• Paper Dolls: Buy paper dolls and cut or punch them out. Write party details on the back of the doll. Be sure to ask the children to bring their own dolls to the party.



• Tea Packet: Buy decorative herbal tea packets for the parents. Write party details on a small card and glue the card to the back of the tea packet.

• Picture Poses: Cut out pictures of dolls and tea sets from toy catalogs and glue them to the front of a folded sheet of pink paper to make a collage. Write party details inside.

• Set small tables together in the middle of the room and cover with a tablecloth featuring toys or dolls. Set up small chairs around the table.



• Set dolls around the room and on the tables.



• Place tea sets or small plates and cups on the tables.



• Cut out paper dolls and pictures of dolls and tape them to the walls at child's eye level.

• Instruct guests to dress up in their very best clothes for a fancy tea party, or dress like their doll, using colourful crepe paper to create matching outfits.



• Make fancy hats or buy them at a party or costume store to top each guest's outfit!

• Guess the Cookie: Break a variety of cookies into pieces and place the pieces of each cookie in separate paper cups. Have children close their eyes, pick a cookie piece from a cup, taste it, and try to guess the cookie.



• What's the Difference about Dolly? Take each dolly out of the room for a moment and do something different to it, such as braid the hair, change the outfit, add some jewelry, remove shoes, and so on. Bring the dolls back and have children guess what's different about dolly!

• Crazy Table: Set up the table for the tea party and let the guests see the setup. Then have guests leave the party room for a few minutes. While they're gone, do crazy things to the table setting. (Turn a cup upside down, replace a plate with a coaster, turn the cutlery upside down, and so on.) Have the guests come back in and try to find everything that's crazy!

• Decorating Cookies: Bake a batch of cookies, but leave them plain. Set them on the table together with frosting, frosting tubes, and candy decorations. Let guests decorate their own tea cookies. Or do the same with cupcakes and call them Tea Cakes.



• Dress Up Dolly: Provide a bunch of doll clothes and let guests dress up their dollies. Or provide crepe paper or fabric remnants and let the children design their own outfits for their dollies.

• Dress Up Baby: Provide a variety of fun, Charity Shop dress-up clothes, such as hats, gloves, boots, high heels, sequin tops, velvet skirts or pants, and so on. Place them all in a big box and let the kids dress up.



• Picture Place Mats: Take a Polaroid photo of each child. Give each a paper doily. Have each child glue his photo in the centre of his doily and decorate around the edges with felt-tip pens. Cover the place mats with clear contact paper to protect them and place them under the plates.

• After the kids have frosted their cookies, let them gobble them up.



• Give each guest a piece of white bread with the crusts removed. Pour food colouring into small bowls and hand out small paintbrushes. Have guests paint designs on the bread. When they finish, lightly toast the bread, cut each slice into fourths, and use them to make tea sandwiches with favourite fillings.



• Pour fruit-flavoured herbal teas into tiny cups and serve with slices of orange or sprigs of mint.

Dolly Cake

1. Bake a cake mix in an oven-proof bowl according to package directions. Turn curved-side up and cool.
2. Insert a fashion doll into the middle of the cake.
3. Use a frosting tube with a star tip to cover the bust of the doll and the whole cake with frosting to form a fancy dress.
4. SDecorate with frosting tubes to add details.

• Give guests toy tea sets and play food.

• Have a special tea party in a banquet room at a local restaurant.

• Place a plastic tarp under the table to protect the floor, especially if the table is in a carpeted room.