• 29 games
  • Checked October 2026

Princess Tea Party Games

Tea table games, crown games, old fairy-tale games and ballroom dances for ages 3 to 8 in dress-up clothes.

Princess Tea Party Games

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  1. Twirl Before the Scarf Lands1. A catching game, with a light scarf. Each child holds a scarf of thin cloth.2. On "up," children throw their scarves as high as they can.3. Before the scarf lands, each child makes one full twirl and catches it.4. Add to it each round: a twirl and a curtsy, then a twirl, a curtsy and a clap.Youngest player: age 4. Players: 1 to 12. You need: a light scarf for each child.
  2. Sugar Cube Castle With Tongs1. A tower-building game, played as one team. Tip a box of sugar cubes onto a tray in the middle of the table.2. Going around the table, each child lifts one cube with tongs and adds it to the castle wall.3. Count the cubes aloud as the wall grows.4. If the wall falls, start again and try to beat the count. The cubes are for building, and nobody eats them.Youngest player: age 5. Players: 2 to 8. You need: a box of sugar cubes, a tray and sugar tongs or two teaspoons.
  3. Carry the Crown on a Cushion1. A steady-hands game, like an egg and spoon walk. Lay a ribbon along the floor as the royal carpet.2. A child holds a small cushion flat on both hands, with a paper crown resting on top.3. The child walks the ribbon to the birthday child's chair without letting the crown slide off.4. The birthday child puts the crown on, takes it off and sends it back with the next carrier.Youngest player: age 4. Players: 2 to 10. You need: a small cushion, a paper crown and a long ribbon.

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Tea table games 7

  • One Lump or Two? Listen and Count 1. A listening game. The host holds a tin mug behind a napkin and drops in wooden blocks, one at a time. 2. Children listen with their eyes closed and count the clinks. 3. The host asks, "How many lumps?" and everyone holds up fingers. 4. Tip the mug out and count together. Start with one to three lumps and go up to six. Youngest player: age 4. Players: 2 to 12. You need: a tin mug, a napkin and six wooden blocks.
  • Pass the Teapot Until the Music Stops 1. Pass the parcel, with a teapot. Put picture cards inside an empty teapot, each showing something to do: a curtsy, a royal wave, a twirl, a pretend sip with a pinky up. 2. Children sit in a circle and pass the teapot while music plays. 3. When the music stops, the child holding it lifts the lid and takes out a card. 4. Everyone does what the card shows. Play until every child has lifted the lid once. Youngest player: age 3. Players: 3 to 12. You need: an empty teapot, picture cards and music.
  • The Politest Pour 1. A pouring game with no race in it. Each child has a small cup with a line drawn halfway up. 2. A little pitcher of water goes around the table. Each child pours for the neighbor on the left, up to the line and no higher. 3. The neighbor says "Thank you, Your Highness," and takes the pitcher. 4. When the pitcher is back where it started, everyone lifts a cup together. A spill is wiped up by the pourer with a royal napkin. Youngest player: age 4. Players: 3 to 10. You need: a small pitcher of water, a cup for each child and napkins.
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Tea table games, continued

  • The Queen Says, at the Table 1. The leader-says game, with tea-table moves and no tricks for the youngest. One child wears a crown and is the queen. 2. The queen calls a move: stir your tea, blow on it, pinky up, pass the cake, wipe your chin. 3. Everyone does it with an empty cup and a spoon. 4. For children of six and up, add the trick: move only when the order starts with "The queen says." Change queens after five orders. Youngest player: age 3. Players: 3 to 12. You need: an empty cup and a spoon for each child, and a crown.
  • Sugar Cube Castle With Tongs 1. A tower-building game, played as one team. Tip a box of sugar cubes onto a tray in the middle of the table. 2. Going around the table, each child lifts one cube with tongs and adds it to the castle wall. 3. Count the cubes aloud as the wall grows. 4. If the wall falls, start again and try to beat the count. The cubes are for building, and nobody eats them. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 2 to 8. You need: a box of sugar cubes, a tray and sugar tongs or two teaspoons.
  • Who Has the Teaspoon? 1. A hiding game around the table, like button, button. One child, the butler, leaves the room. 2. The others pass a teaspoon from lap to lap under the tablecloth until the host says stop. 3. The butler comes back. Everyone holds both hands under the table and keeps a royal face. 4. The butler has three guesses at who holds the spoon. The holder is the next butler. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 4 to 10. You need: a teaspoon and a table with a cloth.
  • Whose Guest Left the Table? 1. A what-is-missing game, played with the toys the children brought. Each child sits a soft toy at the table and tells the others its name. 2. Everyone covers their eyes. The host lifts one toy away and hides it behind a chair. 3. Eyes open. The first child to say which guest has left helps the host choose next time. 4. The owner fetches the toy back and gives it a pretend sip of tea. Youngest player: age 3. Players: 3 to 10. You need: a soft toy for each child.

