The Adventure's of Alice in Wonderland!
Decorations
This party or day is all about being bizarre and interesting! There are different ways to decorate or choose a theme. You can take inspiration from the original Lewis Carroll book, which has some wonderful illustrations by John Tenniel, the classic Walt Disney cartoon, which uses lots of bright colors, or the recent Tim Burton film, which has a more fantastical and surreal style with slightly more muted pastel tones.
Whichever you choose, there are lots of Alice in Wonderland party ideas and decorations to compliment your theme. Any of the crafts below can be used as table decorations! Also, layering mismatched things from the books – mirrors, teacups, bottles, flowers, cards, chess pieces! And the more colors the better!
A combination of the Tim Burton film and the original book illustrations work really well. People love the magical Tim Burton styling, but a few references to the original book will stop your tea party from looking too commercial or only about the film. And you really want to encourage folks to read the book as an activity!
Inside Activities for rainy days
– Read Alice in Wonderland – you can read it aloud, or recreate it as a group and assign residents to do a dramatic reading as specific characters!
– Play croquet indoors! There are several options for indoor croquet sets online!
Craft Ideas
– These toilet paper roll teacups can hold small candies or treats
– Card soldiers like these would make cute table decorations
– Have advanced crafters? These DIY heart rings would warm the Queen of Hearts’ demeanor!
– We have created our own White Rabbit Pocket Watch craft to print and do!
Food and drinks
The most famous scene in the book and film is of course the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, so take this as inspiration when designing the food and drink to go with these Alice in Wonderland party ideas.
Another option is to serve some of the drinks at your Alice in Wonderland party in little glass potion bottles with ‘Drink Me’ labels on: Pick up a pack of 12 assorted glass craft bottles, and then fill them using this recipe for Blue Bubblegum Soda. The blue color is perfect to look like a potion and bubblegum soda is suitably surreal to fit in with the Wonderland theme.
Finally, write ‘Drink Me’ onto a decorative shipping tag and hang it around the neck of the bottle – this can be a craft or you can do a calligraphy class and have residents make them!
Another drink to make – FLAMINGO PUNCH! Serve pink drinks, such as this recipe for Pink Lemonade (below left, from Vegetarian Living). Add pink flamingo straws and call it Pink Flamingo Punch in reference to the croquet game in Alice in Wonderland
Food Ideas
– For food to go with these Alice in Wonderland party ideas, think ‘English Afternoon Tea‘—ladies, in particular, will love this as everything is so delicate and lady-like.
– Traditionally, afternoon tea is brewed in teapots and served in teacups on saucers—with the option of milk and sugar in from a separate jug and bowls. It’s served with dainty tea sandwiches cut into small bite-sized triangles and rectangles with the crusts cut off. Customary fillings are cucumber and cream cheese, egg salad and watercress, or smoked salmon and cream cheese. In the South? Pimento cheese is always good!
– These are accompanied by a selection of tiny cakes or little scones with Devonshire (clotted) cream and jam, then everything is presented on a tiered cake stand.
– You could also create a checkerboard effect with brown or pumpernickel and white bread sandwiches cut into squares to represent the famous game of chess. For inspiration, have a look at this image from Dorothy Lane on this site. There’s even an instructional video!
YouTube, Movies and Music
Behind-the-scenes footage from the Tim Burton movies
Full audiobook of Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – Mad Hatter’s Tea Party (The Royal Ballet)
Queen of Hearts in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (ballet)
The full musical, Wonderland!
Movies & TV Shows to Watch
Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland | 2010 | PG
Tim Burton’s Alice Through the Looking Glass | 2016 | PG
Disney’s animated Alice in Wonderland |1951 | G
Come Away | 2020 | PG
Alice in Wonderland Inspired Music
“I am the Walrus” – The Beatles
“Don’t Come Around Here No More” – Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
“Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds” – The Beatles
“White Rabbit” – Jefferson Airplane
