Around the World: Afternoon Tea for Two in England

There's nothing like a good book and a hot cup of tea to go with it! And that is exactly how we spent our evening together! One of my favorite benefits of homeschool preschool is the ability to have "school" when it works for our family's schedule. We are open on snow days! We have school in the morning some days of the week and school in the afternoon when our mornings are filled with other activities like Mommy & Me groups, play-dates, appointments or whatever else. I use songs and familiar routines around our school activities to designate a time as a "school" time and this seems to work very well. It's more about having a recognizable routine for us than a structured schedule. Especially on evenings when my husband is working, fun learning activities are something my son really looks forward to that makes the time feel a little more special to him (and pass a little less slowly for me, the tired mama!).

This particular evening began with a great old story that took us right back to our most recent destination, England! We read Michael Bond's Paddington. I read from the original version (pictured below on the right) while my son enjoyed looking at the photographs in the recent motion picture edition (to the left). He loved the idea of taking care of that adventurous little bear so much and was very eager to make his own little Paddington Bear to take care of. He especially loved the presence of trains in the story (they are one of his very favorite things) and got his own train toys out to play with our toilet paper tube craft when we were done.

I found the idea for this craft on this blog, and you can check it out, too, for some great story stretching ideas related to the book and/or an England theme! This project is definitely a joint effort with a significant amount of adult preparation/participation when done with a toddler. Older children could definitely do more independently (like cutting, drawing on details, etc.) and you could also adapt it to make it more or a child-led experience with younger ones. I more wanted him to have a chance to participate in constructing it and ample opportunity to play with it afterward.
You will need:

• empty toilet paper tube
• red, blue, and brown construction paper
• black marker
• scissors, glue, tape, stapler

I pre-cut the red hat and blue coat as well as two brown arms. I also drew on the details of Paddington's face, hands, feet and buttons in advance. My little guy helped with the gluing and I used tape and a staple to reinforce the hat and arms at the end so it could better withstand some playtime with a toddler! 

While he played about the story of Paddington with his toy trains, I got to work in the kitchen preparing for our tea party dinner! Our menu included a heart shaped grilled cheese sandwich (one thing I knew he would eat), heart shaped finger sandwiches, heart shaped cucumber slices (can you tell I don't have a big variety of cookie cutters for actual kitchen use??), some favorite cookies for dessert, and, of course, the tea! For toddler friendly tea, we like to use a decaffeinated option and since my toddler's palate is not quite refined enough for English Breakfast Tea or Earl Grey, we chose a raspberry flavored fruit tea mixed with some apple juice. I just steep a tea bag in some hot water and combine it with a fruit juice with a 1:1 part ratio. 

So often our meal times happen at an adult sized table where my son joins our adult world. Tonight, to make our tea time extra special, I invited my son to help me set his little table and I would join his world! We set out a tablecloth and picked out some leftover party plates, napkins and cocktail forks and spoons (what's more fun than a tiny little fork and spoon?). If you have a lovely tea set, this would be such a great time to introduce it and to teach and talk about handling fragile objects. We don't happen to have one, so paper party-ware seemed a bit more festive than our usual dishes. We even dressed for the occasion! My son put on a tie and jacket and felt so special and grown up sitting at our tea table. He even ate quite well if I do say so myself! This was also a great time to talk about the importance of table manners and challenging childhood mealtime concepts like sitting down while we eat, remaining at the table throughout the meal, and not bringing toys to the table...

Our evening's grand finale was a great process art activity that I encourage you to try. We painted with tea! It's a fabulous opportunity to let your little ones take the artistic lead and explore the scents, textures and colors of different types of tea. We talked about how teas are grown, processed and enjoyed in many different countries around the world (and as such, you could incorporate this activity in many themes related to world travel). The aroma was lovely! One tea bag broke adding a whole new element of texture to his artwork and it was a pleasure to watch him explore and experiment.

Painting with Tea 

You will need:

• a selection of tea bags with or without strings--the string does make a nice handle for dipping and twirling and stamping, but those without strings are also fun to handle and squeeze and press! I chose a raspberry tea, an orange tea, a black tea and a green tea for color variation.
• white paper, the thicker the better (construction paper or watercolor paper would be ideal)
• a tray for your paper to catch excess liquid
• a cup or shallow dish of water for dipping (it does not need to be hot!)

As with all process art experiences, I encourage adults to step back and let the little ones explore, experiment and experience. You'd be surprised (as I was) that they inherently know what to do even presented with new materials and they may even teach you a thing or two in the process! If a child is hesitant to begin without instruction or demonstration, I typically use minimal language and model using the material very briefly (if at all). I might use "I wonder what would happen if..." statements or invite a child to form their own questions about and experiments with the materials.