We always make Christmas extra special for kids, stuffing in as much magic into the two days as physically possible. Flying reindeer, leaving cookies out for Santa, sacks filled to the brim, stockings, advent calendars, the tree, candy cane, decorating the house and the list goes on. In fact, Christmas is so exciting, that it’s hard to escape the idea that Easter is actually fairly dull in comparison. What do you do at Easter? You might have a little easter egg hunt and a big dinner with the family. That seems like a shame because there’s so much more that you can do with Easter to make it a great time for kids and really give them a fantastic day to enjoy. Both little ones and older kids can have fun around Easter with the right little doses of magic added in.
What are we talking about here? Well, there are lots of great ideas for fun little homemade snacks to awesome games and activities as well as extra gifts you can purchase. Let’s start by thinking about Easter egg hunts.
Two Hunts, Twice The Fun
Most people are aware of the typical Easter egg hunt where kids run around outside looking for the colourful little eggs the Easter bunny has left all over the place. They can spend hours searching for the eggs that the bunny has hidden in incredible places. If it’s a community hunt, this can be all over the street and neighborhood, and if it’s a family hunt, they can be hidden around your garden.
If you want to make this even more exciting for them, make sure that the person who finds the most eggs wins a prize. This can be a little toy, a fantastic chocolate treat or perhaps a cute little ornament.
As well as this, there are other easter egg hunts that you can arrange in your home too. You can hide actual chocolate Easter eggs around your house, behind chairs, in cupboards, and underneath the bed. It’s an awesome, fun way for kids to start the day and you don’t even need to be up for it. If you want a lie in, just let the kids know that they can start looking for the eggs around the house as soon as they wake up. You just need to be careful that they don’t eat all that chocolate before dinner time.
There are other things that you can hide too like the Easter basket the bunny leaves. Sometimes the Easter Bunny won’t just leave chocolate eggs, they’ll drop off an Easter basket too. You can hide that as well somewhere around the house, but if you’ve never heard of this concept, it’s worth considering.
Making Sure The Bunny Drops Off An Easter Basket
Some parents will be familiar with the Easter basket option and others won’t be, but it’s never too late for a bunny to drop one off for your little ones. Basically, an Easter Basket is a lot like a stocking. It’s filled with little toys and treats for kids to enjoy. They can be easter themed too, and we think a Bunny might shop at stores like Zoey’s Personalized Gifts online. If you check shops like this out, you’ll find there are lots of great little gifts totally related to Easter. You can get awesome jumpers with the bunny on, or if you have adorable little ones, an Easter-themed bib. The basket can be filled with other items too like a few films for older kids or coloring books for younger. Basically, the bunny will drop off any little presents they think your kids will enjoy. Around Easter time, that bunny certainly becomes spoiled for choice about what presents to use.
A Treat For Little Ones
Part of the magic of Christmas is that there’s always a sign Santa has been, and we’re not just talking the presents he leaves behind. There’s the bite out of the carrot and the drained glass of milk or the mince pies and cookies that disappear. This type of magic can be added to the Easter experience too because sometimes, a bunny leaves behind clues that it’s been.
We’re talking about Easter Bunny footprints, and actually, they’re not that hard to leave behind. You just need a couple paper plates, a pair of scissors and a pencil. Draw some outlines of little bunny feet complete with toes. You can decide how many toes the easter bunny has for yourself. Just make sure that they are separate and spaced out. Next, you need to cut out your little art as neat as possible with smooth lines. This can be a tad difficult if you’re not the neatest cutter so if you have a partner in crime, consider which of you is the best for this job. Or, get some outside help.
Okay, now that you’ve cut the feet out, you’ll have a little stencil. Put it on the ground around your home and use baby powder or fine sugar to make the tracks. Baby powder will stick around for longer. Fine sugar is easier to clean up. If you’re really clever, you can actually leave the tracks around the areas that the bunny left the eggs. Just make sure that you don’t put the tracks down until the little ones have gone to sleep otherwise it does spoil the magic slightly.
Carefully Plan The Easter Egg Hunt
There’s nothing worse than an easter egg hunt that ends far too quickly. If this happens, then it’s a bit of a downer and spoils all the hard work the *cough* Easter bunny put into hiding them. But there’s a way to solve that. If a few kids are taking part, assign each kid a color of egg. That way, if they find an egg that isn’t for them, they’ll have to keep hunting. This is certainly going to extend them time it takes to complete the hunt, and it also means one over-eager kid can’t take all the eggs!
Speaking of colored eggs, you might be looking for other fun activities to fill the day with. For instance, you can think about sitting the kids down to color eggs with you. This can be a great option for activity, and it’s fun too! If you’re lazy, you can get the kids to color the eggs that the bunny will hide later. Or, how about cress heads. Cress heads, we think, are fantastic little activity for Easter. With cress eggs, you just need an empty eggshell, some cress seeds, and cotton wool. Fill the shell with cotton wool, the seeds and the cress grows out the top of the shell, like hair. That way, kids can draw lots of fun little pictures on the egg and have their own cress egg pal.
Go A Little More Lapse With Sweets
As a parent, it’s understandable that you want to avoid letting your kids gorge themselves on sugar. After all, this type of situation can lead to health issues as well as high dental bills. But it’s worth remembering that Easter is a special time where sweets, sugar, and other treats should be embraced. Easter isn’t quite the same without the chocolate, the jelly beans, and other delicious snacks. Sure, you can have a healthy Easter, it’s possible. But at this time, it’s good to let your kids have fun with what they eat. After all, they won’t be young forever. There’ll be time later for healthy Easters where they have to watch how much chocolate they consume. For now, just let them be kids even if they do get the occasional chocolate induced headache or end up in a sugar coma, that’s all part of the fun.
Fun In The Dark
If you want to make your Easter egg hunt more exciting and a little more adventurous for kids, you can think about holding it in the dark. Make sure you have enough parents to watch over the kids if you do this and ensure they know exactly how far the Easter Bunny has been dropping eggs so that they don’t wander off course. As well as this, you need to arm each kid with a flashlight and preferably a phone. That way, if they do get lost in the dark, you’ll be able to find them. Worried about dangers? Make sure that you separate the kids into teams with one parent leading each party. That way you’ll know everyone is safe and they can still have a great time in the dark.
If you are worried that you won’t be able to find the eggs in the dark, how about making sure that they glow in the dark. It’s another great way to make it just a little more magical. With glow in the dark eggs, it really will make the area look like an enchanted dream. You can do this by adding little glow sticks into plastic eggs.
We hope you love these ideas and have a magic easter with your kids.