Children encouraged to read with tea party events
Tea parties, that most wholesome of little girl activities, are surfacing in Butler County schools as part of reading for enjoyment events, which encourage children to read.
The events include book discussion groups, craft making, and the traditional tea party.
The idea was launched seven years ago at Sugarcreek Elementary School in the Karns City School District. This year tea parties are being held in Butler School District elementary schools, too.
“My daughter is a sixth-grader at Sugarcreek and attended all but one of the parties there,” said Gretchen Kamenski, a librarian teacher who organized Butler’s events. “Michele King had a wonderful idea, too good to keep from other girls.”
King is the reading specialist at Sugarcreek Elementary who began the teas.
Kamenski financed Butler’s tea parties and accompanying activities through a $1,450 creative teaching grant from the Golden Tornado Scholastic Foundation.
The grant was large enough so that 40 girls from second through fifth grades at each of three elementary schools — Center Avenue, Oakland Township and Summit Township — could be treated to the events.
“As a girl they still enjoy having a party and getting together with other girls,” Kamenski said.
The tea parties will be held after school. Girls have been invited to bring a doll or stuffed animal and a teacup.
In Butler, the 120 girls who participate each will receive a copy of “Meet Kit,” by Valerie Tripp, the story of a 9-year-old girl and her family during the Great Depression. They’ll break into discussion groups.
“It’s important for kids to realize that adults discuss books,” Kamenski said.
Each girl also will take home a plant in a clay pot that they’ll put together during the event, a momento to remind them of the book as well as an activity that the character Kit might have enjoyed during the Great Depression, Kamenski said.
The girls will learn about tea etiquette while they drink their beverages and have snacks.
Of course, not every book deserves a party. But incorporating an activity with a book allows a child to become more involved with it, Kamenski said.
“It can be as simple as drawing a picture (about the book),” she said. “I think it helps them to remember what happened in the story if they have something to take away from it.”
The easiest way for parents to encourage their children to read is to read themselves, she said.
“It’s important for kids to see their parent reading, either alone, or with their child, or at the same time the child is reading,” she said.
With this experience, Kamenski hopes girls will start their own book clubs, and is giving one lucky winner a book club kit to do so. Other prizes will include books in the “Kit” series from American Girl.
Girls can access more American Girl activities on the Web at www.americangirl.com/fun/
