10+ EASTER ACTIVITIES AND CRAFTS

With it now being spring and Easter just around the corner, here are a handful of Easter activity and craft ideas to enjoy in the lead up to Easter and over the school holidays.

• Easter tree  - To get you in the Easter spirit buy an Easter tree or go scavenging for a large branch to decorate with eggs, and Easter themed decorations. You could even make your own decorations - see salt dough decorations further down. 

• Easter bonnet hats - For a fun and creative activity you could make an Easter bonnet hat for your child to enjoy over the Easter period. You need a plain bonnet base and then decorations such a pipe cleaners, spring embellishments etc. We’ve created this blog post as a guide to making a bonnet hat.
  

• Chick process art - Using anything from a basting brush, cork, sponge, to a fork paint the body of a yellow chick. Then add eyes, a beak and some craft feathers. 
  

• Garden games - Play some fun games that all the family can join in on. For example, race with a plastic egg between your legs (use a balloon if you don't have any plastic eggs) and play toss the plastic or chocolate eggs into a basket.
  

• Spring pasta art - Fusilli, spaghetti, farfalle…find a variety of pasta and some PVA glue and create a flower spring pasta picture. For the finishing touches add poster paint and some glitter. 
  

• Kitchen roll bunny printing - Using a used cardboard kitchen roll, cut it to make the shape of a bunny - a circle for the face and then two squashed circles for the ears. Glue together and add paint to then stamp away on card. Add the face with a pen afterwards. 
  

• Easter cards - Make some personalised Easter cards for family and friends with some card, crayons and Easter stickers. Or, alternatively use paints and turn a footprint into a carrot and a hand print into a chick for example. 
  

• Playdoh eggs - Make some egg shapes out of playdoh and then decorate with gems, buttons and large sequins for example. 
  

• Salt dough decorations - Make some Easter decorations to hang on a tree or to decorate the house with, using a simple salt dough recipe. Divide the mixture and add different food colourings dependent on desired colours, or leave white if you would prefer to decorate with poster paint once baked. Don’t forget to add a hole (I used a straw) and then add ribbon to hang. Recipe: I used one-third of:- - 500g plain flour - 250g table salt - 125ml warm water + a few drops of food colouring It made approx. 30 decorations that were approx. 7cm. Bake at 150 degrees for ~1 hour. 
  

• Easter garden - For a traditional Christian celebration craft make an Easter garden to retell the Easter story in a hands on way. Read our blog post on how to make an Easter garden. 
  

• Easter cookies - Using Easter themed cookie cutters you could make some delicious treats to be enjoyed over the Easter weekend. You could decorate with icing sugar and Easter sprinkles from Dr. Oetker. Recipe: - 200g butter at room temperature - 100g soft brown sugar/golden caster sugar - 300g plain flour Bake for 10-12 mins at 175°C
  

• Easter stories - Discover the Easter story with a range of Christian books from Eden.co.uk, or non religious picture books such as Paddington's Easter Egg Hunt and The Dinosaur the Pooped Easter!  
  

• Dice games - You can play roll a chick where the different number on the dice corresponds to a different part of the chick. You could even have a race to see who could build their chick first. Alternatively, for something to get your little ones moving and burning off some energy, each number could correspond to an Easter/spring related action. For example, hop like a bunny, peck like a chicken, roll like an egg, flutter like a butterfly, grow like a flower, buzz like a bee etc. 
  

• Potato stamping - Cut a potato in half and then cut an egg shape into the open side. You can add further designs such as stripes, dots and zig zags. Add paint and stamp away.  We hope that you all have a fabulous Easter weekend and that some of the suggestions above come in handy!