As the school year is winding down, it might be a nice idea to plan something special for the moms and dads of your students. What could be better than having your class host a fancy tea party to honor their parents and/or grandparents? The kids will love the planning, the parents will love attending and you will be earning some of the best PR any teacher could ever hope to get!
I am going to share with you some of the festivities my granddaughter Mia planned to celebrate her 7th birthday. She had a great time planning her "fancy" tea party. When she was brainstorming possible ideas to make her party an awesome event, I remember thinking what a great idea a fancy tea party would be to celebrate Mother's Day in the classroom--or an awesome event to invite moms in near the end of the year. I want to share some of the decorations Mia used and offer a few suggestions for creating an elegant tea party on a budget.
To set just the right tone for the tea, you will need some colorful decorations. Grab some brightly colored tissue paper, pipe cleaners and a pair of scissors. You are ready to begin creating beautiful flowers to decorate your room and to serve as a gift for moms to take home. In the picture below (on the right) you can see a flower hanging from the ceiling! I have outlined the steps to create the flowers in an earlier post. Click here to read it. Your kids can absolutely make them!
Another powerful element for setting the right mood is the table setting. Mia used table cloths and a runner from the thrift store. A less expensive version would be to use a long sheet of white paper from a large roll to serve as your "linen" tablecloth. Cut a table runner from a large roll of lightly colored paper. Have the kids write little messages to parents and grandparents and enhance the messages with drawings. Irresistibly cute! You might chose not have the moms sit at the table. It could be used as a decorative table with trays of goodies and a pretty tea pot--or coffee. The children attending Mia's party actually had a choice of different juices and chocolate milk.
The roses and tulle decorating these chairs were purchased at a Michael's sale. A less expensive version would be to decorate chairs with kid-made flowers to match the table setting.
Mia's mom used cookie cutters to make these adorable sandwiches. Butterfly sandwiches are on the right. You could serve chocolate chips--homemade or packaged--or any other cookie, brownie or cake you can get.
Here's one happy kid celebrating her special day. I have tried to give you some cost effective ideas so you too can host a special day for your students and guests. Have the kids design special invitations! Don't forget some materials, such as a pretty tea pot, can be borrowed too. Mia got hers at a thrift shop for a very reasonable price. There are so many things you can do for the kids and their guests to have an unforgettable day to celebrate the end of a year in your class. If you do decide to host a fancy tea party, let me know how it turns out. Have fun!
