I’ve been wanting to have a special activity to reinforce the manners work my 2½-year-old granddaughter, Zoey, has done. With nice weather most days, I decided on a healthy and courteous tea party picnic (using Montessori principles, of course)!
As I said before, we have a number of food allergies in our family. On top of that, my husband and I have been vegetarians for over 40 years, our kids are lifelong vegetarians, and we have more than one family member with low thyroid (including me). Our tea party picnic menu was designed to work for many with food allergies or special diets.
How to Have a Healthy and Courteous Tea Party Picnic – YouTube Video
In this 1 minute, 15 second video, my daughter, Christina, and Zoey (Christina’s niece) enjoy a special tea party picnic. Isn’t Zoey adorable???!
Following are our menu, our tea sandwich recipe, items used, and the grace and courtesy lessons we emphasized. (I got to sample the tea party menu after I was finished behind the camera, so I had lots of fun with the tea party picnic, too.)
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links (at no cost to you).
Our Menu for a Healthy Tea Party Picnic
- Gluten-Free Whole-Grain Avocado Tea Sandwiches
- Blueberries
- Raspberries
- Warm Peppermint Tea made with hot water and peppermint tea bags (cooled to a safe temperature)
Our Food Preparation Activities
Tea sandwiches are fun to make with young children because they use so many practical life skills. The recipe for avocado tea sandwiches is simple, and children can be quite independent in making them from a relatively early age. Zoey always wears the apron from the Montessori By Mom Helping Hands Toolbox for food preparation activities. I really recommend having a child-size apron for any cooking or baking activities. We typically use the Learning Tower so that Zoey can safely and comfortably reach everything. For this activity, Zoey did the work at her child-size work table.
How to Make Gluten-Free Whole-Grain Avocado Tea Sandwiches
Gluten-Free Wholegrain Avocado Sandwich with Herbal Tea for a Healthy Tea Party
Because we have more than one family member with food allergies and low thyroid, I almost always prepare gluten-free foods at home. To be sure the gluten-free foods are healthy, I generally use whole-grain gluten-free flours.
Ingredients:
- 2-4 slices gluten-free whole-grain bread (depending on the size of your bread slices) I used Canyon Bakehouse bread, but I also love Udi’s. We get ours at our local health food store.
- 1 avocado
- ½ tomato
- chopped walnuts (optional)
Instructions:
Scoop out an avocado. Mash the avocado. Dice ½ tomato. Stir avocado and tomato together. Cut crusts off bread and then cut bread into small squares. Spread avocado mixture on bread squares. Sprinkle on chopped walnuts. Top each bread square with another bread square. (With kids, just make healthy tea sandwiches they’ll enjoy whether they’re avocado or simply peanut butter.)
Zoey enjoyed demonstrating her practical life skills as she prepared the avocado tea sandwiches.
Scooping out an Avocado for Gluten-Free Whole Grain Avocado Sandwiches
Zoey used her spooning skills to scoop out the avocado.
Mashing an Avocado for Gluten-Free Whole-Grain Avocado Sandwiches
A child-size potato masher would have been best. I didn’t have one, so Zoey used my adult-size one. Fortunately, she didn’t have difficulty with it.
Cutting a Tomato for Gluten-Free Whole-Grain Avocado Sandwiches
I did have a small nylon knife from Montessori Services for Zoey to use to cut the tomato. This knife is AWESOME! Zoey was so proud. I did have to finish the tomato dicing, but Zoey did a lot of great cutting work.
Mixing Mashed Avocado and Diced Tomato for Gluten-Free Whole-Grain Avocado Sandwich
Then Zoey stirred the tomato into the avocado.
Cutting off Bread Crusts for Gluten-Free Whole-Grain Avocado Sandwiches
Zoey had fun using the nylon knife again to cut off the bread crusts and then cut the bread into squares. At her age, I often had to guide her hands, but she did an awesome job anyway.
Spreading Avocado-Tomato Mixture on Gluten-Free Whole-Grain Bread
Zoey spread on the avocado-tomato mixture using another cool Montessori Services child-size tool … a wood handled spreader.
Adding (and Eating) Chopped Walnuts
Then Zoey sprinkled chopped walnuts on the top. You’ll notice the bread crumbs on her mouth. She had fun eating some of the bread crusts as well as the walnuts … healthy food-preparation tasting! Finally, we put another square bread piece on the top of each avocado bread square.
