How to Host a Valentine's Day Tea Party for Your Young Daughter

Hosting a Valentine's Day party for your daughter, her friends, and their dolls can be lots of fun and very rewarding. When I was young, my mother would help me host a Valentine's party every year. We quickly discovered what food to serve and what activities to have that were the most fun for everyone involved.

It is usually best to invite 2 to 6 friends and their favorite dolls (or stuffed animals) since too many people can cause chaos. Send invitations to the girls in advance with smaller invitations included inside with an invite from your daughter's doll to theirs.

Get pretty teacups and saucers. Don't use ones you are afraid of breaking, since it is likely that at least one girl will drop her cup. If you are worried, get frilly plastic ones at a toy store.

Have materials for the girls to make each other valentine's cards and maybe to also make cards for everyone in their class at school. All you need is red, pink, and white construction paper, craft scissors, crayons, and glue sticks. You can also include doilies, stickers and glitter for even more fun.

Have the room decorated with paper heart chains that your daughter can help you make. If you like, you can wait until the guests arrive and all the girls can help make the decorations together.

Set up a table with place settings for the girls and places for their dolls as well. Serve Valentine themed tea party food. Crust-less sandwiches are usually a hit. You can make several varieties like cucumber and cream cheese, peanut butter and jelly, or any other kind that your daughter and her friends will enjoy. If you have a heart shaped cookie cutter, use it to cut out little heart shaped sandwiches.

Peppermint tea is usually a hit with the younger crowd and is perfect for Valentine's Day. Have juice available too incase one of them does not like the tea. You can even stick with the theme and serve them red and pink juices (like pink lemonade, cherry, cranberry, or raspberry) as an alternative to tea.

Dessert is the most important part of a tea party meal. Valentine's themed cookies are easy and delicious. You can make shortbread cookies or sugar cookies and mix a drop of red food coloring into the dough to make the cookies pink. Use a heart shaped cookie cutter for an even better effect. A chocolate cake served with whipped cream and fresh strawberries will surely be a major hit as well.

Sit down with your daughter and go over the party plans with her. She may have some great ideas or insights that you haven't thought of yet. She also will know what type of food and activities she and her friends will like best.