Easter can be such a fun time of year – delicious food, family time and just a little bit of magic – without half as much pressure as Christmas. But let’s face it, long weekends with kids can sometimes feel … well … long!
Here at Hooray Day, we love to share all kind of tips and tricks to make throwing special celebrations for little ones a breeze!
If you’re wondering how to keep your kids entertained over the Easter weekend, we’re here to help! Read on for heaps of Easter ideas that are just perfect for big or little celebrations.
Egg Hunt – Obviously this is first on the list! We all know how a traditional egg hunt works, but if you’re looking to change things up a bit this year, we have a few suggestions!
- Take the excitement up a notch by drawing and photocopying a basic map of your backyard, with the locations of hidden eggs marked out with an x. Gather your hunters together in a separate area first and hand out maps and Easter baskets and then let them go for it. Bonus points if you can get them all wearing cute bunny ears for the hunt as well!
- For all the fun and suspense of the hunt, without crazy amounts of chocolate, try hiding hollow plastic eggs instead. Leave them as they are, or hide alternative treats inside. Great ideas include stickers, hair clips, fluffy yellow chicks, bouncy balls, character bandaids, erasers, balloons, rings, toy cars, finger puppets – there are so many options!
- Colour code your hunt! If you’re worried about the spoils of the hunt being unevenly spread, try handing out different coloured baskets and letting each child search for their own special coloured eggs!
- Go for a scavenger hunt instead. Put together a list of items for your little ones to hunt for … these can be Easter treats, things from the garden, things in certain colours, or a combo of all different things. Write or draw your list directly on to brown paper bags that can be used for collection to kill two birds with one stone!!
Add some Easter Magic – create a festive space for your little ones with some simple decorations:
- Easter bunny footprints – make a bunny foot stencil out of cardboard. Using your stencil, create footprints using baby powder or flour around the house or in your yard. The kids will be so excited when they find them!
- MYO bunting – cut some egg or bunny silhouettes out of paper and have your kids paint or decorate them. Use wooden clothes pegs to peg them to a long strand of twine and you have your very own, handmade Easter bunting!
- Egg garlands – keep your little ones busy by asking them to thread hollow plastic eggs onto string to create garlands (most plastic eggs have small holes at each end). The garlands are perfect for draping over tree branches outside.
Fun and games – so the egg hunt is over, what now? There are heaps of other festive ways to have fun over the Easter weekend, and some of them might even help you burn off a few of those excess chocolate calories too!
- Bunny race – it’s the classic sack race with an Easter twist. You know the drill, grab some fabric sacks (or even pillow cases for littlies) and bunny ears, create a start and finish line and you’re away!
- Egg and spoon race – perfect for Easter. All you need is a spoon and carton of eggs (fresh, hardboiled, chocolate – whatever!) Make it interesting by creating an obstacle course or turning it into a relay to really wear them out!
- Easter eggs-ercises – Using scraps of paper, write out different little exercises or challenges for your guests, e.g. do five star jumps, or run around the lemon tree, then pop them in hollow plastic eggs. Get little ones to take turns choosing or finding eggs and completing the challenges.
- Pin the tail on the bunny – another classic adapted for Easter. All you need is a bunny print out, a blindfold and several balls of cotton wool with sticky tape or blu-tack attached.
Easter Craft Ideas
If you’ve got a more subdued crew on your hands, here are some great ideas for quiet activities to keep them occupied:
- A colouring in station – print out some Easter pictures, or better yet, find a paper Easter tablecloth designed to be coloured in! Can’t find one – you can make your own using butcher or kraft paper and a permanent marker.
- Easter bonnet parade – keep them busy making their own Easter bonnets! Make it easy for them by pre-cutting and stapling strips of cardboard to fit around their heads, crown style. Then set out sequins, feathers, fabric scraps, coloured card, paint etc. and let them go wild!
Celebrate with Food
Okay, we know that there’s only one type of food that kids are interested in on Easter, but if at some point they get sick of chocolate, here are some other ideas!
- Hot cross buns – enough said!
- Easter bunny shaped anything – make healthier options like fruit seem more appealing by using cutters to create Easter shapes. Fruit kebabs look super cute topped with a watermelon bunny! You can also use your cutters to make Easter themed fairy bread.
- Bunny food! Remind your kids that the Easter Bunny himself isn’t even that into chocolate! Veggies are much more his thing. Create proper ‘bunny food’ by cutting veggies into crudités and serving in dishes lined with big soft lettuce leaves.
- Interactive Easter Food – take care of snacks and entertainment in one fell swoop by setting up an Easter cookie decorating station. Make your own egg shaped cookies, or take a shortcut and pick up a pack of Milk Arrowroot biscuits from the supermarket. Set out icing, and a couple of different types of sprinkles or toppings and let them go for it!
- Remember that other kind of egg? – farm fresh eggs are perfectly on theme for Easter, and will give them a nice dose of protein! Make some devilled eggs and decorate the plate will fluffy yellow chicks, or look out for moulds that turn boiled eggs into white bunnies!
From all of us at Hooray Day, we wish you and your loved ones a very Happy Easter! Check out our website for other blogs and information on our Party Kits and handmade decorations. We do all the hard work so that you can say Hooray to that special day!
