How to Host a Fun Virtual Tea Party- activity ideas

Will you come to my tea party online?

You can host a Fun Virtual Tea Party easily with all of these simple ideas for food and activities. When those you care about live at a distance it is nice to create special times together and catch up on life. 

This is a fun way to stay in contact with grandkids and kids when they don’t live close by. Both boys and girls enjoy it!

New uses for virtual gatherings!

Covid opened up a whole realm of virtual options that many of us used to stay in touch during a challenging time. 

Let’s use those virtual in-person options to have a fun tea party that can be a connection time when we don’t live close together or other issues keep us from getting together!

We love tea parties-

Our family loves tea parties. There is almost always a tea party when we get together. Usually within the first hour a grandchild will ask, “When are we going to have a tea party?”

These times are never complicated or fancy. We usually come up with a silly theme of some sort where we all wear hats or it reflects the season, like for Valentine’s Day.  

Online tea party

So several times we have also had virtual tea parties! We do the same types of things as when we are in person. We set a time, make a virtual location, and each pull out a few tea party things. That’s it!

Keeping it simple makes it happen without much preparation and quickly. As my mom used to say, then we will do it more often!

This post will be about having a simple but Fun Virtual Tea Party focused on creating an event that will offer opportunity to visit a bit over treats and activities of your choice.

Here is a list of ideas to use to plan your party. Pick one or several ideas- or let this list seed your imagination for ideas of your own!

Virtual Tea Party Theme ideas

To start with, do you want a theme for your virtual tea party?  A simple theme is a wonderful way to make kids or adults more relaxed and excited for the event. 

As you will see, a theme is really just an excuse for a tea party! Ha! 

Here are a few theme ideas:

• Wear a particular item- a hat, a scarf, or a pair of silly glasses.
• Dress up in a costume- like for Halloween
• Holiday theme- Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Christmas
• Seasonal theme- winter, spring, summer, fall
• A question theme- everyone brings 3 questions to ask everyone in the group
• Book, movie or TV show theme- whatever you enjoy or are currently watching/reading. You could even make this into a virtual book club and read a chapter each time you have a tea party.
• Character theme- Spiderman, president, Moana, your favorite teacher
• Event theme- new puppy, graduation, moving, whatever is happening in your life right now (special occasions or very everyday events)
• Doll or stuffed animal theme- invite a stuffed animal to join you

Tea party snacks

Since your tea party is virtual, each person will provide their own light snacks. 

I usually gather treats that are very simple and have a few things on hand in my pantry to pull out for this purpose. 

It’s nice to have several things to take and put on a plate. So I usually have three or four small treats for tea. A few nuts, a cookie, and a bit of fruit look so nice in person and online! Ha!

Here are a few snack ideas for you and for you to recommend to those you invite.

• Dried fruit- raisins or Craisins, 
• Nuts- of any type 
• Fresh fruit or veggies
• Granola bars- whole or cut into pieces
• Crackers and cheese-
• Small sandwiches- little finger sandwiches can be made by cutting a regular sandwich into small fourths or even smaller
• Scones, cookies, cake, or cupcakes- purchased ones work as well as homemade! Click here for easy recipes for scones and lemon curd.
• Frozen treats- like ice cream, yogurt pops
• Drinks- tea (hot or cold), juice, pop, hot chocolate, milk or chocolate milk. The adults are more apt to have a nice cup of tea and try various types of tea. It's a good idea to have other options for drinks for kids though. They can still be served up in the same cups.

Cups & plates do not have to be fancy. We have used china tea cups and plates, our Little Tykes vintage plastic tea set, my white Corelle ware, and paper plates. Anything is fine. Don’t let it keep you from the event, use what you have available.

Decorations are optional of course but it may be fun for your guests to see on the screen beside you as you have tea with them. Pull out your favorite teapot, and find a cool virtual background for your screen (virtual backgrounds may not be available on your online service).

Virtual tea party activities: Tea party games

Would you like an activity to do together while you have tea or after tea? An activity is oven a great addition to a tea time, it is a fun challenge. 

