14 Alice in Wonderland Themed Activities for Kids

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Alice who was sitting around feeling very bored when a talking rabbit with a watch in his waistcoat pocket ran by, exclaiming that he was late, before diving down a rabbit hole.

Well, what was a girl to do but to jump down that Rabbit Hole right after him and have a wonderful adventure. If you are ready, my dearest friends, then it is time for us all to take that leap with Alice in search of stuff and nonsense.

Before we get started, if you want to know more about what is about to occur then you can download a free PDF of Lewis Carroll’s book, or you can listen to John Gielgud reading it on youtube. Enjoy a short read along version for younger kids. Of course, there are also lots of film versions you can enjoy, but we’ll hear more about those a little later in our adventure.

Alice in Wonderland themed activities for kids

Drink Me

So now we have dived down the rabbit hole and fallen down, into what must be the middle of the earth. Draw a tiny door and stick it to a wall.

On a table place a key next to a bottle with a label saying ‘Drink Me’, put a random concoction of different tastes into the bottle, and ask everyone to try and guess what the flavours are - the book describes it as ‘a sort of mixed flavour of cherry tart, custard, pineapple, roast turkey, toffee and buttered toast’ so let your imagination run wild. Ask any older kids to raid the cupboards and see what they can create. Next, everyone has to pretend that they are shutting up, shrinking down very small. Some talking points include:

How would it feel for your body to be shrinking?
How long would it take you to travel across the room?
What things would be harder if you were very small?
Can you draw something in your house that would look very different if you were small?
What could you use as a bed, or a hat? What would you eat?

Film tie in - Honey I shrunk the kids, streaming on Disney +, or just watch the trailer to help get everyone in the teeny tiny mood.

Eat Me

Oh No! You still can’t go through the door because it’s locked and you left the key on the table, which is now way, way high up above you.

Make some food - a cake, sandwich or biscuit will do, and stick an ‘Eat Me’ label on it, leave it somewhere low and encourage everyone to have a bite. After a moment pretend that you’re growing taller and taller until you reach the size of a giant.
Gather some toys around - houses, dolls. toy cars and trains etc, and pretend that they are normal size, and that you are all now giants.

Talking points:
How do giants move?
How long would it take you to move from the tip of your town/ district/ country to the bottom if you were a giant?
What would you eat for breakfast, use to brush your teeth and sleep on for a bed?
Can you draw how your house would look if you were very big?

To get you in the giant sized mood, try watching the trailer for
Gullivers Travels (2010 and 1939 movie versions are available to stream on Amazon Prime)

Caucus Race

Alice was so upset about being giant sized that her giant tears created a sea. Then the White Rabbit gave her a magic fan which made her shrink again, and as she swam she met with a talking mouse, together they swam ashore with a Duck, a Dodo, a Lory and an Eaglet.

In order to get dry, they decided to have a Caucus-race.

1 - Mark out a race course in a sort of circle
2 - Place everyone along the course
3 - Everyone starts running when they like, and how they like around the course for as long as they like, pretending to be a funny bird or animal.
4 - When everybody has finished then elect somebody to pretend to be a Dodo and declare who the winner is.
5 - The Dodo declares that everyone is a winner and everyone deserves prizes (give sweets/ stickers/ something else small).

White Rabbit Scavenger Hunt

The White Rabbit is in trouble, he’s lost a lot of his clothes and he’s going to be in big trouble with the Duchess if he doesn’t find them soon. Have a hunt around your house and see what you can find, and what you can make:
1 - Gloves
2 - A fan (try colouring and painting some paper before concertina
folding it)
2 - A time keeping device - a watch, or a clock
3 - A walking cane/ umbrella/ long stick
4 - A waistcoat or cardigan

BONUS CRAFTS;
5 - Cut out paper or card and stick it onto a headband to make
bunny ears
6 - Use cotton wool to make a bunny tail.

Remember to take a photo of your finished outfit to send to friends and family, or even better, record a video of you in the costume hopping like a rabbit while shouting “I’m late! I’m late!”

Who Are You?

Alice got herself into quite a pickle helping the White Rabbit, she nearly got captured by some angry animals, but she managed to escape into a forest nearby and meet a curious caterpillar who insisted on asking her questions. Get a pen and paper and write down how you would answer the caterpillar.

1 - Who are you?
2 - Who did you used to be?
3 - Who do you want to become?
4 - How are you going to do that?
5 - What things are exciting about change?
6 - What things are scary about change?

A caterpillar goes through lots of changes during its life cycle.
Watch this life cycle of a butterfly and then write a story, poem or song from the perspective of a caterpillar going through the changes.

For younger kids, make a butterfly painting:
1 - Pick some bright colours to paint with
2 - Fold some paper in half, then open it again
3 - Using a brush or spoon, drop blobs of paint near the fold
4 - Carefully fold the paper in half again and squish the paint around through the paper.
5 - Open it up and let it dry.

Cheshire Cat Comedy

Alice keeps searching through the forest until she encounters a curious cat who doesn’t stop smiling. It’s time to create your own comedy club.

1 - Make a poster advertising your brand new comedy club, saying the time and location, and if you are going to make tickets, then the price (maybe a plate of biscuits, or a bowl of popcorn)
2 - Think about inviting other members of your family to also do a turn on stage telling jokes.
3 - Arrange the furniture in your living room/ kitchen or garden into a comedy club by putting out chairs for the audience, and creating a stage area - maybe try and find something that you can stand on, and use a wooden spoon/ bottle/ or something else that can work as a pretend microphone.
4 - Work on your routine. Try using jokes that you love already, call up friends and family and get some jokes from them, or make up some new jokes by looking around you and seeing what makes
you laugh. Or use a joke site on the internet like.

