Autumn Teatime Poetry Inspiration

Fall is officially here and with school well underway, my kids wasted no time in asking if we could conduct a teatime poetry, one of their favorite school pastimes.

We love teatime poetry, and in the past it has taken a lot of work on my end – setting a table, selecting the readings, creating the goodies and making the tea, etc. But this time, I wanted the children to really take ownership of it. It was, after all, their request!

This morning I told the kids that their assignment for the morning was to:

• Make the food from start to finish (with adult supervision/aid)
• Plate the goodies
• Help make the spiced apple cider (which was our tea for the event)
• Set the table, including a tablecloth and a centerpiece
• Help choose the poems and books to read from
• Help read the poems
• Use their best manners
• Help with cleanup

They honestly did a fabulous job, and I’m so glad I documented so I could share here what they came up with!

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So what did Mom do? Here’s my rough list:

• Choose baby’s teatime snack (mostly Cheerios)
• Help select poetry and read
• Provide the recipe for cookies and monitor baking/food prep
• Help clean up!

The work this time was so much more minimal for me, and I’m thrilled the kids wanted to take such a big part in our teatime poetry! They immediately asked if we could have it once a week. I’ve been hesitant before, but now I’m ready for another one soon!

Okay, enough with the teatime duties. Here’s the details on what we used and loved for our Autumn Themed Teatime Poetry!

Books and Selected Poems:

Red Are the Apples by Wade Zahare

Wonderfall by Michael Hall

Tiny, Perfect Things by M. H. Clark

Fall Leaves Fall! by Zoe Hall

Grasshoppers by Paul Fleischman, Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices

Honeybees by Paul Fleischman, Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices

Teatime Food Ideas:

• Quickstir Peanut Butter Cookies
• Apple Honey Oat Bars
• Spiced Carrot Cake Scones – more complex, more adult help possibly needed for this one!
• 4-Ingredient Energy Bites
• Apple Cinnamon Tea
• Spiced Apple Cider – recipe coming soon!

All these choices are kid-friendly, caffeine free, and can be converted easily for allergen friendly necessities.

Other Inspiration:

• Utilize an autumn-themed radio station or playlist on youtube or spotify to set the mood. We love this one!
• Bring out a few kid-friendly, fall decorations (battery operated candles, candy dishes, colorful cloth napkins, etc.) and allow the kids to pick what goes on the table and where.
• Use the real dishes! It helps littles with fine motor control and also teaches the value of being careful. Of course, use your own discretion and judgment. 🙂
• Let the kids do as much of the preparation as possible. Take the whole morning! (I’m totally giving you permission to skip the subraction flashcards if you need it.) It really amplifies their enjoyment of the process, gives them a varied learning environment, and eases your workload, too!
• Get outside if you want to! We opted for our kitchen nook – right near south facing, open windows since it was pretty dewy and wet outside still. Also, our tiny one year old likes to chew every stick in sight.

For a quick video of their adorable setup, visit my Instagram stories and request follow today! Or you can check out my Facebook here. 🙂

We hope you found some exciting fall inspiration to create your own special teatime poetry session this season. If you loved this post, please share or visit here and here for more ideas on homeschooling and fresh recipes!

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