Crown and wand games 7

  • Carry the Crown on a Cushion 1. A steady-hands game, like an egg and spoon walk. Lay a ribbon along the floor as the royal carpet. 2. A child holds a small cushion flat on both hands, with a paper crown resting on top. 3. The child walks the ribbon to the birthday child's chair without letting the crown slide off. 4. The birthday child puts the crown on, takes it off and sends it back with the next carrier. Youngest player: age 4. Players: 2 to 10. You need: a small cushion, a paper crown and a long ribbon.
  • Curtsy and Pass the Wand 1. A walking relay, with manners. Two teams stand in lines at one end of the room, and a chair stands at the other end. 2. The first child of each team walks heel to toe to the chair and back, with a paper wand held high. 3. Before handing the wand on, the walker curtsies or bows, and the next child does the same back. 4. A team that forgets its manners sends that walker around again. Both teams finish with a wave. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 6 to 12. You need: a paper wand for each team, and a chair.
  • Decorate Your Crown, Then Parade 1. A making table for the start of the party. Give each child a strip of card with points cut along one edge, and set out stickers and crayons. 2. Children decorate the strip and draw their own mark inside it. 3. A grown-up tapes each strip into a crown that fits. 4. Parade once around the room to music, with a wave for the grown-ups. The host announces each child by name as they pass. Youngest player: age 3. Players: 1 to 12. You need: card strips cut into crowns, stickers, crayons, tape and music.
  • Pass the Crown, Give One Royal Order 1. Pass the parcel, with a crown passed from head to head. Children sit in a circle. While the music plays, each child puts the crown on, takes it off and passes it along. 2. When the music stops, the child wearing the crown is queen or king. 3. The ruler gives one order that everyone can do, such as hop three times or clap above your head. 4. Start the music again, and stop it for a new child each time. Youngest player: age 4. Players: 4 to 12. You need: a crown and music.
  • The Queen's Ring on a Ribbon 1. Ring on a string, an old parlor game. Thread a plastic bangle onto a long ribbon and tie the ribbon into a loop. 2. Children sit in a circle and hold the loop in both fists. One child sits in the middle. 3. Everyone slides their fists together and apart, passing the bangle from hand to hand under cover. 4. The child in the middle points at the fist they think holds it. After a right guess, the two swap places. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 5 to 12. You need: a plastic bangle and a long ribbon.
  • Ring Toss Onto the Crown Points 1. Ring toss, with a crown for the pegs. Make a tall crown from stiff card with five long points and stand it on the floor, points up. 2. Each child has three tosses with plastic bangles from two steps back. 3. A bangle that hangs on a point is a jewel in the crown. 4. Count the jewels the whole party lands, then move the line back a step and try to beat the count. Youngest player: age 4. Players: 2 to 12. You need: a tall card crown and three plastic bangles.
  • The Royal Wave Freeze 1. Musical statues, with royal poses. Children dance while the music plays. 2. When it stops, the host calls one pose: wave, curtsy, bow or sit on your throne. 3. Everyone holds the pose until the music starts again. 4. Nobody is out. The child holding the stillest pose calls the next one. Youngest player: age 3. Players: 3 to 15. You need: music.

