Easter fun for all

It’s the Easter holidays, the kids are off school and you’re looking for some ways to keep them entertained… let us see if we can inspire you a little.

We know it’s a constant juggle for time and resources when you’re a busy parent (or grandparent), and a spare activity idea or two can come in handy! So, in the spirit of the season we’ve collected a few Easter traditions, in addition to sending cards, from around the globe that might help to spark some activity ideas for you and your family.

We’ve even had a go at one of the ideas suggested below, so you can take a look at our efforts and maybe pick-up some tips before you try it out yourself if you like.

Easter Around the World

First, we’re heading to Central America, where people decorate the streets with colourful art made from sawdust on Good Friday. You can see these artworks in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. Known as alfombras (which literally means rugs or carpets), they are created using sawdust dyed all the colours of the rainbow. People use stencils and multiple layers of sand to create these vibrant and intricate designs.

Want to try it at home?

Craft sand comes in all sorts of great colours and is the perfect alternative to sawdust to scale down this craft and create your own versions at home. Just choose your colours and grab some paper, glue and stencils to create your own mini alfombras for a fantastic Easter display.

Then it’s off to Bermuda, where people fly homemade kites on Good Friday. Legend has it that the tradition of flying kites started when a local teacher, trying to find a simple way of illustrating the Ascension, used a kite decorated with Jesus’ image to imprint the concept on the minds of his students. Today, Good Friday sees the skies of Bermuda filled with colourful, multi-sided kites, some so large they need several people to launch them, featuring vibrant geometric patterns and long cloth tails, though you might still spot a few classic brown paper versions too!

Want to try it at home? 

There are loads of great DIY kite kits and online tutorials out there to help you get creative, but you could always go classic with a brown paper diamond, 2 crossed sticks and some pieces of string! 

Our next Easter tradition can be found in both America and England, and it’s the Easter bonnet. This fancy headgear initially became popular as an addition to the tradition of new church clothes for Easter Sunday, in celebration of the end of Lent and the return of luxuries, and in harmony with the renewal of the year and the promise of spiritual renewal. These days the bonnet is more of a fun craft exercise than an item to really be worn, though schools and nurseries often hold Easter Bonnet competitions which incorporate fashion shows, where children will create and model their own designs.

Want to try it at home?

All you need is an old baseball cap or sunhat that is no longer in use and some imagination! From fake flowers and jewels to pom-poms, ribbons, bows and more, just add whatever you prefer to your chosen headgear (fabric glue or a needle and thread will both work fine) and let your inner fashionista bloom!

Another tradition in the USA, and also in Scotland, is that of egg rolling. Each Easter Monday the First Lady (the wife of whoever is President) hosts a very special egg roll on the sloping lawns of the White House- and in Scotland many families will be heading to their nearest park to roll their boiled and painted eggs down a convenient (and probably slightly less famous) hill as well.

Want to try it at home?

First you need some hard-boiled eggs, and then you need to mark them in some way so you know whose is whose. Now, we’re going to talk about egg painting in more detail shortly, and you can of course be as creative as you like but, the main purpose of the markings in this situation is purely for identification, you don’t have to do anything fancy, paint your egg in one colour, use stickers or even just write your name on your egg in permanent marker. Then find yourself a grassy hill and get rolling! The winner is whoever rolls their egg farthest without breaking it.

Finally, we’re heading to Eastern Europe (via Ancient Mesopotamia and Greece) and the tradition of painted or dyed Easter eggs. Early Mesopotamian Christians dyed eggs red in the period after Easter, to represent the blood of Christ. This practice was then adopted by the Orthodox Churches and spread through Greece (where it continues today) and into Eastern Europe… where it developed into something entirely more elaborate!

Particularly associated with countries such as Poland and Ukraine, pisanki or pysanky eggs feature intricate designs created using coloured dyes and wax-resist drawing techniques. Whilst the term pysanky is sometimes used to describe any type of decorated egg, it really only applies to this particular wax-batik style… however, there are so many different variations on the dyed and painted Easter egg that it would take an entire blog post to cover them all (maybe next year)!

For now, we decided to have a quick go at some simple and effective painted designs that don’t require any special tools and can be recreated using wooden, papier mâché, ceramic or real eggs.

Want to try it at home?

First of all choose what type of egg you’re going to use. If you are using real eggs you can either hard boil them (good for creating table displays in a bowl, or for egg rolling) or you can pierce the top and bottom of the egg to create small holes and then remove the contents of the egg by blowing (good for creating lightweight hanging decorations).

Tip: Make one hole slightly larger than the other and blow through the smaller hole to remove contents. Then take a look at our video below, get inspired and follow our simple instructions to have a go yourself.

Tools Needed:

Checked Egg, Daisy Egg and Squiggly Egg:

Acrylic paints,
Paint brushes
White paint marker pen
Water and water pot

Letter Print Egg:

• Acrylic paints
• Paint brushes
• Letter stamps and stamp pads (N.B. You can use acrylic paint instead of stamp ink if you prefer)

Instructions:

Checked Egg:

• Paint base colour (2 coats ideally) and leave to dry for a few hours.
• Use the white paint marker pen to paint lines down the egg.
• Then in the gaps between white lines, paint lines in a darker colour.
• Once these lines have dried, paint horizontal lines in another colour at the top and bottom of the egg.
• Then paint one line of a brighter colour around the centre of the egg.

Tip: Don’t forget to leave the paint to dry between layers!

Daisy Egg:

• Paint base colour (2 coats ideally) and leave to dry for a few hours.
• Use the white paint marker pen to paint the flowers all over the egg.
• Then use another paint colour to paint dots in the centre of the daisies

Tip: Try to space your daisies evenly across the whole egg.

Letter Stamp Egg:

• Paint base colour (2 coats ideally) and leave to dry for a few hours.
• Plan what words you want to stamp onto your egg.
• Dip the letter stamp in the paint and press onto the egg.
• Repeat until your word or phrase is complete.

Tip: Roll the stamp slightly as you apply it to the egg for more even coverage.

Squiggly Eggs:

• Paint egg a few hours before so it had time to dry – painted 2 coats
• Use the white paint marker pen and draw dots all over the egg
• In the gaps use different coloured paints and paint fun mark and squiggles 

Tip: Do your squiggles one colour at a time.

So, there you have it, a few fun ways to keep the kids entertained, celebrate Easter and create some colourful new memories (and decorations) to treasure for years to come.

And of course, we mustn’t forget, it’s always nice to get the kids to make some Easter cards for their friends and loved ones too… and if you’d rather send your own personal wishes with a little less creative input to the design, we can help you with that too! Just click here to browse our complete Easter collection.