Easter brings images of bunnies, jelly beans, crosses and spring to mind! Most families do the traditional Easter basket, egg hunt and church routine, but this Easter shake things up a bit by thinking outside of the box and incorporating a few more meaningful activities into your Easter traditions.
- Natural egg dyes – Did you know that you can dye your eggs without chemicals? Annie’s Eats provides a list of different colors that you can easily create at home by using food to provide the color. You can find recipes for grey-blue, blue, yellow, pink and lavender.
- Egg dying techniques – Why not make egg dying an artistic process? Spoonful has various techniques to use for your egg dying experience, including using tin foil, string, bubble wrap, thumbprints and tissue paper.
- Easter egg hunts – Egg hunts are a traditional Easter activity for most Christian families. A lot of towns or churches will host an egg hunt, but if they don’t you should consider arranging one for your neighborhood or family! You can use real eggs (make sure they are hard-boiled first!) or use plastic eggs filled with various items, such as money, candy or other small trinkets.
- Tissue paper egg art – Egg art is an easy way to decorate your house for Easter. This simple project requires some poster board, tissue paper, a pencil and a bit of glue. Have your child cut out an egg shape from poster board, draw a design on the egg with pencil, and then, using small squares of tissue paper, the eraser end of the pencil and a bit of glue, fill in the spaces with the tissue paper to create your Easter egg!
- Stained glass crosses – You can easily create a stained glass cross to hang in your window with your child using tissue paper and clear contact paper. Cut the tissue paper into small shapes (have your child help, if it’s age appropriate) and cut out a sheet of contact paper. Draw a cross on the non-sticky side of the contact paper, remove the paper, and have your child fill in the cross with the tissue paper shapes. Once they are done, place another sheet of contact paper over the tissue paper and then cut inside the lines of the cross you drew on the first sheet of contact paper. Hang your creation in the window for the entire family to enjoy!
- The jelly bean story – The jelly bean story is a great way to represent what Jesus gave his people and why Easter is celebrated. There is a short story to print out to go along with the project and each jelly bean color represents different things, such as the sun, grace or sorrow.
- Envelope bunnies – Envelope bunnies are a great way to welcome guests to your home during the Easter season. Have your children help create them and then fill them with treats!
- Egg chickens – Egg chickens are a cute way to spruce up a hard-boiled egg for a centerpiece at your table! You can create other animals too, so let your imaginations go wild!
- Egg relay races – If you live in a climate that makes it possible to head outside on Easter day, consider doing some active outdoor activities with the kids. Who doesn’t love an egg relay race? You can place the eggs (hard-boiled!) on spoons and run with them (if they fall, you have to stop and pick it up). You can also pass off the egg to each other or pass the eggs down the line using only your elbows! The possibilities are endless, and the entire family can get involved!
- Egg bocce ball – Use your leftover hard-boiled eggs to play a game of egg bocce ball. You’ll need one white egg (the pallino) and each player will need two of the same colors of eggs to play. Roll the pallino in the grass and have players take turns trying to roll their eggs as close to the pallino as possible. The closest egg wins!
Enjoy!