The Busy Mom's Guide to Throwing a Kids' Holiday Tea Party

I’m a sucker for a children’s tea party. Don’t need much of an excuse to throw one for my two kids, though the holidays are an obvious justification to release my inner party girl. The only issue is that I, like every other mom I know, am too busy to throw a full-tilt extravaganza with homemade food. I’m not Martha Stewart, nor am I pretending to be. I’m more of a store-bought, frozen-goods kind of host — and my kids and their friends love it.

Heck, I only clean the bare minimum before they come. And I always schedule the events to occur as closely as possible to the twice-monthly visits from my beloved cleaning crew. To a 1950s kind of mother, this might sound lazy and sacrilegious, but I make no apologies for the low bar my domesticity is set at. Here’s my guide to hosting a laid-back children’s holiday tea party that your kids will love.

Choose invitations that set the mood. No, I’m not talking about handmade paper invitations. Those take up too much time that none of us have. Thank goodness for electronic invitations from companies such as Evite, Paperless Post, Punchbowl and tinyprints.

Each of my children can invite only as many friends as will fit around the dining table. That makes for a grand total of no more than eight kids.


Decide on the menu. I wasn’t kidding when I called myself a frozen-goods kind of host. In fact, the grocery store’s freezer aisle is where my kids and I plan most of our parties. Without a date or theme in mind, we search for the most awesome-looking desserts and work backward. This year’s tea party menu is shaping up to be:

• Trader Joe’s frozen croissants (that need to be proofed the night before), served with slices of ham
• Precut fruit to be served on skewers or straight from a bowl, depending on my mood the day of the party
• Packaged crudités arranged on a pretty plate to look like I labored over the accurately sliced healthy offerings
• Frozen petits fours that I’ll thaw the morning of the party
• Hot chocolate, which may be nothing more than heated chocolate milk depending on what time allows
• DavidsTea’s gingerbread rooibos (if nothing else, I insist these kids grow up on good tea)

It’ll take these lightning-fast young diners longer to eat the food than for me to prepare it.


Set the table. Use only linens that wash easily. Assume that everything you’re serving will end up on your tablecloth and napkins. Best to use machine washables even if they aren’t your prettiest. Eliminate any extra trips to the dry cleaner!

I love an opportunity to set the dining table with our fine china and flatware for these kiddie affairs. It shows off food, even the prepackaged stuff, in an elegant manner. And I’ve found that kids aren’t capable of causing much damage to plates or silverware. (Salad forks and spoons are the only utensils needed for a young crowd who will likely use fingers for most of it anyway.) Where I draw the line is at using crystal stemware or my prized antique teacups.


Instead, the children get the everyday porcelain mugs. We used to have ceramic mugs for everyday use but found them to chip too easily under the best circumstances. I’ve learned over the years that porcelain is the most ideal material to withstand kids (and adult klutzes).


Chairs. If you are serving your young guests in your dining room and are concerned your chairs are too good for hot chocolate spills, use folding chairs. In the history of our hosting parties, a child has never asked me why he or she was getting the second-rate seating. Kids are too excited to be at a party to pick up on these little details that adults might turn up a nose at. This is why I love hosting kids.

If you have to use your good chairs, consider investing in some inexpensive chair covers that you can toss in the wash after the happy little Rugrats have devoured their meal.


I know what some of you might be thinking: “All this work for kids? They should be running around outside.” Agreed, and we do plenty of that as well. The real reason I love to host my children’s friends in these intimate gatherings where they are the center of attention is so I can foster strong bonds with each child as they march together toward teenagehood.

A wise mother once told me: Be the responsible party you want your children to attend. Don’t wait for someone else who may not care as much to take that role for you.


Tell us: What are your tips for hosting a kids’ holiday party so they keep coming back for more each year?

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