NurtureStore » Role Play

Mad Hatter’s Tea Party

Cathy @ NurtureStore — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:00:01 +0000

A Mad Hatter’s Tea Party was the perfect birthday party theme for my little bookworm. B turned nine last week and at the weekend we hosted a Book Party for her family and friends, with crazy food and fun activities. The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party was such fun to plan and prepare, with the kids excited about sharing the mad ideas with their friends.

All the invitations were little books, illustrated by B, with the story inside telling the tale of how all the guests were invited to a party. Everyone came dressed as a favourite book character – I was Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother, although sadly no photos of that incarnation remain. I do have lots of photos of what we made and what we ate though, so here’s our round up of how we hosted a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party.

Apple juice was served in our fanciest tea pot and every guest had a weird and wonderful cup to drink from (sourced from family treasures and charity shops.)

We froze grape juice in gold fish ice cube trays and served them to guests with silver sugar tongs.

One fish or two?

Pudding was do-it-yourself. I used my favourite cake recipe and gingerbread recipe to make the cupcakes and cookies in advance and then the children all decorated their own: some to eat at the party and some to take home too.

As you can see, they are not of the less is more school of thought.

Like all the poshest parties, cucumber sandwiches were served, but with a Mad Hatter’s twist. (Thanks to Jackie for the inspiration)

Edible golden bracelets were served on a china platter.

Ever eaten a hedgehog? A potato skewered with sausages on sticks – or even something as exotic as cheese and pineapple! – was a classic dish at birthday parties when I was a kid, and my girls thought it was fun. (Do hedgehogs have whiskers? We couldn’t decide.)

A rainbow on a stick was a healthy dessert option and bursting with colour. You could add a yellow section too if you don’t forget to buy the pineapple. (ahem)

We never have a birthday party without jelly. In a rabbit mould (see first photo) or in a jar the stripes look fabulous.

This idea of putting individual portions of ice cream in silicone cupcake cases makes the easiest way to serve it – fun too. (Thanks for the idea Real Simple)

Homemade party bags were filled with book worms (thanks to Jessie for the idea)…

and Wonka chocolate bars, plus a note pad and pencil to write stories of their own.

Thank you so much to all of you who left lovely birthday wishes for B, she had a great Mad Hatter’s tea party.

Making play posh

Cathy @ NurtureStore — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 01:30:30 +0000

L’s ultimate praise is to declare something ‘posh’ – and our teddy bears’ cafe this week was ever so. We know how to dine in style. Table cloths – fancy!

Vases of flowers on the table.

Waitress service. And real coffee for mummy

And best of all, real biscuits.

What added extras do you use to turn everyday play into something just a little bit posh?

happily shared with it’s playtime and happiness is and tot school and link and learn

Five fabulous ideas for feet

Cathy @ NurtureStore — Sun, 22 May 2011 14:34:59 +0000

Five fabulous ideas for a feet theme.

1. Set up a shoe shop: gather together as many different types of shoes as you can: lace-ups, high heels, flippers, wellies, ballet shoes, walking boots, football boots, slippers. Talk about when you would wear all these different types of footwear – what’s special about them? Add in some imaginary play and have some of the children be the shop assistants and some be the customers. Add in some maths by measuring everyones feet and graphing the results.

2. Explore movement and see what your feet can do: Play musical statues but have the children try out a different movement each time the music re-starts. Can they walk, hop, skip, run, go backwards, walk on tip toes? Try some other challenges such as seeing if they can pick blocks up with their feet and load them into a bucket. Or hold a crayon between their toes and do some drawing.

3. Discover animals’ feet: use toy animals or print off some pictures and investigate their feet. Talk about paws, hooves, webbed feet, claws and talons. Add some classification practise by sorting the animals into those with no feet, two feet, four feet, lots of feet. How do the animals’ feet suit how they live? Which animals can walk on the ceiling?

4. Make some footprints: for a great collaborative work of art tape big rolls of paper to the floor and then play some music. Have the children step in some paint and then dance their way over the canvas.

5. Read all about feet: with this fabulous selection of stories suggested by NurtureStore’s Facebook and Twitter friends. (Come and join us on Facebook and Twitter for lots more resources and idea swaps)

Like our ideas? Please VOTE FOR US in the UK Mum and Dad Blog awards!

happily shared with made by little hands Monday and math Monday and preschool corner and Outdoor Play and we play and math Monday and Tot School

Play dough recipe

Cathy @ NurtureStore — Wed, 18 May 2011 13:57:33 +0000

Need a play dough recipe? Salt dough recipe, bread dough recipe, no cook play dough recipe?

How about a year’s worth of playdough play ideas – including math, literacy and creative play.

Download our free play-dough recipe book: Let’s Play with Dough printable.

Print it out, stick it on the fridge – recipes and ideas ready when you need them.

happily shared with thrifty thursday and get your craft on and the carnival of homeschooling and works for me Wednesday today’s creative blog and abc and 123 and we play and made by you Monday and mad skills Monday and made by little hands Monday and inspire me Monday and tot school and science Sunday and craft schooling Sunday and share your Sunday best and link and learn and Saturday’s artist and Friday’s nature table and the resource centre and teach mama and preschool corner and for the kids Friday and it’s playtime

Playing dens

Cathy @ NurtureStore — Tue, 03 May 2011 12:10:17 +0000

A strange new habitat has appeared in our playroom – what could it be?

Secret surveillance cameras reveal signs of life – glimpses of the wild creatures inside.

Special cameras attached to the animals allow us to penetrate deep into the burrow, where no adults may enter.

The footage reveals that, deep underground, these creatures like to play…

…and sleep in four poster beds.

B says ‘playing dens is our favourite thing ever’. I say a whole day’s worth of happy, imaginative play is well worth having a messy room to tidy.

If your children love dens (or forts or cubbies) too, they might like the ideas in B’s guide to building dens.

if you like this idea – please share it!

happily shared with abcand123 and we play and the learning laboratory and link and learn and preschool corner and it’s playtime