How to Have a Poetry Tea Time

In our everyday lives there is always the temptation to rush through the days, trying to check boxes and thus missing the gift of just being together as a family.  

Poetry Tea Time is the perfect opportunity to slow down and pour beauty and goodness into our children's hearts (and ours, too). Memory making at its best!

Intentionality Matters

Poetry Tea Time doesn't need to be complicated or expensive, but it does need intentionality. I love this quote by Sally Clarkson who has been a beautiful source of inspiration to make time for Tea with our kids at home: 

"Those intentional tea times taught me, as a Mom, something significant: long-term, soul-satisfying discipleship takes hard work and heart work".

How to Get Started

Poetry Tea Time is a time for delight, for connection, for wonder, for discipleship. Here's a list of ideas that can help you get started:

1. The first thing you need is to set a specific time of the day for our "tea party". We particularly love to have it by the end of our homeschool day or as part of our morning time. Feel free to choose the moment that better suits your family needs for the gathering. Let your kids know that you are having a special moment together later on... or just surprise them! 

2. Gather your favorite poetry anthologies or some illustrated poetry books for the youngest ones. I love A Child's Garden of Verses and Christina Rosetti's nature poems for preschoolers to 2nd graders. The Harp and the Laurel Wreath Poetry and Dictation for the Classical Curriculum contains a great selection of poems for elementary to middle schoolers. Simply Charlotte Mason's Enjoy the Poems is a beautiful selection of anthologies by different authors that we are planning to use this year at home.

3. Pick some flowers from your garden with your children or go to the farmers market for some seasonal blooms to give a special touch to your table. 

4. You don't own a tea set? No problem! Some floral cups and plates from your local thrift store will set the tone. 

5. A homemade treat and a new fruit tea flavor would be delightful for your little guests, but buttered toast with homemade jelly or honey, and any caffeine-free tea would be perfect as well!

6. Sit back and enjoy each other's company reading aloud poetry together!

Get inspired 

Need extra inspiration? Here are some great resources on the purpose and fruits of having Tea Time with your kids, as well as some other fun activities you can do with them while sipping your favorite chai:

Charlotte Mason fondly referred to Tea Time as "the golden hour of our days". Share with us any other ideas to make it a treasured time at home...

Ready to dive deeper? 

Here are 4 ways to fill your nets... 

 1. Memorize Bible verses with your children easily with our FREE guide: Stocking the Storehouses

 2. Make your dreams of family prayer a reality with The Daily Feast framework, making it possible in just a few minutes a day. This free guide shows you how.

 3. Want to steward your own prayer life? Check out this Scripture prayer journal we made just for you.

 4. Looking to level-up in your family faith formation? Join over 10,000 families that use our resources. We make open-and-go, family-style resources to make your role as primary catechist easy AND delightful. Click here to browse!