Fun Easter Activities for the Kids

Get Creative at home

One thing most parents hear a lot over the Easter holidays is, “I’m bored” (insert tortured face emoji). But there are plenty of ways to have fun and enjoy that precious family time (or keep them busy while you work from home 😉). We’ve got three Easter activities the kids will love to bring baskets of joy to their Easter holidays.

1 Colour Easter eggs

We’re all familiar with chocolate eggs wrapped in colourful foil for gifting and gorging. But colouring real hardboiled eggs has been around for tens of thousands of years and it’s a wonderful tradition (learn about it in Easter traditions we love). It’s also a super easy and fun activity to do with the kids in the backyard on a sunny afternoon. You just need a dozen eggs, food dye, white vinegar and crayons.

Steps:

1 Start by hard-boiling your eggs in hot water for 12 minutes. If you plan on eating them after the egg hunt, use eggs that are about a week old because the older the egg, the easier it is to peel (eggs can last up to five weeks). After the eggs are boiled, drain and then pop them back in the carton to cool down. Use the cooling time to dress the kids in old clothes or painting smocks.

Note: don’t throw out the egg carton — it’ll be your spare set of hands throughout the dyeing process.

2 Set up a dyeing station – remember, it’s going to get messy! An outdoor table covered in newspaper or an old tablecloth is ideal. Boil water and pour ½ cup into 4 bowls with 1 teaspoon of white vinegar and 20 drops of food dye in each to make a blue, red, yellow and green bowl. Place them out on the table with a soup spoon in each.

3 Put out some crayons if you want to incorporate decorative patterns, like chequers, spots, stripes or faces. The wax in the crayon won’t absorb the dye.

4 Dip your egg in a bowl of dye and let it soak for about 5 minutes, rotating a couple of times to ensure it’s fully covered.

5 Carefully remove with a spoon and allow to dry in the carton.

Note: To get a marble effect on your egg, add a little cooking oil to your bowls of dye.

Of course, you can also paint them if you prefer. Just ensure you use a non-toxic paint if you intend to eat them.

Bolster your Sunday-morning chocolate egg search with the coloured boiled eggs (tell the kids to leave them out the night before so the Easter Bunny can hide them).

The boiled eggs can be made into devilled eggs or egg-salad sandwiches for Easter brunch. But remember to tell the Easter Bunny to hide all of the eggs out of reach of pets!

2 Have an Easter garden picnic

Get some fresh air and vitamin D with a picnic on the grass. Mother-of-three Hayley Little of @mumlittleloves really knows how to lay out a spread, as pictured below! Find a sunny spot in the garden to roll out a picnic blanket or rug. Put out lots of soft cushions and some throws or blankets for snuggling, depending on the autumn weather.

Bring out a collection of storybooks to read together. Do you have any Easter classics, like Peter Rabbit or the Velveteen Rabbit? You could shop online ahead of time to pick up a few classic books. Or simply choose all your favs from your own collection. Truth be told, if you have teenagers too, they will probably love taking a walk down memory lane with their favourite books from childhood (did someone say Slinky Malinki?!) to read to their younger siblings. Just don’t post any pics of them on social media actually doing it. Otherwise, let them swoon over the Twilight series in a quiet corner of the garden or a hanging basket chair.

Did you know the app BorrowBox allows you to connect to your local library and read ebooks and listen to audiobooks for free?

Finally, and perhaps more importantly, don’t forget the snacks! Hot-cross buns, Easter eggs, veggie sticks and dips, fruit kababs and some cool drinks or hot choccy. Bliss.

3 Host a high tea

Set the table with your fanciest tablecloth and crockery and prepare a feast in the kitchen for the family, grandparents and friends.

The beauty of the high tea is that everyone can be involved in the preparations. Think freshly baked scones served with jam and cream, cupcakes with piped icing and hot-cross buns. Oh, and once again, don’t forget the chocolate eggs 😉

Go all out. You could even have everyone get to dress up for the occasion or make their own Easter bonnet. Teach the kids how to drink tea the fancy way — pinkies out!