Practical Life Play – Pouring Afternoon Tea

One afternoon Luath spied the tea set that we have used for play and asked if we could have tea.  We were enjoying our pretend drinking and pouring when I thought we could fill the teapot with liquid.  Luath does do a lot of water play, mainly in the swimming pool or bath.  This week she tried to fill a small vase from a water jug.  She missed completely.  On the third go she was getting closer.

I placed the tea set along with a water (cold) jug on an upturned box lid to contain any spillage.  We had some used teabags awaiting composting so I placed these on a plate.  I put the teabags in the teapot and poured some water in.  I demonstrated the first pour and then replaced the teapot on the tray.
   
Luath immediately said I had forgotten to remove the lid of the teapot.  “Silly me” as Luath would say.  She loved the real pouring and could actually fill the small cups well and could stop before they overflowed.

She did miss sometimes, although I think not necessary always by mistake as she filled a few saucers.
 
I brought a cloth and sponge for cleaning up.  She had fun soaking up the tea on the sponge and then squeezing it back into the water jug.

Along with the act of pouring, pretend drinking and eating.  We talked about the tea bags changing the water from clear to lightly coloured and finally a dark brown.  We also talked about cups overflowing when filled to the top.
(Luath is 26 months)
Shared at Living Montessori Now