Mother's Day Tea Party Pics and a FREEBIE

Happy Mother's Day! The kindergarten Tea Party was on Friday and was a success! This is a very special event so students and Moms arrived for the Tea Party dressed in their "Mother's Day Best." All of the Moms were raving about how sweet of an event it was. Since I had been hyping it up on the blog for so long, I thought you would like to see a few photos from the actual event. You will also find a free download for a song we use during the party.

Here are a few photos taken before the Mother's Day Tea Party began. As you can see, the event was held in the gym. The students created the placemats in class and we purchased inexpensive flowers from Christmas Tree Shops to use as centerpieces. My teaching partner makes a trip to a local bakery to pick up the beautiful tea cookies each year and the "silver" platters are from the Dollar Tree. They are such a bargain because they look so expensive!

The parents sit on the outside of the table, students
sit on the inside. Each guest's name is written on a placemat.

The tea table

We also serve coffee at the tea party.

So we decorated the gym the night before and got everything ready to go. We even prepared the coffee makers ahead of time. The day of the party, we just did a few small items (plug in the coffee pots, cut lemon slices, set out the coffee creamer and milk). We asked the moms to bring their favorite teacup or mug to the event.

Our Tea Party began at 10:00 and we invited the Moms to arrive at 9:45 so they have a chance to find their place, help themselves to coffee and tea and get settled before the kindergarteners arrive. Once all of the Moms were seated and ready, the students joined them in the gym.

The kindergarten students had been very busy learning songs and poems in class. They walked into the gym quietly and set their "Forever Bouquet" projects face-down on the floor. The students performed their poems in unison (scroll down to see which poems we use). Our final poem was the Mother's Day Poem, which explained that the Moms deserved a bouquet that would last forever. Just as the class began to recite this final line of the poem, they all bent down and quickly picked up their handprint artwork, which they held out and displayed for their audience. (We practiced this many times and the final performance was PERFECT!)

 Students displaying their "Forever Bouquets" for Mom

After the performance, the children walked around the tables to find their Moms, give them a hug, and deliver their artwork. After a quick hug and a kiss, the children walked back around the tables to find their own seat and join the Mothers for tea and cookies (students drank juice).

Sharing handprint art and letters to Mom

The rest of the Tea Party was a nice relaxing experience for all! Students and Moms visited with each other and enjoyed the refreshments. Just as the students began to grow restless, the principal called them over for one last surprise for the Moms. She read the story "Love You Forever" by Robert Munsch aloud and each time she arrived at the verse I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living my baby you'll be the students sang those words together. This also was rehearsed many times beforehand and the final product was very sweet.

Students gather  to hear "Love You Forever" by Robert Munsch.

After the story, the Tea Party was nearly complete. Lots of Moms took their last few photos of the children and their friends. The teachers had painted a photo backdrop for the event (which was a hit) and many "couples' came to have their picture taken in front of the backdrop.

A student and myself at the Tea Party.
(I love that she wore a tiara to the event.)

And there you have it! A lovely Tea Party for Mother's Day. I have been posting about many of the details as the students and I prepared for the big event. If you would like additional information, these posts may be helpful to you.

Invitations to the Tea Party

"Forever Bouquet" poem and handprint art 

"Cup of Tea" poem and backdrop painting

Making the placemats and writing letters to Mom

Ready for a FREEBIE?
And, without further ado, I believe I promised you a FREEBIE! Here is one more poster and student copy of a song we sang to the Moms during the Tea Party. It is to the tune of "You are My Sunshine" and is very sweet and easy for the children to learn. Download the packet which includes materials to make a classroom poster and student copy of the song. To create an instructional poster for your classroom, download and print all pages,  trim the edges, glue onto poster board, & laminate.

Happy Mother's Day!