little tricks to make a small birthday tea party special

[dinny]

dd is nearly 6. we are going to Centreparcs for her birthday weekend with friends and family, but have said she can have a tea party after school the week before.

how many is good number? 5? I have residual guilt about leaving people out to whos parties dd has been, that's sheer lunacy, please tell me...?

really don't want to do what I usually do and turn a small thing into a big event!

I have too much time on my hands today, posting shedloads

stuff the guilt
everyone knows the limitations

maybe 7 guests plus your DD?

can you buy/ borrow/ make cake stands? IME 5-6 yr olds adore the frilly accessories that go with tea, eg doilies, pretty napkins, cup cakes, small posies of flowers, name place markers.

yes, can you guess I am supposed to be working at home today? far, far too much MN going on

lol, I'm working too

games? or can I be lazy and just get them to play and have tea? maybe ONE pass the parcel?

Have clear cups for their drinks. Before the party, put a small drop of food colouring in each one (a different colour in each cup). Pour clear lemonade.

I did this at my dd's 6th birthday tea.I still treasure the memory of their faces! One of her friends in particular still talks about it and they are 12 now!

oooh, fab, Seeker!

It was one of my very few "good mother"moments. I still smile when I think about it!

individual fairy cakes or biscuits and ice the childrens names on them??

Oh, and make the table really pretty, with glittery confetti.

Get some cheap white cups and some china paint. Get your DD to write her friends' name on each one. They can use them as a place marker/cup and then take them home filled with a few nice sweeties instead of a party bag full of junk.

ooh, how cute - where do you get china paint?

Most craft shops will have it. Hobbycraft and the like. Places like Woolworths and ELC sometimes have it (but usually with a 'kit' e.g. teaset or piggy bank which are quite costly)

thanks!

and what is the optimum number do you all think? I have to STICK at it and not go over!

7 to 8 is the maxium. I borrowed a chocolate fountain for dd2's tea party this year - it was good fun. She was 7.

Make them a dragon/lizard/ out of a cucumber..mine love this for birthday teas. Would you like instructions! (dead simple).

Chocolate fondue with marshmallows always goes down well.

They could decorate biscuits perhaps? Give them plain digestives, or ones lovingly hand made if you must, and let them decorate with white icing (make it quite thick), hundreds and thousands etc.

They could also make princess hats (the long pointy mediaeval ones) decorated with ribbons etc. Or fans? My dd and her friends used to like colouring doileys in too - and then using them as placemats.

Pass the parcel is always popular and you can make it last longer by putting in simple forfeits for them. When dd2 had a "Tea party" party, the prize in pass the parcel was a tiny china teaset.

Instead of party bags we did cheapo china mugs with a sachet of hot chocolate, a chocolate stirrer thing and some marshmallows. 6 may be a bit young for that though, so instead you could do mugs and sweeties as chris suggested. painting them with their names is a lovely idea.

love the chocolate fountain....

and yes please Turkeylurkey to the instructions

and really love the hot choc idea, hot choc is dd's fave ever!

Cucumber Dragon/lizard:

Get whole cucumber and cut out a 2 inch section from the middle and put to one side.

Join remaining cucumber together and slice like normal (so you have discs) leaving a 2 inch unsliced section for the head, and a 1 inch unsliced section for the tail.

Arrange on a plate/cake board so it looks like a snake (curve its body around slightly).

Stick 2 raisins on the head for the eyes with jam.

Now for the feet, get the 2 inch unsliced section and cut into quarters lengthways so each quarter is 2 inches long. Carve each one into a claw using a sharp knife. Put them on the lizard.

If you are feeling adventurous you could carve teeth in the head.
Viola! A cucumber lizard.

If you want a dragon, make some wings out of green paper , put a slit on top of the lizard and push them in.

Phew that was hard to describe but dead easy and effective to do in real life I promise!

thanks, Turkeylurkey