It's almost Spring time and that means Easter is right around the corner. Easter is a fun holiday for kids to celebrate because of all of the fun activities you can do to make it special for them. Not only are there Easter specific things you can do with your kids to get in the spirit, but there's some other fun Spring activities you can do together. Some of the activities on this list may seem obvious but keep reading to get some new and different ideas for them.
Participate in Local Easter Events
One of the local events in our area is at the Charmingfare Farm. This event has lots of egg-citing activities for children 2-12 to participate in, including an Easter egg hunt, visit with the Easter bunny, and visiting the baby animals on the farm. When you order online using the code "EGG15" you'll save 15% on tickets!
We went as a family to the Charmingfare Farm and it was SO MUCH fun. We started out by taking a tractor ride across the farm to where the Easter Bunny was. Along the way you could see all the farm land and different animals. Once we got to our destination, we got to go inside of a barn where the kids could pick put their Easter Eggs and get a picture with the Easter bunny. We took a horse drawn carriage for the ride back and from there we were able to feed a bunch of animals including alpacas, sheep, and goats. We went into one barn where the baby animals were and we could hold and pet the animals, including the kids. My 3 year old held a chick, duckling, and bunny. It was a perfect way to get out to do something as a family outside and the kids were entertained the whole time.
Get A Letter From The Easter Bunny
This is something fun, special, and exciting for your child to receive, a personalized letter and package from the Easter Bunny! At EasterLetters.org you can choose what package you want your child to receive from the Easter Bunny. It's so fun to see the kids get excited when they receive a letter in the mail addressed to them in a specially decorated envelope. The letter is written on linen paper with a raised Easter Bunny seal. You can also upgrade your Easter package to the silver or gold package and receive temporary tattoos, a coloring book, and/or keychain. This is a great keepsake for your children to keep forever. There's still time to order letters and get them in time for Easter this year!
Visit the Easter bunny
Of course, this has been a classic tradition for Easter over many decades, visiting the Easter Bunny. Depending where you live, there are so many places that offer a place to visit with the Easter Bunny and take a picture from malls to local businesses. Our favorite places to see the Easter Bunny is at Bass Pro Shops. At Bass Pro they offer free Easter pictures and sometimes they offer other Easter related activities to participate in at the store. Our local Bass Pro also has a huge fish tank the kids like to look at and watch all of the big fish swimming by.
Color Easter Eggs
When I was a kid we would always color Easter eggs using dye kits. Now, there are so many different ways you can decorate eggs for Easter. You can use markers, paint, dye kits, stickers, glitter, shrink wrap, and even shaving cream to decorate eggs for display. There are some kits out there that let you decorate the eggs as animals using cardstock cut outs. Last year we bought and used wooden eggs to decorate so they would be able to be used as Easter decor year after year. For my then, 1 and 2.5 year old, the most fun way to paint the eggs was to drip different colored paint into a shoe box, drop the eggs and and have them shake the boxes around so the eggs rolled around in the paint and created a tie dye effect.
Do An Egg Hunt
This can be done either inside or outside. If it's nice enough outside, I would suggest doing it there so you can hide eggs in more spots. Last year we brought our kids to a cousins house for Easter where they annually do a very large Easter egg hunt with hundreds of eggs scattered throughout the yard. The eggs are filled with everything from toys to candy to tattoos to chapsticks. The kids all line up and when told "go!" get to scour the yard and collect eggs. The only rule is, if they find a golden egg they are only allowed ONE golden egg so others have a chance to get one. The golden eggs are filled with special prizes, most likely some money. It's so fun watching the kids running around collecting their eggs and then opening them up after to see what they get.
Decorate Flower Pots
Start getting ready for Spring by having the kids decorate flower pots. You can use any kind of flower pot include plastic ones from the dollar store, terra cotta pots, or the biodegradable peat pots. If you're using the biodegradable pots to decorate so you can replant the plants in the ground once they've grown, make sure you're using materials that are safe to be planted with it. If you're using plastic or ceramic pots make sure you use some kind of sealer on them after they're decorated so they'll last outside in the elements.
Plant Flowers
After you've decorated some pots, it's time to let the kids get dirty and plant some seeds in them! Kids love getting dirty (well, most of them) and playing in dirt so this is a perfect activity for them that will be fun and still get something done. Take them to the store and let them choose which flower (or herb/vegetable/fruit) seeds they want to plant in their pots. Let them play with the potting soil and shovel it (or use their hands) into the pots and plant the seeds. After they plant the seeds, let them water the plants themselves. They'll get excited when they start to see the little seeds start to sprout in a few days.
Bake Desserts
There are obviously so many desserts you can bake for Easter. If you're having a lot of kids over for Easter day, try baking some cupcakes in a cone. Leave them plain without any frosting or decorations and have the kids decorate them as bunnies or Easter baskets. Color some shredded coconut, have Peeps marshmallows, jelly beans, chocolate eggs, and other Easter candies available for them to use.
Watch Easter Movies
If you're stuck inside, or just looking to watch some festive Easter movies, that can be fun too! They don't necessarily have to be about Easter, but can be about bunnies or other Easter related characters. Here's some movies you can watch on Netflix:
Peter Rabbit 2
Hop
Sunny Bunnies
Over The Moon
Make Easter Decorations
There are so many crafts that kids can do that will not only be creative and entertaining for them, but can be used as Easter decorations for your house. You can get most of the materials for any of these crafts at the dollar store to create something really nice. Here's some crafts they can do:
Easter bunny handprints
Spring/Easter wreaths
Suncatchers
Play Games
Play games together as a family. If you're lucky enough to be able to spend Easter outdoors, there are so many games kids and adults can play together. Here's a list of some favorites:
Pin the tail on the bunny- just like pin the tail on the donkey, only it's a bunny.
Bean bag toss- this game is also known as "corn hole" and involves tossing bean bags into holes on a platform across from you.
Spoon egg race- keep the egg on a spoon and have a race around the yard. Whoever keeps their egg on the spoon and finishes first, wins!
Egg toss- using eggs, everyone grabs a partner and tosses the egg (gently) back and forth. After each toss, one partner takes a step back to get further apart. Don't break the eggs, or you're out.
Conclusion
In my opinion, Spring is the best time of the year, so participating in all of these games and activities is very exciting for me. The kids love getting to go outside and play, especially on holidays like Easter where it's getting warm enough to have fun outside with their cousins.
What Easter activities do you do with your kids? Leave a comment below!