Kids Programming–T-Rex Tea Party

UPDATE: This is now my 5th year doing a tea party and this is still a really popular post, so updating a few things. Tally ho!

This is always a jolly good program idea!  Tea parties were always a big draw at my first library, but I think putting a dinosaur spin on it makes it a lot more inclusive and more fun in general.

First thing I did was try to find a fun way to advertise it.  So I bought an inflatable dinosaur costume from Amazon, and decided to make some etiquette films!  Here’s a few examples of them.

They’ve always been a big hit, and I play them all in our Community Room with all of our food, so there’s entertainment in the background. This being my 5th year doing the program, I usually add one new video every year.

I always wonder around the library during the event, with my rideable T-Rex costume (see picture at top) because it’s less scary than the full one for younger kiddos and it’s a great photo op for both me and kids. Anyway, this time around a grandma said “there’s that naughty dinosaur” since she and her grandkids really liked the videos playing. So yay! You should be able to find the full playlist of all my dinosaur videos here for either inspiration or to play at an event.

After promoting for a few weeks, we were ready for our event! We also encouraged kids to either dress up in tea party attire, dinosaur costumes, or both!

CRAFT

Tea Rex Puppets

I’m REALLY proud of the Tea Rex Puppets I made.  They look really cute and the’ll definitely keep kids busy.  Plus putting the hats on them really ties the two themes together well, since I didn’t want either theme of dinosaurs or tea party to dominate the event.

You can pick up a copy of the instructions and coloring sheet here.

If you’re looking for an extra craft, you can view and download my Tiny T-Rex Finger Puppet here.

DECORATION

Tea parties are all about the details, so for my food tables, I set up some really simple decorations. So every table got some dinos, some fake tea cups, and a teapot. It fit added character without costing anything. Kids love playing with the dinos, and this is a great way to mix the two themes.

The teacups are from Red Ted Art, and are really simple to make, if you want you can make it into a craft that kids can make too, it’s just a little time consuming. You can make your tea cups extra special by using some edging or pattern scissors, and taking a big dinosaur bit out of one. You can download a copy of the Red Ted Art tea cup template here, it should still be free!

To pair with it, I designed this teapot that you can print out. I’m attaching a copy of it here.

GAMES

Feed the T-Rex

I thought it would be fun to do some sort of ball toss into a dinosaur’s mouth.  I had some extra time so I thought it would be even better to make the mouth 3D!!  It was surprisingly simple to make.  I first found someone that did something similar here, and then just made my own template.

The sides are just two large pear shapes about 2.5 feet long that are made out of cardboard.  I then clipped them to a heavy duty iPad stand, so that it could hold all the weight.  Then I used a flexible measuring tape to measure how much cardboard I would need for the top.  Using that measurement, I made one really long trapezoid out of cardboard to lay on top.  I scored it every 2 inches or so, so that the cardboard would lay flat on the top of the head and was able to bend with all the curves, especially  on the dinosaur’s snout.  From there, it was just decorating it.  I’m thinking my kiddos will try to throw paper airplanes into it’s mouth.

Tea Party Activity Walk

This was kinda like a big obstacle course around the library.  To start the walk, the kids would follow the dinosaur footprints around the library.  At certain points there would be a sign, and the kiddos would have to do the action on the sign.  Each sign was either a dinosaur action or a tea party action, which ties the two themes together nicely.

I’m not going to post all my signs here, but I will post what each sign said so you can recreate them easy enough:

Sign 1: Walk like a lady or gentleman to the next sign.
Sign 2: Stomp like a dinosaur to the next sign.
Sign 3: Practice sipping tea like a lady or gentleman. 1.) Pinkie out.  2.) Sip quietly.  Go to the next sign when done.
Sign 4: Practice sipping tea like a dinosaur.  1.) Tail out.  2.) Sip loudly.  Go to the next sign.
Sign 5: Twirl around gracefully like a proper lady or gentleman.  Go to the next sign when done.
Sign 6: Flap your wings like a dinosaur.  Go to the next sign when done.
Sign 7: Balance a book on your head for 10 seconds.  Go to the next sign when done.
Sign 8: Crawl around like a dinosaur for 15 seconds.  Go to the next sign when done.
Sign 9: Practice your bow or curtsy to show respect.  Go to the next sign when done.
Sign 10: Practice your dinosaur roar to show…you’re a dinosaur.  Go to the next sign when done.
Sign 11: CONGRATULATIONS!  You are now a proper lady or gentleman AND a wonderful dinosaur!

T-Rex Tea Party Word Search

I threw this together pretty quick–I like that it combines both themes like the puppets.  It’s a bit difficult so it will be a great way to eat up some time or could also be a take home project.  You can download a copy along with the answer key here for free.

Ring Toss “Triceratoss”

I saw this on Pinterest and definitely wanted to add it to my event.  So I made my own template, then traced it on to a big piece of paper.  The school was nice enough to laminate it for me so that it would last longer.  You can find my template here if you need it–it’s meant for cones that are 5 inches wide at the base.  You can find them online easily enough.

Tea Maze

I made this for a tea party at my old library, but it still fits the theme!  You can find a copy here, but no answer key yet.

That’s about it!  We served lemonade for tea and A LOT of cupcakes for a snack.  We also had a photo booth up with both fancy hats and dinosaur mouths.  It was ever so much fun!!

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