Joan Elder was gracious enough to send me a wonderful idea recently that I'm so excited to share with you. She had a Tea Party with her granddaughters and taught them about her grandmother. You can tell she is a great storyteller and when you add food, you can tell she had a winning combination.
Here is what she wrote:
This is the idea I was telling you about. It was so fun!!! This
sit down type activity works better for me than trying to do some
physical activity where I am trying to keep up with my active
grandchildren. I am going to adapt it to different ancestors. It could
be a picnic lunch, or a day of fishing, or...but pulling out the items
that go with the person works well...especially when some of them are
treats! I did the tea party with my 9, 7, 5, and 2 year old
grandchildren all together. I was able to captivate their attention for
over an hour. Food will do it. (and pictures and stories). I sent one of
them home with a picture of them, myself, and the ancestor in wallet
sized photos in a $.99 double frame from WalMart. Going to make
scrapbook pages of it as well (hopefully), and continue doing it for the
rest of my 22 grandchildren.
[She wrote out a whole lesson plan for it. (I especially love the pink foam roller story. What grandchild wouldn't?)]
Bertha Marie Tea
Party
(a tradition that began March 4, 2013)
Set out mom’s china
A picture of Bertha Marie
Pretty Bowl with cards in them
Introduction:
Pointing to Bertha Marie’s picture in the center of the
table, talk about how we wouldn’t all be here if it wasn’t for her. This is my
___. Because she had Joan, who had ___, who had you. She is how we all got
here. We owe her a lot just for that. Do you know her name? Do you know who she
is to you? (g grandmother).
These dishes you
are eating off of are hers. She liked nice things. Let me tell you a story
about them.
Magic China –
show picture of the upside down car at Joan Marie’s wedding. Tell story how the
china was in the trunk of the car, and not one piece of china was broken
when the car was rolled. Joan Marie’s brother Ken was the boy driving the car
on Joan’s and Russell’s wedding day. The crash happened after the wedding.
Fortunately, Uncle Ken was not hurt either.
Have the following
items ready, but unseen. These will be brought out as the coordinating card
is drawn; Pictures, Chocolate Éclair, Butterfinger bars (one for each child is
more impressive), donut for each child, the fixings for chocolate malt (vanilla
ice cream, milk, chocolate syrup, powdered malt), Reinking book, (Schafer book
if you have it of mom and her 4 Schafer kids).
Cards with these
words on in (put them in a pretty bowl for children to draw out. I choose one
that is her favorite color, then ask the kids if they know why I chose this
light aqua color) –
Thrifty $$$, Hard Working, Beautiful, Kind, Fair &
Honest, Funny, Talented
‘Beautiful’ Card
Bertha Marie’s high
school picture – show other pictures of Bertha; her other high school
pictures, she and her mom together, and other girls in our family; Joan Marie’s
senior picture, Katie’s, Rainy’s, Krystal’s, Melinda’s and Krystal’s 4 month
old baby picture. Tell how Sierra and
Krystal looked exactly the same when they were 4 months old. That’s because
we are all related!
Bertha Marie was
very beautiful, and us girls get some of our beauty from Bertha Marie. But she
was not just pretty on the outside. Let’s find out how she was beautiful on the
inside.
‘Fair & Honest’ Card
Butterfinger Candy
Bars – Mom didn’t want us to eat sugar. She didn’t like it giving us
cavities. We didn’t have it around the house much, only on special occasions
like Thanksgiving and Christmas. Sometimes I would find a candy bar wrapper
under mom’s seat in the car. She would feel embarrassed, because she was
breaking one of her own rules. Her face would turn bright red. She didn’t like
it that she had been not fair, so she would buy one for us. Do you know what
kind of candy bar was her favorite?
Butterfinger. (Take out the Butterfingers) And she would give one to each of
us! (And pass them out to each kid).
True and faithful to
her husband
‘Kind’ Card
Donuts – have
Reinking book ready – show picture of donuts in Fritz’s kitchen. Tell how
mom used to come in with her buddies when she was like 5, reach up above her
head, and pull them off the table one by one, and pass them out to her friends.
