I recently discovered that my 3-year-old LOVES having tea parties. His play is an uncomplicated exercise that basically involves repeatedly pouring out pretend tea for those in attendance, while asking over and over and over (AND OVER), “Want MORE?”. If these parties were based in reality, his stuffed animals would be long expired, their bladders having burst and their systems succumbed to electrolyte imbalance triggered by water intoxication — but as long as he’s not practicing for any upcoming fraternity hazing activities, I find the practice fairly charming.
Well, for the first ten minutes, anyway. It tends to get a little old after that. Oh, did I mention that I am a Honored Invitee of these events? And that I am expected to say “YES PLEASE” over and over and over and over, while knocking back cup after cup of invisi-tea? Not only that, but I must supply the squeaky voices of the bears and so on, because they too would like some tea, MORE PLEASE!
Anyway! So: tea parties. We’ve been using random cups and things from around the house, but I’ve been considering the option of giving him his own tea set. I know, a tea set for a boy? WHY NOT JUST BUY HIM A BRA.
In poking around online, I came across a number of cute sets that aren’t too, well, girly. Not that there’s anything wrong with a boy using a girly tea set, mind you, but some are even too foofy for ME. In case you happen to be looking for your own Non-Floral Tea Set, here’s what I found:
Green Toys Tea Set. Made from recycled plastic, this set contains 17 pieces in pretty — but not foofy — colors.
Shylling Tea Set. A 13-piece set made of porcelain, each cup is a different color. Adorable, but maybe too breakable?
Curious George Tin Tea Set. This set features my own toddler’s favorite monkey, and is formed of tin. It’s a 15-piece set that seems both cute and durable.
Melissa & Doug Tableware Set. This one’s not a tea set per se, but includes plates/bowls/forks/cups etc for 2. It’s wooden (cool!) and painted in bright primary colors.
Wooden Tea Set. I LOVE this little set, although it only comes with two cups. This is a UK company but they ship to other countries.
Crayola Tea Set. Made by Crayola, this set is meant to be painted — but it seems kind of nice just as is, plain and simple and white.
I really love the age that Riley’s in right now. It is so cool to watch your kid playing pretend, even if what he’s imagining involves tea-bonging his stuffed friends to death.
No need to get him a bra quite yet! lol
For a totally non-foofy, unisex tea set, check out Ikea.
Here’s a link:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80041186
Only $7.99 for a set of like, 17 pieces.
Leeann
niccofive.blogspot.com
Leeann | June 27th, 2008 at 5:37 am
I’ve been planning to get the Curious George one for my 2-year-old son ever since I saw this:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/threedogsandababy/2198409275/
So cute!
susie | June 27th, 2008 at 10:13 am
Ooo, I like the Melissa & Doug one best. Actually, I like the breakable one best, but the M&D one second-best.
Swistle | June 27th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Awesome sets, my son would love ‘em. My boy is a couple months younger than Riley and he puts his cars to bed and gives them drinks of his water or milk and covers them with blankets.
moderndayhermit | June 27th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
You should get him a tea set and a matching set of play tools. Then he can pretend he’s a builder on a tea break, which is sufficiently masculine.
Max | June 27th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
I think you should get him these to go along with whatever set you get. (My vote is for Curious George.)
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=sr_gallery_16&listing_id=10308449
hehe. teabags.
ELC | June 28th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
These are really cool. My son would love the one from Crayola, he´s big on painting things right now. He really wants a cooking set (he´s two) but my husband says it´s just too gay.
I´ve tried to tell him that some of the best chefs in the world are male, but it hasn´t worked.
Genesis | June 28th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
We’ve got the Shylling one, but the Ikea recommendation is right on. I just saw that the other day and it’s basically the same as the Shylling but for less than half the price. Then you can get two and have a back up in case something breaks…. Which ours hasn’t, despite playdates and about 9 months of regular use by my nearly 4 year old daughter. If he’s super aggressive with toys, I’d get the Green Toys one. Melissa & Doug are often made in China, so the paint could be leaded (sad but true), and I would bet the paint on the Curious George set would chip too. Good luck!
Jennifer | June 29th, 2008 at 1:50 am
My son loves to the Tupperware Serving and Party Sets. We have Tea/Juice parties in the living room all the time. These are great classics (I had them when I was little) and they are completely unisex.
Unfortunately it looks like the Tupperware web page is not offering them but here are some links to sets on eBay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Tupperware-MINI-SERVE-IT-SET-Kids-Toy-LOOKIE_W0QQitemZ220250125377QQihZ012QQcategoryZ156369QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/TUPPERWARE-SERVING-SET-PARTY-SET-KIDS-LOVE-IT-BNIP_W0QQitemZ300236568736QQihZ020QQcategoryZ11657QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting
Caren | June 29th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Try this link for more tea sets (including some you’ve already found, but also - more!)
Michelle | June 29th, 2008 at 6:34 pm
IKEA also has a porcelain one too, for about $6-7, I think. The porcelain ones DO break, though… I love the wooden one from M&D. Might have to get that one…
Marie Green | July 1st, 2008 at 6:29 pm
Thank you so much for posting your finds. I have searched the web for this very thing for my 2 1/2yo son. He, too, serves tea until I think I’ll really have to pee. I’m thinking of a mad hatter type deal where I’ll set an obnoxious alarm clock for a random time each day and we’ll have to run from whatever we’re doing, stuff hats on eachother’s heads, sit down, and drink tea like mad. The crayola set should be perfect! Thanks again.
Meaghan P | August 30th, 2008 at 5:07 am
Thanks for this! You did the leg work for me! My son loves playing tea party with his cousins tea set; at home he uses different sizes of tupperware containers as cups and a tea pot! The Curious George set is great!
Chris | November 8th, 2009 at 11:51 am