We’re huge fans of afternoon tea and picnics, and it seems like the perfect way to enjoy the jubilee – indoors or in the garden.
It’s so easy to create an afternoon tea at home. You can have lots of fun with the kids organising it. You can even link it in with learning; telling the time (what time will we have our afternoon tea?), counting (how many people, how many plates) and baking (measuring, reading, etc).
Here are some ideas and recipes to get you started.
Nothing says afternoon tea like a cake stand. If you don’t already have one, charity shops usually have a good variety. Disposable cardboard or plastic stands are available quite cheaply. You can find some on Amazon for delivery, and I saw these wooden cake stands that can be decorated too.
You might even want to try and make your own – I saw this great idea for a DIY cardboard cake stand on pinterest.
You can’t have afternoon tea without cups, saucers, plates and cutlery! China cups are great if you have them – tea always tastes so much better in a china cup and saucer. The kids love being posh and sticking their little finger out and using the special tea set is a real treat for them. Again, charity shops are fabulous if you need to grab a bargain for the occasion.
Make sure your cups, saucers, plates, sugar and milk (in a milk jug if you have one) are on the table before everyone sits down.
We never have a proper tablecloth on the table (unless you count the wipeable plastic thing covered in felt pen!), so when we do, we are definitely having a tea party! Afternoon tea calls for linen, and feels nice and special. If you’re handy with a sewing machine, you could make your own!
If you already have fabric or party bunting around the house, use it to decorate your room or garden. If you like a sewing project, you could make some. I found a handy guide to making fabric bunting at home here.
We made our own paper bunting recently which was so easy….basically cut out some triangles (there is a template here on pinterest), get the colouring pens or paint out and create. We had spots, stripes, smiley faces…all sorts. Once you have coloured in the bunting, simply cut them out, use string or ribbon to attach together and hang them up! We had our afternoon tea in the garden on a sunny day and it looked fabulous!
A Platinum Jubilee afternoon tea party has to have Union Jack bunting of course, and there is a downloadable Union Jack bunting template here.
I found some great Union Jack Colouring sheets here on Twinkl too that might be useful to decorate your room!
These are a good thing for the kids to do while you’re getting organised. You can cut out name places from paper or card and they can write names, draw a picture, use stickers and be as creative as they like. They could invite teddies and dolls too. I saw a lovely idea for some edible name places here.
My children love writing lists, so they relish the opportunity to write a menu! Let them think about the fillings for sandwiches and they can write everything down and make the menu look pretty.
I also found a good afternoon tea invitation template here.
Twinkl has loads of other resources for Afternoon Tea – role play packs etc here (For templates on Twinkl, remember that there is a parents offer here)
Make your afternoon tea area pretty with flowers. You could cut some from your garden or why not make some in red, white and blue for VE Day? There are some simple ideas of how to make flowers from your craft kit here:
Dress-up! You could have a royal theme; dress in red, white or blue go for something from one of the decades of the Queen’s reign. We have to find 70s and 90s costumes for school!
Sandwiches – it’s nice to have several fillings. Let the kids choose and help make the sandwiches.
You can also throw in pastries, biscuits, crisps, mini sausages, sausage rolls…whatever the kids like! I find that the novelty of eating it off a cake stand makes it way more exciting!
Scones – slathered with jam and cream! Here’s an easy recipe for scones from CBeebies that we are going to try.
Biscuits – pop a few of the kids’ favourite biscuits on the cake stand, or make some. Let them have a go at piping icing in red, white or blue, or cover them in sweets and sprinkles. Here are lots of kids cookie recipes to bake at home.
Cakes – Individual portions are great for the cake stand. Or you might want a showstopper as your centre peice!
A classic Victoria sponge is perfect for this occasion, you can try a tried-and-tested Mumbler recipe here.
We made Rocky Road using this recipe
You might want to be ambitious and try to bake a red, white and blue cake , or these Red White and Blue Krispie Treats
There are more homemade ideas such as Mars Bar Munchies, Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes (pictured), ideas here.
Fruit – For a Platinum Jubilee afternoon tea, strawberries and blueberries would be great. I saw this recipe for Red, White and Blue Strawberries.
We hope you have a lovely afternoon tea – don’t forget to tell us how it went!
