“Join in the fun with hostess extraordinaire Fancy Nancy!”

Fancy Nancy Tea Parties

Our “Favorite Female” theme  for Kidsbook Friends this week would not be complete without featuring the Fancy Nancy books. My 6-year-old daughter and I love this girl and her friend Bree. Today’s particular book, Fancy Nancy Tea Parties, is extra special as I gave it to Victoria last August for her first day of school, and promised her that I’d have the tea kettle ready when she got off the bus. We’ve enjoyed incorporating the ideas from this book into our tea parties. Hope you enjoy some inspiration for your next tea party too!

Introducing Our Featured Friends: Fancy Nancy & Bree
Written by Jane O’Connor, Illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser

Ooh la la! We are ready to have the most magnifique (that’s the fancy French word for magnificent) tea party with Fancy Nancy and Bree. They show us such cool ideas including: Ensembles & Etiquette, Classic Tea Parties, Buffet Tea Parties, Tea Parties Alfresco, Tea of Two, and Doll Tea Parties.  Each chapter is full of fun, fancy words, pictures, and step-by-step crafts and creations to make your next party with your friends super special. (I love Fancy Nancy books because she creatively teaches vocabulary, including French words, and kids don’t even realize how much they are learning.)
Here are 7 tea party ideas from this beautiful book:

Inviting You To Become FRIENDS With Fancy Nancy:

F- Flowers & Frosting– Put a few flowers in a little tea cup for a centerpiece and put frosting on small cookies to make a miniature cake for your dolls. You can use toothpaste caps for tea cups for the dolls!

R- Recreation– (That’s fancy for games.) Play “Packing for Paris” while at the table.
“This is a memory game. The first guest says, ‘I’m packing for Paris and I’m taking a tiara.’ The next guest repeats that and adds another accessory.” See how long you all can go.

I- Invitations- Butterfly place mats are featured on page 6. You can make a smaller version of the placemats and send them as invitations by simply writing the 5 Ws on each one: Who? What? When? Where? and Why? so that your friends know the fun details for your fancy tea party!

E- Ensembles & Etiquette- (Ensembles is fancy for outfits.)
You can wear anything to a tea party- as long as it’s fancy: dresses, hats, hair bows, frilly skirts, butterfly wings and fun headbands, ballet shoes, flowers, and more.
(Etiquette is French for polite manners.)
“Here are some things to remember, besides saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ of course!
* Your napkin belongs in your lap, not on your head.
* Try not to grab.
*Compliment your hostess. That means saying nice things like ‘This is yummy.’ ”

N- Nancy’s Nibblers- (I like to give all my recipes fancy names!)
“Spread cream cheese on slices of date bread. Then put raisins or banana slices on top. Cut each slice into four triangles. You don’t need a top slice. Keeping them open-faced looks fancier.”

D- Delectable Fruit Kababs- (Delectable is fancy for yummy.)
“Put strawberries, banana slices, grapes, and blueberries on frilly toothpicks.  . . Dip the kebabs in the honey dip-dee-lish.”

S- Share Recipes- In the back of this book, four lovely recipe cards are included for you to fill out the ingredients and directions for a fun food or drink you make to share with your friends that come to your party.

Including Extra Fancy Nancy Resources:

  http://www.fancynancyworld.com
http://www.icanread.com

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