TEA TIME WITH TREBLE

In This Lesson:
Plant Tea: 10-30+ min
Snacks: 10 - 15 min
Poetry: 15 - 30+ min
Total Lesson Time: 35 min - 75min+ (35 min - 1 hr, 15 min+
Time for Tea

Watch the video below as Regular Treble shares the knowledge she learned from Fancy Treble, and get an overview of all the things you’ll learn for your own tea party!
Make Tea From Weeds!
Excited to start? Watch this video from the staff at our Cedar Ridge Outdoor School site to get an idea of what kinds of teas you can make from plants that grow near you. Want the recipes or more ideas? Keep reading to learn more!
Note: Always have an adult with you when foraging plants. When picking your clover blossoms, only pick from lawns not treated with weed killers or pesticides, those can make you sick. If you’re not sure, pick from somewhere else. Also, it’s okay if your clover blossoms have some pink or red on them, they do not have to be pure white.
Dandelion Tisane:

What you’ll need:
  • Dandelion Flowers
  • Coffee filter, tea steeper, strainer small enough to fit in a cup
  • Mug
  • Hot Water (ask an adult for help boiling water)
What you’ll do: 
  1. Pick dandelion flowers, a large handful is enough
  2. Rinse them under cold water (Always wash food you forage!)
  3. Pull just the petals off and put them into your coffee filter. You just want the yellow parts, not the green or purplish stem. You should have a few tablespoons of flower petals. 
  4. Steep (or let sit undisturbed) for 5 min
  5. Your tisane should be a golden color.
White Clover Iced Tisane:

​What you’ll need:
  •  A Pot to boil water
  • 6 cups water
  • 1cup clover flowers
  • Sweetener (like honey)
  • Optional: 1 Lemon
What you’ll do:
  1. Collect your clover blossoms and thoroughly rinse them
  2. Boil the water 
  3. In a large jar ow heat-proof bowl, place the cleaned clover blossoms and pour the water over the top
  4. Let sit in the fridge for at least 30min, and up to 5 hours. After the steeping time is up, strain out the clover blossoms.
  5. Optional: Cut the lemon into rounds
  6. To serve: Stir in a table spoon of honey to about a cup of the iced tisane. Place a lemon round on top, enjoy!​
Trees Also Make Great Tea!
Watch this video to learn how to make tea from trees!
​He uses a stovetop, but very very hot tap also works. And do you know where a great source of pine needles is? A Christmas tree! Double check with the farm or tree stand that you get your live tree from to make sure they don’t use herbicides or pesticides. This can be a great after Christmas / Yule / Winter-time tradition with your family!
Tea Time Snack Fit for the Queen

You can’t have a proper tea time without snacks, and tea sandwiches are the classic fit for this occasion. It might seem daunting, but just a few tricks can make your sandwich making abilities to British café level. Treble’s tips? Try cutting the crusts of your sandwich or using cookie cutters to make them into fun shapes, rolling the bread flat with a rolling pin before making the sandwich, or adding more vegetables. Watch the next video to see how a classic British cucumber sandwich is made!
You will need:
  • 2 slices sandwich bread
  • Cream cheese
  • Cucumber (Roughly 2-3”)
  • Butter
  • Salt + Pepper
  • Optional: Dill
  • Butter Knife
  • Cutting board + Knife (Ask an adult)

What you’ll do:
  1. On one slice of bread, spread roughly a tablespoon of cream cheese all over
  2. On the other slice of bread, spread roughly a tablespoon of butter all over
  3. With an adult’s help, thinly slice your cucumber
  4. Lay your cucumber out on your slice of buttered bread
  5. Add a sprinkle of salt and pepper, and just a pinch of dill
  6. Give your sandwich a lid with your cream cheese slice
  7. Cut into triangles and serve
Sandwiches aren’t the only food at tea time. You could also try fruits and veggies with dips like hummus and ranch, cheese and crackers, cookies and baked goods, and even soup and salads are eaten when it’s time for tea. A fun way to make any snack fancy, according to Treble, is to make it a Charcuterie board. Charcuterie means cold cooked meats (like deli meat), but the phrase often refers to a snack plate or the ultimate lunchable. It’s common to include fruit, vegetables, crackers, cheese, and even sweets! The trick is to have just a little bit of a few things that can be eaten together or apart.  Here’s Treble’s favorite assortment:
What you’ll need:
  • 2 slices deli lunch meat
  • 2 slices of cheese
  • 8 crackers
  • 1 apple, sliced
What you’ll do:
  1. On your plate, layer your cheese and meat so a little bit of the slice before shows
  2. Arrange your apple slices and crackers next to the cheese and meat
  3. Enjoy!
Here are some great examples:
Poetry
Poetry like tea, it thought to be only fit for the queen. But poetry is just like reading anything else, but better! Poetry is the abstract painting of the reading world, it is what you make it. Reading poetry with your tea can be silly or sad, funny or mad. Check out these poems below:


​Also try:
Still I Rise by Maya Angelou 
I’m Nobody! Who are you? by Emily Dickinson
The Cremation of Sam McGee by Robert W. Service 
​Remember by Joy Harjo

Ready to write your own? Gather your nature journal and then watch this video from a nature camp in California as they use their nature observations (I notice, I wonder, It reminds me of) to create beautiful poetry!
Now, spend 10 minutes writing your own! You can use notes you’ve already made in your nature journal, spend time outside to create something brand new, or use the pictures below from our Camp Magruder Outdoor School site as inspiration.
Other Resources & Activities:
Tea Party Music Spotify Playlist
Nature and Jazz Artist on Spotify
​Back to NW Outdoor Science School At Home Curriculum