Games from old fairy tales 8

  • Braid the Hair From the Tower 1. A team braiding game. In the Grimm tale, Rapunzel lets her braids down from a tower window. Tie three long crepe streamers to the top of a chair back. 2. Three children each hold the end of one streamer. 3. They braid by changing places: the child on the left walks over to the middle, then the child on the right does, and so on. 4. When the braid reaches their hands, tie a ribbon around the end. Undo it by walking the same steps backward. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 3 to 9. You need: three long crepe streamers, a chair and a ribbon.
  • Crown the Frog, Eyes Shut If You Like 1. Pin the tail, with a paper crown and a frog. Draw a big frog on a poster and tape it up at child height. Give each child a paper crown with a loop of tape on the back and their own mark on the front. 2. One at a time, children walk to the poster and stick the crown where the frog's head is. Closing your eyes is a choice. 3. Nobody is spun. 4. When every crown is up, find the one that sits best. Its owner chooses the next game. Youngest player: age 3. Players: 2 to 12. You need: a frog poster, a paper crown for each child and tape.
  • The Frog Fetches the Golden Ball 1. A fetching game from the Grimm tale of the frog prince, in which a frog brings back a princess's golden ball from a spring. Lay a blue blanket on the floor as the spring. 2. Children crouch around it as frogs. One child, the princess, tosses a yellow ball up and catches it twice, then rolls it onto the blanket. 3. The princess calls a frog by name. That frog hops across the blanket and brings the ball back. 4. The frog becomes the next princess. Youngest player: age 3. Players: 3 to 10. You need: a blue blanket and a soft yellow ball.
  • The Invisible Royal Robes 1. A miming game from the Andersen tale in which an emperor is dressed in clothes that nobody can see. One child stands up as the royal dresser. 2. The dresser slowly puts on one invisible thing: long gloves, a heavy cape, tall boots, a crown or a ring. 3. The others guess what it was. 4. Whoever guesses right puts on the same thing, adds one more and lets the party guess again. Youngest player: age 4. Players: 3 to 10. You need: nothing.
  • The Other Slipper Is on the Stairs 1. A matching hunt. In the Grimm tale the slipper is golden, and it is dropped on the stairs. Cut pairs of paper slippers from gift wrap, each pair in a different pattern. 2. Hide one slipper of each pair around the room and on the bottom stair, and give each child the other. 3. Children search for the slipper that matches their own. 4. A child who finds the pair brings both to the host, who checks the match and sends the child to help a friend. Youngest player: age 4. Players: 2 to 12. You need: pairs of paper slippers cut from gift wrap.
  • Twenty Mattresses for the Pea 1. A stacking game from the Andersen tale, in which a queen hides peas under twenty mattresses and twenty feather beds. Put a green ball on the floor as the pea. 2. Children take turns laying one folded towel or small cushion on top of it. 3. Everyone counts aloud to twenty. 4. Lay a doll on top and ask her how she slept. Then each child presses a hand on the stack to feel for the pea. Youngest player: age 3. Players: 2 to 10. You need: a green ball, a doll and twenty folded towels, cloths or small cushions.
  • Who Danced in the Night? 1. A guessing game from the Grimm tale of the twelve dancing princesses, whose shoes are worn through every morning. One child, the watcher, covers both eyes. 2. The host taps three children, who dance on the spot without a sound while the others sit still. 3. The host says "Morning," and the dancers sit down. 4. The watcher looks around and names who danced. Pink cheeks and giggles are the clues. A dancer who was not named is the next watcher. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 5 to 12. You need: nothing.
  • The Whole Castle Falls Asleep 1. Sleeping lions, as the Grimm tale of Briar Rose tells it: the horses, the dogs, the pigeons on the roof and the cook all fall asleep where they are. Each child chooses one of them to be. 2. While the music plays, the horses trot, the dogs sniff, the pigeons flap and the cooks stir. 3. When the music stops, the whole castle falls asleep in the middle of what it was doing. 4. The host walks through and wakes each sleeper with a tap on the shoulder. The stillest sleeper stops the music next time. Youngest player: age 3. Players: 3 to 15. You need: music.