Here are a few ideas and creative ways to interact. These are some of our favorite in-person activities that we adapt for our Zoom meetings.

• Scavenger hunt- make a short list of things to run and find in your house (hair tie, stapler, penny, etc.)
• Charades- act out a simple action that you provide in a text or in the chat (making scrambled eggs, pouring tea, brushing your hair, etc.)
• Pictionary- use the draw feature on your application to draw something, the others have to guess what it is. We had a great time with this one, the kids loved the drawing feature. (draw a flower, cat, car, etc.)
• Questions/conversation starters- have several questions to ask during the tea. Each person will answer the question. It’s a great way to learn more about each other! Keep them upbeat and positive. You could use conversation starter cards if this is easier. (What is your favorite ice cream flavor? What was your favorite Christmas memory? etc.)
• Simple craft- do a very simple craft together. We made cootie catchers and decorated them as finger puppets one time. It was easy and fun. If having tea with younger children it may be necessary to have an adult that can help them. A few other easy paper craft ideas are found here: WTN Paper Craft ideas.
• Draw or color- there are a number of printable coloring pages available on Welcome To Nanas. Coloring page ideas are found here: WTN Coloring Pages.

It's a good idea to make the craft ahead of time once so you can coach them through how to do it!

Invite people to tea online!

Now it’s time to invite people to your virtual party. You can send a fun invitation online or in the mail if you want. But a simple text and explanation is all your group of friends or family need in advance of the party. 

Be sure to let the party participants know the date and time, about the theme (is there a dress code- a silly hat perhaps?), if there's some craft supplies to gather or print off, and that they will need to have some simple tea party treats.

High tea is typically an afternoon tea party, but you can schedule your virtual tea any time of day if there is a better time for you or your guests. 
Make sure you have a time that works for everyone and then set up a meeting online.

Schedule an online meeting

Schedule an online meeting at the service of your choice. We have used Zoom a number of times but more recently have been using Google Hangout.

There are a lot more options for virtual hangouts now, but these are usually the most well known and most likely familiar to the people you invite. You may have another good option available to you.

Note: There is a time limit of 40 minutes on the Zoom meeting if you use that service.

Send the link to this meeting out to those coming to the party. 

How do I host my virtual tea party?

Before the party, set up your dishes, treats, and game or craft supplies so you are ready.

A few minutes before tea time open up the meeting you set up in your online service. Let people join as they come online for your party. If you are a bit rusty on this, you could practice with a friend ahead of tome to get re-familiarized.

Gently lead your online guests through the tea party, initiate conversation with questions that will encourage them to visit and make them feel comfortable.

Transition to your activity (if you've chosen to do one) and lead them through the craft.

Close by thanking them for coming and telling them your farewell sentiments.

Remember...

You are welcome to make your tea party time as fancy and full of special treats as you would like. But this post is meant to keep it a simple and fun virtual tea party. Don’t over complicate it!

It isn’t what you have at the tea party. Remember, the most important part of your tea party is the fun of being together (even if it is virtual), the conversations you have, and the memories you make. 

Tea parties and virtual tea parties are just awesome. You will probably be asked about when you can have the next virtual tea party before you are done with this one!! 

More tea party ideas:

• Make Fantastic Fruit Pizza for Mom
• Simple Graham Cracker and Frosting Sandwich Cookies
• Making Pumpkin Muffins for Mom
• Mother’s Day Tea Party Scones and Lemon Curd
• Candles in Tea Cups Craft
• Kids Love a Tea for Two Tea Party
• Grandmas Antique Childs Tea Set for Mother’s Day

Enjoy!

If you try this craft, let me know! Go ahead and leave a comment, rate it, and tag a photo with #WelcometoNanas wherever you post.

Come join the fun at https://welcometonanas.com

Supplies for your virtual tea party

The supplies needed are dependent on what ideas from above you are choosing.

• Treats for the tea party- see list above
• Drink for the tea party- see list above
• Dishes- play tea set, tea set, paper products, dishes of any sort
• Activity ideas (optional)- see list above