Easter Activities and Hacks to try at Home
Easter has always been one of my favourite holidays, but not just because of the easter bunny, or because it’s okay to have chocolates and hot cross buns for breakfast, but because it has always had a way of re-connecting and bringing together everybody in my family. But as I look back I realise it’s not the easter egg hunts, easter bunny or tons of chocolate that I remember – it’s the memories we made. I remember how we ran around outside laughing from our bellies as we try to find those easter eggs that we knew were hidden by our parents, I remember how we played games with our grandparents and spent real intimate time with family members we didn’t see so often. I remember the memories we made, and this is exactly what I want my children to remember as they grow up. The chocolates, easter bunny and hot cross buns will most probably always be there, but memories – that’s something WE need to create and treasure, it’s something that can’t just be bought.
I have made it my mission to focus on creating memories with Aryan and I thought it would be fun to share some of our favorite Easter activities and hacks that help me do this, with all of you.
Our Top 5 Easter Hacks: These hacks ensure that Aryan has the time of his life, in a learn through play, active and healthy way.
1. Fill up re-usable easter eggs with your child’s favorite snacks.
This has been such a hit with Aryan and I started doing this for his very first Easter in 2018. Aryan was not even a year old and I definitely weren’t going to allow my 11 month old to eat a basket full of easter eggs, but, I also didn’t want him to miss out on the fun activities everyone else were doing. Aryan loved, and still loves this since he can be a part of the madness outside and every single one of his eggs come with a special surprise when opened. Its much easier on the pocket, provides equally as much fun (if not more) for your kiddo, is a much healthier alternative since we fill it with some of our favorite health snacks (Yogi drops, veggie puffs and cheese and veggie sticks) and mama does not need to worry about tummy aches or a little energy ball bouncing up and down an hour after bedtime. It really is a win-win for everyone. See images for some of our favorite snacks to use for Aryan’s Easter eggs.
2. Eggcercise – Easter Egg movement Game
This “hack” provides hours of fun for your older toddlers, tweens and even teens as you send them on a movement scavenger hunt. Fill the reusable easter eggs with action cards and instructions to the next egg (you can number them from 1-8, etc). Give them actions like “Be a bunny and give 10 hops to your right for your next egg”, wiggle like a worm to the biggest tree and find your next clue”. Customize them to suit your child’s age off course and watch as they wiggle, hop and run in search of their ultimate prize – in our case, a large Easter egg or bunny. Once again this allows for your child to get in some eggcercise and break free from the playstation, phone or tablet inside the house and well mom wins because they are getting rid of all the excess energy they have stored up. This is also a fun family or group activity.
3. Easter Egg Popsicle
This is a fun, easy to make and delicious treat for a sunny Easter day. Fill up your re-usable easter eggs with a flavored drink of your choice (we used Oros Lite) and pop them in the freezer. You might have to cover the holes of the easter eggs using a hot glue gun and add a bigger hole to the bottom for your popsicle stick and to use for filling up your egg. Visit our FB Page @letterstomywildling if you need step-by-step instructions.
4. Chocolate Moulds
We have all seen the price of Easter eggs lately so why not make your own Easter treats and allow the kids to lend a helping hand. Aryan loves to help out in the kitchen so this ensures for some mother-son bonding time and is a fun activity that keeps him busy for quite a while. I bought our chocolate moulds at My China for R11- R15 each.
5. An Eggciting Easter Basket
Last but not least – Fill up your child’s easter egg basket with some unique, or fun activities instead of just candy and chocolate. A child can only have so many bunny teddies, and can only eat so many chocolate eggs, so why not add some lovely egg bath bombs (you can buy these from https://www.therific.com/online-store/EASTER-SPECIALS-2019-p134055478 ), or some @speelkleiklei clay, you can add bathpaint, a storybook, bubbles, activity pad and crayons, or even a sticker pad to the list. I am sure your child will appreciate a gift that he/she can play with or enjoy in the bath later that day.
Now for our Top 5 Easter Activities: These Activities are usually done leading up to Easter and ensures for some fun, educational mother-son bonding time
1. Coloring Easter Eggs
This activity is on top of our list for a reason. Aryan loves to paint and experiment so this is one of his favourite activities to do. We painted some polystyrene eggs with white paint and then Aryan had to color them. The first bunch we colored using some paint and the other bunch we coloured using a scientific experiment – bicarbonate soda, food colouring and white vinegar. (Place the bicarbonate soda in a sensory bowl and add a few drops of food colouring. Give your toddler some white vinegar in a syringe, or spray bottle and let him/her play freely. Throw the eggs in the sensory bowl while he/she plays). Once your toddler is done, let the eggs dry and you can use them as decor for Easter (Hang them around the house, make an Easter egg tree or just simply display them on a table).
2. Resurrection eggs
This is perhaps my favourite activity. I always look for ways to teach Aryan about the true meaning of special days such as Easter and Christmas and this activity not only makes this possible but it does it in a fun, and interactive way. So you number your eggs from 1-6 and in each egg you place an object that has to do with Jesus’ resurrection. (We have 1. A piece of bread- the passover meal, 2. A Cross – Jesus Carried His own cross, 3. Piece of tissue – They placed bids on his clothing, 4. A rock – They placed Him in the Tomb and Pushed a rock infront of it, 5. An empty egg – the tomb was empty, 6. A treat – that is the sweet surprise about Easter, Jesus is alive). I also included a colouring page that demonstrated each of the eggs so that Aryan can see it visually as well and an extra sweet (healthy) treat in each of the eggs. As he gets older I can add more eggs and elaborate on the story.
3. Bunny Box
This is a simple activity that provides hours of fun and would be a great activity on Easter to entertain the kids. You simply make a bunny using an old box and cut a hole into the bottom. Let the kids try to roll, throw or place the balls into the bunny’s mouth. You can make it more interesting by offering a small treat for the one who rolls or throws the most balls into the bunny’s mouth.
4. Sensory Play
We don’t really need an excuse for a fun, messy, sensory play activity BUT Easter is an excellent one so we will use it. There are so many Easter Sensory Play ideas out there and we recently did a super fun Easter Sensory Play Loop on Instagram so do visit https://www.instagram.com/letters_to_my_wildling/ on Instagram and follow the loop to see what all the other mamas came up with. We filled our sensory bowl with some whipped cream and plastic Easter eggs that they had to find and match and Aryan and his cousin had the time of their lives.
5. Gross Motor Activities
Easter is the perfect time to get your little one outside and active. There is so much you can do – Easter egg hunts, egg and spoon race, Easter picnic, and our Easter egg movement game is but a few examples.
The story of Easter is the story of God’s wonderful window of divine surprise. Easter spells out beauty, the rare beauty of new life” Lets focus on the beauty of Easter this year and make some memories that will remain much longer than the taste of Easter eggs and the image of the easter bunny. I hope that you all have a blessed, beautiful Easter this year!
