Summer Themed Tea Party

Step 1: Gather Your Supplies

You do not need fancy china or expensive decor.

Here’s what we used.

Decor & Dress-Up Supplies

• Flower Leis ($1 store)
• Grass skirts($1 store)
• Flower crowns and bracelets  ($1 store)
• Balloons-White, orange, pink ($1 store)
• Tropical Leaf Placemats or table runner ($1 store)
• Paper flowers ($1 store)
• Bright Table Cloth($1 store)
• Lt Blue Table Cloth for backdrop($1 store)
• Coconuts ($1 store)
• Flamingos ($1 store)
• Pink Nail Polish
• Youtube Tropical Island Music and Background 

Serving Supplies

• Purple, blue, and pink serving trays ($1 Store- reused purple ones from Halloween)
• Small plates and napkins

Food & Drink

• Fruit for a tropical fruit tray
• Croissants
• Chicken Salad
• Bell Pepper
• Hummus
• Nutter Butter Cookies
• Taiyaki- fish shaped (Trader Joes or other Asian speciality store)
• Banannas
• Kiwi
• Mandarine Oranges
• Italian Sodas

Step 2: Setting the Scene

For our tropical tea party we turned our space into a tiny island getaway using bright colors.

A colorful tropical balloon garland creates a fun Hawaiian party backdrop.

Earlier in the week I had the grands paint a cloud and a sun on some butcher paper. Then we started by making a simple backdrop and adding a colorful balloon garland decorated with tropical flowers and leaves. I got the inspiration from Dawn at I Think We Could Be Friends. It instantly brought the room to life and made the perfect photo spot for the girls.

To make it even more playful, I bought Dollar Store flower leis, grass skirts, and flower crowns so the girls could dress up. As soon as they put them on, the whole room felt like a little Hawaiian celebration.

I remembered that I had a lobster puppet so I brought him out to join our party and guard our food. If you have any stuffed animals or anything that resembles a beach or island life pull those in.

It doesn’t take much to create the feeling of a special moment. A few colorful decorations, some dress-up pieces, and a cheerful table are all it takes to turn an ordinary afternoon into a tropical tea party adventure.

Then to put final touches we put on a Youtube video that had a tropical island background and was playing Hawaiian music.

Step 3: Prepare the Food

Next, we set the table with teacups, a teapot, and a few tropical touches like leaf placemats, some flamingos and coconuts all from the Dollar Tree. The food and treats themselves added to the theme with fruit shaped into a palm tree, Nutter Butter cookies served on graham cracker crumb sand and shaped like flip-flops, and fun fish-shaped Taiyaki food for the girls, croissant chicken salad that resembled crabs,  along with a red bell pepper crab sitting atop our jar of hummus and arranged around the table.

We served bright colorful Italian Sodas in tropical cups from the Dollar Tree to keep the tea party feeling fancy. Children always love when everyday drinks are served in “special” cups.

The key is to keep things bite-sized and easy for little hands. Small treats, colorful fruit, and simple snacks arranged on pretty trays can make even the simplest foods feel like part of the celebration.

Remember, the magic of a tea party isn’t in gourmet recipes. It’s in sitting together, nibbling on treats, and enjoying the moment.

Step 5: Create | Learn  Something Together

After we enjoyed our treats, it was time for hula dancing.

We had Miss Jessica from YouTube teach us how to Hula. With a little encouragement and a lot of giggling, we all began practicing hula moves. There’s something about music and dress-up that instantly makes kids feel like they’ve stepped into the story of the party.

It didn’t matter if our moves were perfect. The fun was simply in moving, pretending, and enjoying the moment together.

Activities like this are a wonderful way to bring the theme of the tea party to life. A little music, a few dress-up pieces, and the freedom to be playful can turn a simple afternoon into smiles and fun to rememeber.

Hula dancing

Step 6: Wrap It All Up

As our tropical tea party came to an end, we took a few minutes to simply enjoy the moment together. The girls were still wearing their leis and grass skirts, the table was sprinkled with crumbs from our treats, and the room was full of happy little memories.

Before cleaning up, we like to pause and talk about our favorite part of the party. Sometimes it’s the dancing, sometimes the snacks, and sometimes the story we read together. It’s a sweet way to slow down and appreciate the time we shared.

Then we gather up our decorations, tuck away the dress-up pieces for the next tea party, and leave the room feeling just a little brighter than before.

That’s the beautiful thing about these simple tea parties. They don’t need to be perfect or elaborate. With a few decorations, a handful of treats, and a little imagination, an ordinary afternoon can turn into a memory filled with love, laughter, and connection.

Tea Party Timeline

Total Time: About 60-90 min

Welcome & Dress-Up – 10 minutes
Girls get dressed up with leis, grass skirts, and flower crowns.

Prepare & Eat the Food – 25–30 minutes
Enjoy food and drinks.

Story Time – 10 minutes
I read to them while they ate and we talked about the book.

Dancing Activities – 20 minutes
Hula dancing activity. We watched a Youtube video on how to dance.

Photos & Pack Up Potions – 10–15 minutes
Once everything was finished, we took a few pictures and packed up the potions for the girls to take home.

Tea parties don’t have to follow a strict schedule, but having a simple flow like this helps the afternoon feel relaxed while still giving time for food, play, and a quiet story together.