Story about her taking the Switzer kids in
Story about her sending money to cousins
after WWII in worn torn Germany.
Story about her sending money to her nephew
that was going to college to help
with tuition costs. She did these things quietly, without bragging
or fanfare. I never knew till only recently.
Chocolate Malt
Fixings – Tradition of going to Lawton Pharmacy where they had ‘fountain
drinks,’ and made Chocolate malts from scratch. We all loved these as much as
we did eclairs! Mom would always ask for ‘double chocolate’ and ‘double malt.’
That means she had them put extra in of the things that made it taste so good. Well,
sorry to say, but us kids were so greedy when we had a chocolate malt in front
of us.
‘Talents’ Card (pie,
oatmeal cookies, sewing)
Reinking Book- Show
picture of Singer Sewing Machine. Tell
how her mother Ruby taught her how to sew. And that she sewed all of her
clothes (show picture of Bertha Marie in the suit she sewed. See the page
labeled ‘After the War.’
Could tell how she
made the best pies with perfectly
fluted edges. And the best oatmeal
cookies. I (Joan) remember hiding under the table once, and sneaking one
off to eat while mom was still baking more. Bran Muffins for breakfast.
‘Funny’ Card
Funny Story – mom used to wear foam rollers (explain. They
were often pink). One time, we were sleeping in a cabin on a little island in
Washington, called Lopez Island. It was a cool vacation for us, because it was
nearly on the beach, and we got to go play at the beach during the day. We
could tell the cabin was full of mice, because when we laid
down and turned the lights out to go to sleep, we could hear the mice
scratching and knawing in the drawers and cupboards. Well in the middle of the
night, we all woke up scared when we heard mom screaming!!! When we turned the
lights on, we found her squeezing one of her pink foam rollers! Apparently, she
thought there was a mouse in her hair…and SHE SQUEEZED HIM TO DEATH! But, it
was just her pink roller.
‘Hard Working’ Card
Bought houses and apartment buildings, and fixed them up.
When someone would move out, she would clean up all their trash and mess, and
paint all their walls perfectly, and make the whole apartment like new again.
She would repair fences. She worked hard.
‘Thrifty $$$’ card
Tell the meaning of thrifty. Ask how much they can buy at
the dollar store. Can they buy pants? Or a coat? Or a dress? Well Bertha Marie
always shopped for bargains. One time she bought a nice dress for $1! She was a
real shopper.
She would always save her money first before buying
something. She loved antiques. They were expensive. She would save up, then buy
the piece of furniture. (Show picture of brass clock, Roberta’s grandfather
clock, lamp, bedroom set?) Don’t have pictures of these items yet.
Because she worked
hard, saved her money, and was thrifty, she became rich.
‘Fun’ Card
When Bertha Marie
was about 5 or 7, she won a scooter
for free! You had to collect labels on cans. Her dad was a cook, so he saved
all of his. Neighbors saved theirs. It was at a time when everyone was poor
because of the depression. She was so excited when she won the prize. That
would be like winning a motorcycle today. (show picture of she and scooter in
the Reinking book. Point out her mom and dad on the front. Talk about how they
saved their money. Show family car and house in Seattle. Show the Hooverville
houses that some people had to live in.)
Chocolate Éclair – this was Bertha
Marie’s favorite treat. One time she told us kids that she had found the best eclaris! When
we asked her where, she said they were on the other side of town (20 minutes
away). Ask the children, “What would you do?” Pause. Well we asked her if we
could go right now and go try them.
“What do you think she said?” Pause, “You’re right! She said yes, and so
we all piled into the car lickity split, and got to that special bakery on the
other side of town. “Do you think they were the best?” Yep! Well, maybe you had
better try these and see what you think. (Pull out eclairs)
Thanks so much for the inspiration Joan. I can't wait to try this.
Thanks so much for the inspiration Joan. I can't wait to try this.
