Mother’s Day Tea Party: 7 Fun Activities & Crafts
Celebrate the most influential women in your life with a memorable tea party for all ages! Whether honoring mom, aunt, grandma, big sister, or friend, this program is for children of all ages and moms of all types. The activities found here have been used with groups of 24 individuals but can easily be adapted for more. Start your event with a quick introduction and story to set the stage, create wearable crafts, distribute tasty treats and tea, and play interactive party games. I’ve had success hosting this event at 2:00 pm the day before and Saturday before Mother’s Day.
Event Introduction
Here is a sample script to kick things off and warmly welcome your attendees:
“Welcome to the Library! Thank you to all for joining us in celebrating the most important people in your life. We’ll begin with a story to help polish up our tea time etiquette, followed by a craft that will ensure we are dressed appropriately, and finally enjoy some treats and play a game.
The most important women in my life have been my mom and my aunts because they are caring, kind, and always willing to help me. What are some things your mom or another important person in your life does for you? Is anyone willing to raise their hand and tell us? [You will be pleasantly surprised by the things children are willing to share, but if you get crickets, try these questions…] Who drives you places? Who gives you food? Who washes your clothes?, etc.”
Mother’s Day Tea Party Read Aloud
Introduce tea time etiquette with Tea for Ruby by Sarah Ferguson, The Duchess of York, and Illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser. Ruby is invited to tea by none other than the Queen! Ruby tells everyone she meets about her engagement, and each reminds her to polish her manners. However, the Queen turns out to be someone who loves Ruby no matter what…grandma!
Tea For Ruby Discussion Questions
After reading the book, use the following questions for a quick discussion about the story and manners:
- Who was the queen? (Her grandma!)
- What manners did Ruby need to learn for tea?
- Chew with your mouth closed
- Say “please” & “thank you”
- Use a fork & napkin
- Remember to wait your turn
- Do not interrupt or shout
- Sit up straight
- Do you always remember those manners? Which one is new to you?
- Mother’s Day Tea Party Crafts
Dressing appropriately is another important manner. Ensure everyone is dressed in their finest by making these fun wearable crafts.
Fancy Flower Fascinators
Fold, fluff, and tie tissue paper flowers to thin plastic headbands with pipe cleaners. Tips for using tape and hot glue in lieu of pipe cleaners can be found at the blog Studio DIY!. Plastic headbands are available at most dollar stores and Walmart.
Paper Ties
Print the outline of a tie on cardstock. Let attendees cut out their ties, decorate them with markers, punch a hole on each side of the tie knot, string yarn through the holes, and tie around the wearer’s neck. See the blog GoodToKnow for more paper tie tips.
Mother’s Day Tea & Treats
Get to the tasty treats already! Minimize caffeine intake for the kids by offering herbal tea instead of traditional black tea. We served herbal raspberry tea and were surprised to find the kids enthusiastic about it. Many lined up for multiple servings! Also, ice water and/or lemonade should be offered as an alternative. I love using these Floral Paper Tea Cups available from Amazon.
Delectable finger foods to serve include melon balls, shortbread cookies, strawberries, and bite-sized pastries. Check the freezer section at your local grocery store or Gordon Food Service for mini cream puffs, chocolate eclairs, and other pre-made treats. Cucumber sandwiches are also a tea-time classic. A sweet alternative would be raisin bread and apple butter sandwiches. Assemble full-size sandwiches and cut them into fours with a sharp knife to make finger sandwiches. If you are low on funds, ask local bakeries or staff for tasty donations.
Questions To Ask Your Mother
Set discussion questions on the tables to get mom and child chatting while they enjoy their treats. The following questions seem simple, but it may be the first time young children become aware their parents have interests too!
- What is your favorite color?
- What is your favorite food?
- What makes you laugh?
- If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would it be, and what would you like to see?
- What were your favorite things to do as a child?
Flowers & Gems Bingo
We were inspired by the blog Shower of Roses and created our bingo cards using clipart images of flowers and gems. Provide one bingo card per family to encourage families to play together. Print pictures of each image and place them in a hat/basket. Pull images from the hat randomly and have participants cross off each image as it is called out. Once participants get five images crossed off in a row, horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, they must stand up and shout, “I Love Mom!”
When creating your own bingo cards, remember that you’ll need one unique bingo card per family. That means you’ll need to move around the images for each card printed.
We provided winners with “fancy” plastic beaded necklaces (Summer Reading leftovers), but stickers or high fives will do!
Thank you for reading. Visit The Youth Desk’s Programs page for more ideas and outlines!