Ballroom games 7

  • Change Partners at the Bell 1. A partner dance in three calls. Children stand in pairs. 2. The host calls "bow," "twirl" and "promenade." Pairs bow or curtsy to each other, turn once under a joined hand and walk eight steps side by side. 3. At the bell, everyone thanks their partner and finds a new one. 4. Repeat until each child has danced with three others. With an odd number, a grown-up joins in. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 4 to 16. You need: a hand bell and music.
  • Follow the Queen Through the Palace 1. Follow the leader, in a line. The first child wears the crown and leads the party through the rooms that are open to guests. 2. The queen walks grandly, tiptoes past the sleeping guards, lifts her skirts over a puddle and waves from a balcony. 3. Everyone behind copies. 4. At a clap from the host, the queen passes the crown back and goes to the end of the line. Youngest player: age 3. Players: 3 to 12. You need: a crown.
  • Four Rooms of the Palace 1. Four corners, with nobody out. Name the corners of the room the ballroom, the garden, the tower and the kitchen, and tape a picture in each. 2. Children dance in the middle. When the music stops, each walks to a corner. 3. The host faces away and calls one room. 4. The children in that room choose the next dance for everyone: a spin, a march or a slow waltz. Youngest player: age 4. Players: 4 to 15. You need: four pictures, tape and music.
  • The Grand March Under the Arch 1. A procession, like London Bridge with nobody caught. Children pair up and walk in a line of pairs to slow music. 2. The front pair stops, faces each other and joins raised hands to make an arch. 3. Every pair walks under it, and each pair in turn adds an arch beside the last, until the line is a tunnel. 4. The first pair then lets go and walks through the tunnel, and the rest follow. Youngest player: age 4. Players: 6 to 16. You need: music.
  • Musical Thrones, a Chair for Everyone 1. Musical chairs, with no chair taken away. Set out a chair for every child and tie a ribbon to one of them: the throne. 2. Children dance around the chairs while the music plays. 3. When it stops, everyone sits. 4. Whoever sits on the throne chooses how the party dances next: on tiptoe, like a swan or very slowly. Move the ribbon to another chair each round. Youngest player: age 3. Players: 3 to 12. You need: a chair for each child, a ribbon and music.
  • Twirl Before the Scarf Lands 1. A catching game, with a light scarf. Each child holds a scarf of thin cloth. 2. On "up," children throw their scarves as high as they can. 3. Before the scarf lands, each child makes one full twirl and catches it. 4. Add to it each round: a twirl and a curtsy, then a twirl, a curtsy and a clap. Youngest player: age 4. Players: 1 to 12. You need: a light scarf for each child.
  • Waltz With a Teddy, Swap at the Stop 1. Musical statues, with a soft toy for a partner. Each child holds a soft toy by the paws and dances with it while the music plays. 2. When the music stops, children stand still and hold their partners up high. 3. On the word "swap," each child trades toys with the nearest dancer. 4. Play five rounds, then help every toy find its owner again. Youngest player: age 3. Players: 2 to 12. You need: a soft toy for each child, and music.

How this list was compiled: Our suggestions for a child's princess tea party, for ages 3 to 8. The wording, the ages and the player counts are ours. The first step of each entry names the kind of game it is. Cups are empty or hold water, nothing is eaten in a game, nobody is spun or blindfolded, and no princess from a film or a toy line appears. The details from the tales were read on 10 October 2026 in two collections at Project Gutenberg: Grimms' Fairy Tales, https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2591 and Andersen's Fairy Tales, https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1597 Licence: own work

How it works

In these princess tea party games the cups are empty or hold water, and nobody is ever out. The eight fairy-tale games come from the Grimm and Andersen collections, so no film princess is needed.

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The order of the afternoon

1. As guests arrive: Decorate Your Crown, Then Parade. 2. At the table, before the cake: The Politest Pour, then Who Has the Teaspoon? 3. Away from the table: one tale, such as The Frog Fetches the Golden Ball. 4. In the ballroom: Musical Thrones, a Chair for Everyone. 5. To calm down: The Invisible Royal Robes.

What to make beforehand

Card crowns, a paper wand for each relay team, a frog poster and pairs of paper slippers are the things to make ahead. Ask each guest to bring a soft toy.

  • Fill the pitcher only a third full for the pouring game, and seat the youngest beside a grown-up.

Questions and answers

What games can 3 and 4 year olds play at a princess tea party?

22 of the 29 start at age three or four. 12 start at three, among them Pass the Teapot Until the Music Stops, Whose Guest Left the Table?, The Whole Castle Falls Asleep and Waltz With a Teddy, Swap at the Stop.

What are good princess party games for 5 year olds?

The games that start at five ask a child to keep a secret or follow a call: Who Has the Teaspoon?, Who Danced in the Night?, The Queen's Ring on a Ribbon and Change Partners at the Bell.

Which tea party games can children play sitting at the table?

All seven tea table games are played in the chairs, among them Sugar Cube Castle With Tongs, One Lump or Two? Listen and Count and Whose Guest Left the Table? Nothing is eaten in any of them.

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