Afternoon tea is, without a doubt, a special treat. And the good news is, it doesn’t take as much prep as you may think. In fact, it’s a great way to get cooking with your kids, as they’ll love the hands-on fun involved in preparing all those little treats. Serve it up at the right time and you may not even need to make dinner – leaving you with a well-earned free evening.

A traditional afternoon tea usually has three main components: dainty sandwich fingers at the bottom of the tiered stand, golden scones in the middle and delectable desserts on top. At home, of course, you can get as creative as the mood takes you, so here are some ideas to get you inspired.

This staple of afternoon teas is simple and versatile, and a clever way to sample lots of different flavours without getting too full. Choose your fillings – classics which most kids will also enjoy include cucumber, smoked salmon and cream cheese, egg mayo and cress, and ham and mustard. You can use either white or brown bread, or a mix of both for variety. Lightly butter each slice, then fill. Trim the crusts and cut the sandwiches into rectangles about two fingers wide, or into triangles.

With only three ingredients needed – ready-rolled puff pastry, sausages and an egg – sausage rolls are a quick win as far as tea time recipes are concerned. Unroll the pastry and slice it in half lengthways. Enlist a willing child to squish the meat out of the sausage, making sure they wash their hands thoroughly before and after. Line up the sausage meat in the middle of the pastry strips. Brush the top lengths of the pastry strips with egg wash, then roll them up. Glaze the tops with more egg wash (another task for the kids) then cut into mini sausage rolls about two fingers wide. Bake until golden brown. For a meat-free version, use vegetarian sausages.

These are admittedly fiddly, but fun for kids to make because they’ll get to cut and squish pastry, beat eggs and sprinkle cheese. You’ll need a mini-muffin tin and a cookie cutter (or a round glass). Get your child to cut circles out of a sheet of ready-rolled shortcrust pastry and line the tin. While the pastry is blind baking, finely chop 4 rashers of back bacon and fry them until crisp. Use mushrooms for a veggie version. Grate 100g of Gruyère or Cheddar cheese. Beat 2 eggs with around 120ml of double cream. Assemble in this order: bacon, cheese, egg mixture and more cheese. Bake for around 20 minutes or until golden and puffy. Fabulous hot or cold.

You’ll usually see this classic British tea time recipe served as a decadent two-layered cake filled with rich buttercream, but a traybake is simpler and can be cut into smaller portions. This recipe is taken from Mary Berry’s Baking Bible. Combine 225g baking spread, 225g light muscovado sugar, 275g self-raising flour, 1 level tsp baking powder, 4 large eggs, 2 tbsp milk, 2 tbsp coffee and 75g chopped walnuts. Mix until well blended and pour into a lined tin. Bake at 180°C for 35-40 minutes. Make the icing by beating 75g softened butter, 225g sifted icing sugar, 2 tsp milk and 2 tsp coffee. Ice the cake when cooled and top with 30g of chopped walnuts.

Add a sophisticated touch to your tea time recipes with these pretty mini-cakes. Start with a ready-made Madeira cake (also known as pound cake). Cut across its width so you have two sandwich halves, then into bite-sized squares. Fill each mini-cake with jam, lemon curd, caramel spread or any other sweet condiment that you fancy. Cover with royal icing or ready-rolled fondant icing, and have fun decorating with icing pens, sprinkles, candied fruit or even edible flowers.

These fruited buns are incredibly moreish warm from the oven and slathered in butter. They need time to prove, so start them in the morning. This is a simplified version of a recipe from Paul Hollywood’s How to Bake. Put 500g of strong white bread flour into a large mixing bowl with 10g salt, 60g caster sugar, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 10g instant yeast and 50g unsalted butter. Add 250ml of cool water and mix, adding more water if necessary. Knead dough for 10 minutes, then leave to prove until at least doubled in size. Mix in 100g each of sultanas and chopped mixed peel, then divide into 8 buns. Glaze with beaten egg and leave to prove again. Bake at 200°C for 10-15 minutes until risen and golden. Enjoy with a genteel cup of Earl Grey tea.

No tea time is complete without crunchy, fluffy scones, topped with as much strawberry jam and clotted cream as gravity will permit. This recipe is easy for kids to make, too. Rub 40g of butter into 225g of self-raising flour. Mix in 25g caster sugar and 1 tsp baking powder. Make a well in the mixture, then add 1 egg and 120ml of milk. Mix together until it forms a soft dough. Flatten your dough out (a rolling pin or little palms both work) and cut into your desired size. Glaze with beaten egg and bake at 220°C for 10-12 minutes.

These classic treats trace their roots to Sweden, where they’re called hallongrottor, or raspberry caves, because they were traditionally filled with raspberry jam. Cream 100g each of unsalted butter and caster sugar together, then beat in 1 egg and 0.5 tsp vanilla extract. Mix in 250g plain flour, 0.5 tsp baking powder and 0.5 tsp salt until you have a smooth dough. Cover and chill for one hour. Roll out the dough to 1cm thick, cut out round cookies and give your child the satisfying treat of pressing a thumbprint in the middle of each one. Bake for 6-8 minutes at 200°C until golden brown. When cool, fill with raspberry jam, lemon curd or even plum jam to create a rainbow of jewelled beauties.

Of course, if you’re travelling, you may want a traditional afternoon tea with all the trimmings in an elegant yet family-friendly restaurant. In that case, stop for afternoon tea in the capital close to centuries of stunning architecture, from St Paul’s Cathedral to the Shard. You can also indulge in historic York or vibrant Manchester. Whatever you decide, you’re sure to enjoy this quintessentially British treat!