A Mad Tea Party

Alice continues on her journey and comes to the silliest tea party anyone has ever had, with the guests including a March Hare, a Mad Hatter, and a Dormouse. Can you set up a tea party which is just as silly?

What silly food might you have? What silly decorations can you make? What silly games can you play?

There are some printables included in this PDF which might be helpful for you, especially if you want to turn it into a cafe with prices and give people tokens to pay with. You can type in your details on the invitation by opening the PDF in Adobe Acrobat. You'll need to download this font (for free) to get it to match. Or you can just print it off and write the names in.

A Game of Croquet

Alice had to play a game of croquet with a flamingo and hedgehogs, you can make your own version
with things found from around the house.

For the mallets - Use a long pole, or an old handle and stick a tube onto one end of if - something like a pringles can will work. Decorate it any way you want - try using paint/ paper/ glitter glue/ coloured tape, anything you have to hand.

Balls - if you already have balls then great, use them! If not then try rolling up socks into a ball shape. You’ll need one ball for each person playing.

Hoops - Try to use furniture to make your course, for example, chair and table legs. You can also cut cardboard boxes to make a tunnel shape, as well as bending wire coat hangers into the right shape. You can even try doing what happened in Alice’s game, and get people to create an arch for the ball to go through.

The aim is to be the first person to hit their ball through all the hoops and obstacles in the right order. Each person gets one hit per turn. Only hit your own ball, and don’t touch your own ball in between turns.

The Lobster Quadrille

The Lobster Quadrille is a very silly dance taught to Alice by the Mock Turtle. Play the Franz Ferdinand song ‘The Lobster Quadrille’ as you dance.

1 - Form 2 lines facing each other.
2 - Step forwards twice, each person carrying a lobster (or any other cuddly toy)
3 - Swap lobsters with the person next to you
4 - Take 2 steps backwards
5 - Throw the lobsters across the room.
6 - Pretend that you are swimming after them
7 - Spin around
8 - Swap lobsters again
9 - Swim back to land
10 - Start again from the beginning

Repeat for the duration of the music

Your Own Wonderland

Alice had a wonderful adventure based on all the things around her that she had seen that day. Write a list of things you have encountered during the past day that play a part in your own wonderland and then write a silly storybased on that.

Think about:

1 - What animals have you got at home, or seen on TV, or what cuddly toys could come to life and start talking?
2 - When you listen from the window, or in your garden, what noises can you hear that could be from something else? Maybe a cat meowing could be misheard as a baby, or a bee buzzing could be a tiny person trying to get your attention.
3 - What things have you eaten today, or what exotic things are there in the cupboard which come from far away and remind you of funny adventures?
4 - Sit down, close your eyes and try and make your mind empty of everything. What images do you see?
5 - Spend a day listening to the other people in your house, what words and phrases do they say that sound like they’re nonsense?

When you're finished, draw a map of your wonderland.

Baby & Toddler Ideas

Take some inspiration from “Through the Looking Glass’ and hold your baby up to a mirror. encourage them to look and try to touch. Keep talking to them as they look, reaffirming the connection between the reflection and themselves. Try introducing some movement, like clapping your hands, and singing songs which come with actions, making funny faces, pretending to brush your teeth, or dressing up.

Set up an obstacle course for the little ones with things to crawl through - put sheets over tables or chairs to create a kind of tunnel/ cave. Try using boxes as tunnels, taping fabric and ribbons onto it for them to brush past asthey go through. For added fun, try adding in fairy lights, cushions, (always keep an eye on the babies when they’re exploring). Try laying down soft obstacles for them to climb over.

Make a painting using tea, by simply making a very strong cup of tea (with 2 tea bags and little water, squeeze every drop out of the bags, no milk). Grab a brush/ sponge/ anything else you can think of and use the tea as paint. Try experimenting with stronger/ weaker tea to get different shades.

For some very silly photo opportunities, cook some spaghetti, throw in some food colouring, and watch the kids get it all over themselves (this is one is best on a tiled floor/ mat/ outside!)

Fill a basin (big enough for them to sit in) with all the fluffy toys and other soft textures you can find and plonk the little one in to start exploring.

Draw some flowers on an outside wall with chalk and encourage toddlers to use a big paint brush and water to ‘paint’ over the chalk.

Get the pots and pans out, along with some wooden spoons and
encourage them to make a lot of noise banging. Try adding in items with different textures - cardboard/ wood/ something soft so that they can explore how the sound changes with each implement. Play with them, experimenting with banging hard/ soft, fast/ slow and talk about what different sounds are being made.

Ideas for Older Kids

1 - Paint your own tea set. Get crafty with any mugs/ teapots/ any
other white porcelain things that you own. There are a few ways to colour in the cup - you might want to buy some Porcelain pens, or porcelain paint. You might want to try playing with stencils or just freestyle. Check the paint/ pen manufacturers instructions for how long you should let it air dry and bake it, as well as how to cool it in the oven before opening the door to prevent cracking.

2 - Talking gibberish. With a partner, replace normal words with made up words and sounds, but talk as if you are having a normal conversation. Try starting with easy sounds like ma, dee, dah, dum. Try to keep the conversation flowing, varying your tone and exaggerating your mouth movements, time how long you can keep the gibberish going.

3 - Talking Points: When was the first time you heard Alice’s story, whatmemories does the book conjure up? What do you think the main themes of the book are? What would be different about the book had it been written recently? Why does it still connect with people?