Here’s your printable Gluten-Free Multi-Grain Avocado Tea Sandwich Recipe (printed copy will include an image):
Ingredients
- 2-4 slices gluten-free whole-grain bread (depending on the size of your bread slices)
- 1 avocado
- ½ tomato
- chopped walnuts (optional)
Instructions
- Scoop out an avocado.
- Mash the avocado.
- Dice ½ tomato.
- Stir avocado and tomato together.
- Cut crusts off bread and then cut bread into small squares.
- Spread avocado mixture on bread squares.
- Sprinkle on chopped walnuts.
- Top each bread square with another bread square.
Items for a Tea Party Picnic
Items Used for Healthy and Courteous Tea Party Picnic
- Ceramic Tea Set with Basket
(I chose this set because it has a pretty basket and settings for 4 … many are only settings for 2. If you get this set, be sure to save the plastic inserts if you want to store your tea set in it. Zoey carried out the “picnic basket” with the book for our tea party picnic. Later, I put the inserts back in the basket {just cut the tall part down to fit easily} to safely store our special-occasion tea set. Unfortunately, that set isn’t as readily available, so it’s really gone up in price. This is a similar ceramic tea set from the same company. You might also want to check out other ceramic tea sets.) - My Very First Tea Party by Michal Sparks (This is a lovely board book for a first tea party, although you should be aware that it has a prayer in it using the word “God.” The prayer is simple and sweet if you don’t mind having a prayer at your tea party.)
- Fancy Nancy: Tea Parties by Jane O’Connor (a fun book for preschool-grade 2 … perfect for when Zoey’s a bit older)
- Let’s Have a Tea Party!: Special Celebrations for Little Girls by
- teaspoons as serving spoons
- small containers for berries (I used two lotus dishes from Montessori Services … also used for transferring activities)
- Multicraft tray for food and tea set
- Blanket or blankets
- Food and Tea (See menu above)
- party dress
- hat (Zoey’s wearing a hat Christina wore as a toddler!)
- white gloves are often used, although we didn’t use them because of Zoey’s age.
(I chose this set because it has a pretty basket and settings for 4 … many are only settings for 2. If you get this set, be sure to save the plastic inserts if you want to store your tea set in it. Zoey carried out the “picnic basket” with the book for our tea party picnic. Later, I put the inserts back in the basket {just cut the tall part down to fit easily} to safely store our special-occasion tea set. Unfortunately, that set isn’t as readily available, so it’s really gone up in price. This is a Grace and Courtesy Activities Used in Our Tea Party Picnic
Drinking Herbal Tea at a Healthy and Courteous Tea Party Picnic
We focused on these tea-party manners:
- putting napkin on lap
- saying “yes, please” or “no, thank you”
- saying “thank you”
- saying “thank you for the tea party”
Learn more about Montessori at Home or School: How to Teach Grace and Courtesy (my book for teaching grace and courtesy for ages 2-12!)
What a fun experience this was! Zoey was so excited about her hat and party dress. Now we’re planning more special tea parties!
UPDATE: See “How to Have a Healthy and Courteous Teddy Bear Picnic.”
This post is part of Kids’ Kitchen Monthly Series
This post is part of Kids’ Kitchen Monthly SeriesCheck out the fun picnic recipes this month (more coming soon)!
- Kids’ Kitchen: Teddy Bear Picnic Recipes | Sugar, Spice & Glitter
- Tea Sandwiches | Royal Little Lambs
- Cold Taco Salad | The Gifted Gabber
- How to Have a Healthy and Courteous Tea Party Picnic | Living Montessori Now
- Greek Pasta Salad | Kitchen Counter Chronicles
- Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies | Mess for Less
Enjoy! 🙂
Learn more about my eBook Montessori at Home or School: How to. Teach Grace and Courtesy!
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Absolutely stunning post, Deb, and the lovely video brings it to life so nicely. I really do love what you do for the Montessori world!
Thanks so much for your very sweet comment, Carolyn! I love what you do for the Montessori world, too! 🙂 Deb
What a fun activity for kids and adults! My mom has been serving tea time after she enjoyed it in Canada, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed every opportunity we get to experience tea. The avocado tea sandwich recipe sounds great, I’ll have to remember it for a future tea party!
Thanks, Brooke! How awesome that your mom serves tea. My granddaughter already loves it, so I think we’ll be having many more tea parties. 🙂 Deb