With spring in the air and the long weekend to savour, Easter is a great time for families to get together and have some fun – both in and out of doors. Here are our top six suggestions for some seasonal activities that will get your family playing together and having an egg-cellent time.
Make your own Easter cards
Kids love getting crafty, and grandparents, aunts and uncles will really appreciate a message with the personal touch from a junior relative. All you need is some reasonably stiff card, pens, paints, and bits and bobs to help your kids bring their Easter card to life.
They can be as bright and colourful as possible. Why not cut pieces of ribbon to tie around it? Or stick on beads for extra colour and texture. (Small children should be supervised with this.) If you want to get really ambitious, try different thicknesses of card and glue them together for a 3D effect.
Get busy with glitter, felt and even fairy lights. Of course, there is always simple colouring in – and you can encourage your kids to be bold by buying them a battery-operated eraser so they can throw caution to the wind.
Easter bonnets
Kids will love decorating hats to sport in their very own Easter parade. The traditional version involves a straw hat with fabric flowers and ribbons. But you can stick on anything you like, from eggs to fluffy chicks – on any kind of hat. Take a trip to the charity shop, see what you can find and let the kids go wild.
Egg hunt
The thrill of the chase followed by chocolate – what more could anyone want? After hiding your eggs around the house and garden, sketch out a basic map giving clues. You could either leave a trail of paper clues or create markers such as piles of stones or perhaps pictures of the Easter bunny. Why not use a GPS mapping programme such as Google Maps on your smartphone or tablet to give some further clues?
Lamb handprint
This is a simple craft activity that even the very little ones can enjoy. Take some stiff black card – a coloured-in cereal box will do – and get them to trace the print of their own hand, with fingers spread and the thumb extended as far as possible; the fingers are the lamb’s legs and the thumb is its head. Cut it out and then glue cotton-wool balls all over it, leaving the tips of the fingers and thumb clear. Give your lamb eyes – sequins are good – and add a smile with a silver marker pen.
Scavenger hunt
Keep the kids busy by sending them out with a list of things to find. Make a list with descriptions (something shiny, green, feathered, yellow, etc) and the first child to tick off every item wins the prize. This is good to do in woodland, as there will be many interesting things to stumble across.
Easter garland
An Easter garland to hang on your door is simple to make. Any piece of card will do for the base. Cut out a circle – a plate will make a good template – and paint it the colour of your choice. Then cut out the cups from egg boxes. Add a splash of colour for contrast and glue them on. Hang it from your door with ribbons for a really festive feel.
Share some fun this Easter
“The Easter holidays are the perfect opportunity for some quality playful activities for the family to enjoy,” says Amanda Gummer, psychologist and founder of Fundamentallychildren.com. “These can include arts and crafts, games and outdoor toys to facilitate social and active play. Sharing activities is key. Whether it’s cooking, going for a walk or reading, as long as it’s fun it will be good for your relationship and the children’s development. Time together is what matters to leave your children feeling valued and special.”
If you do one thing ...
Go wild with the kids and hunt for battery-operated glow-in-the-dark eggs, such as the great range at http://bit.ly/19UfvD6
