Tea ware for kids

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DCrunner
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Sat Jan 08, 2022 11:53 am

We have a toddler at home who of course wants to copy what mom and dad are doing.

Does anyone know of any gongfu tea sets for kids( I.e. made of plastic/unbreakable and small)?

Many of the tea sets I see are more English style but I’m looking for something closer to what her dad uses.
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mbanu
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Sat Jan 08, 2022 1:54 pm

Maybe a wooden teaset? I've seen Yixing made up to look like wood, so it might be a closer match if the struggle is getting one that looks the same.
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Victoria
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Sat Jan 08, 2022 4:10 pm

A wooden tea set is a good idea. I have cedar sake cups and have seen on eBay Japanese wooden tea and sake sets.
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bliss
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Sat Jan 08, 2022 4:14 pm

Here's how we approach this. Not at all intended as lecturing, just thought it would be good information to have in this thread since it's not the typical parenting approach (unless you're into Maria Montessori's work).

It's much easier for children to understand consequences with things that break, as long as you feel you can provide a safe environment. E.g, you are present when it's being used. Our daughter has been using glass (narrow shot glass for right size initially), porcelain jug/pitcher, metal cutlery, and porcelain plates/bowls since she started exploring food at around 6 months. They learn quickly and become more mindful of how they are handling objects. Obviously it's important not to make a big deal of it if they break something, and only have things that are okay if they break.

Since tea ware toys were mentioned. Purposefulness is super important. Children love doing real things that they see adults do, and often adults get in the way of learning by only providing play imitations when there is real interest. Pouring from one vessel to another is amazing from a developmental perspective. As is washing up and baking. When starting out with pouring, make sure whatever you're pouring into can contain everything that's being poured (it's real hard for young children to inhibit and stop the pouring when first starting out).

In practical terms my daughter brews herbal teas in porcelain gong fu ware. The one pictured below that my daughter use is from Taiwan Tea Crafts, although the handle is not ideal for a small hand. It would be great with a small gong fu teapot with a large/tall handle that a child's hand could fit comfortably and hold like a tankard. Two or three fingers in the handle and a finger on the lid knob works quite well though. I need to get some more beautiful camomile flowers again, and some other loose herbal options. Recently I've just provided some herbal teabags since it's easy to ask her in the grocery store if she's keen on some certain herbal tea. She has the teabag in the gong fu teapot :mrgreen: . As for hot water, I provide water that's fairly hot (but not dangerous scalding) in the chahai/gongdaobei so that she can pour herself into her teapot and then back out into the warmed up chahai/gongdaobei.

Here's a picture from one of our sessions from last year around the time she had just turned 4. We've had tea brewing available for her to do in various ways since she was two, but I struggled a bit with finding good ways of incorporating it in a natural way. For a toddler a lot of the interest is going to be around the pouring, and it may not look a lot like a tea session as you know it :lol:. Since last year though we have little "tea parties" together, which is a nice way to spend a bit of time together and chat.
tea_party.png
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DCrunner
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Joined: Mon Nov 23, 2020 9:15 pm

Sat Jan 08, 2022 4:26 pm

mbanu wrote:
Sat Jan 08, 2022 1:54 pm
Maybe a wooden teaset? I've seen Yixing made up to look like wood, so it might be a closer match if the struggle is getting one that looks the same.
I did find this
Wooden Duckbilled Teapot Tea Kettles Set With 4 Cups (8x9) …

But it’s not exactly what I had in mind
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Bok
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Sat Jan 08, 2022 6:10 pm

Similar to @bliss I just gave our little one real items, but more sturdy. In my case some pots I had made but am not using anymore. A cup that I don’t mind if it breaks. Chamomile flowers to brew.

I think there is a difference when they want to sit next to you and participate > drink a real drink and when they want to play alone. In the second case we have a toy set made of light and crappy kids toy porcelain. Looks low fired and thickly glazed like old ikea mugs used to be.
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Baisao
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Sun Jan 09, 2022 12:32 am

I gave my son B-Choice brand Taiwanese porcelain cups to use at the table. They are durable. He could have chucked it across the room and it would have been fine. If you can find them they are durable, inexpensive, and very much the real thing.

I’m not a Montessori person but took a common sense approach to parenting. I trusted my son at a young age with all sorts of precious things that “should” remain behind glass and away from children. He never broke or damaged anything, which is probably unusual. Doing this reinforced trust between us and helped him respect the feelings of others. If he had broken any of these precious things, that would have been an unfortunate but acceptable loss. I viewed it as the price of more valuable but less tangible things. That lesson would go both ways.
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