’t over do it – you do not want too many children, too many activities or too many toys out.
Every successful childs tea party has a central activity. Choose an activity which comes in two parts; for example crafts – make a toy and then have a game with them. The idea here is that you give them their tea while you clear up from the creative part and then they play after they have eaten. By playing with the toys they have made, you do not have to worry about them all wanting to play with one toy (when you do not have enough of the more popular toys).
A childs tea party should not be more than two and a half hours. If you have anything longer the children start to get tired and when tired they become much harder work.
Food at a childs tea party should be simple and prepared in advance (or need no preparation!). The food needs to be controlled (or you will end up with lots of half eaten pieces of food!), so put the food on the plates yourself and keep the rest out of reach in the kitchen – do not let the children serve themselves. There will need to be protein in the meal somewhere, a good idea here is sausage rolls, however there is the risk that the children will remove the pastry and eat the sausage. This is itself is not a problem, but it makes a lot of mess. Another alternative is to have cocktail sausages and then have a soft buttered bread roll on the plate. Children should not go home hungry from a childs tea party so you will need some appealing kids food as well – try the old favorite – crisps. You can now buy child friendly crisps which basically have reduced salt and fat – then you don’t need to feel so guilty. Finally the perfect host at a childs tea party will supply a fruit pudding. If you don’t want to spend time cutting and peeling fruit (which may not be eaten) try the tinned stuff! This is guaranteed to be eaten as it is usually in a syrup so the children love it. This has the secondary benefit of appeasing the parents conscience when the children get home and say they have been eating fruit.
Finally, at the end of a childs tea party you do not want to be left with their creations – so remember to send them home with the kids.
Imagine your have just collected your kid from a tea party and they tell you that they have eaten sausages and fruit and they are waving around a toy which they have made! What more could any parent ask for. You have just hosted a very successful childs tea party.
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