Age: I introduced this around 2.5 years old. In the beginning, they needed lots of assistance, but after a month or two, they could do the whole sequence on their own. This activity is enjoyed by 3- to 6-year-old’s as well and is used quite often!

Materials:

  • tea set (the one I have is from Timy Toy. I chose to get a metal one because I wanted to use it with toddlers and didn’t want to worry about it breaking. Porcelain tea sets are also available.)
  • tea (we have a mint plant and use the leaves to make the tea. We’ve also used fruit tea bags.)
  • mortar and pestle (if not using a tea bag)
  • tea ball (if not using a tea bag)
  • plate to put the tea ball/bag on
  • sand timer (ours is about 2 minutes long)

Previous learning:

  • can pour liquids and can stop pouring before cup overflows
  • table setting
  • can follow multi-step activities
  • care of plants
  • mortar and pestle
  • understand how a timer works and able to wait for the tea to “brew”
  • spooning liquids

Procedure:

1. Wash hands.

2. Bring materials to the table. Set up tea set. My child sometimes likes setting up their dolls at the table too. For a younger child, I did not have the materials on a tray because it was pretty heavy. Around age 3, I started putting it all on a tray.

3. If not using a tea bag, pick mint leaf and wash it. If using, tea bag, skip to step 7.

4. Tear mint leaf.

5. Place in mortar and pestle and grind it.

6. Put leaves in tea ball.

7. Put water in tea kettle. If they want cold tea, they just get cold water from the sink. If they want warm tea, then I might heat up some water a little bit in a separate container and then put it in their kettle. I only heat it up to about lukewarm.

Place tea bag/ball in kettle. If it has a string, show them how to leave it hanging out so it can be retrieved later.

8. Flip the sand timer. Wait until it finishes. May need to give reminders that it needs to stay on the table and can’t be touched until it finishes.

9. Take tea bag/ball out of the kettle and place it on a plate. If it doesn’t have a string, then we use a spoon to get it out.

10. Put lid back on the kettle and pour the tea into cups.

11. Enjoy! Sip with the spoon or out of the cup. Make more as needed.

12. When finished, we have a bin for dirty dishes that I help the child put everything in to.