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Hop Into Easter With These Memory Makers

Easter reminds us of renewed life, new beginnings and the feeling of spring in the air. It is no wonder that our commercialized celebration of the holiday includes bunnies, baskets, eggs and all things spring. This year, mix in some kid-friendly fun with your traditional celebration, and create memories that will last a lifetime.

Fun with Eggs

Make Cascarones (Confetti Eggs). Hollow out raw eggs by making a small hole in one end and letting the egg drain out into a bowl. When the eggs are empty, rinse the inside and let them dry overnight. In the morning, fill with glitter or confetti using a small funnel. Place glue around the hole on the egg and decorate the egg with colored tissue paper. Take the eggs to the yard and try to smash them on the heads of friends and family, which signifies good luck.

Create your own egg heads. Crack and remove the top part of an egg, leaving at least two-thirds of the shell intact. Rinse the eggs and let dry. With markers, make silly faces on the eggshells. Fill the eggs almost to the top with soil and grass seed. Place the eggs in an egg carton and keep it in a sunny spot. Water as needed and watch the grass grow to look like green hair. Cut or style as needed.

Make yarn eggs using water balloons. As you are blowing up balloons with air, insert small toys, candy or dollar bills into the balloon. Tie up as usual. Drop colorful yarn strands in glue and use your fingers to wipe off excess. Wrap around the balloons crossing back and forth to make a little cage. When the yarn dries, pop the balloon and the prize remains inside the egg-shaped yarn.

Be charitable

Make boo-boo bunnies for a local children’s hospital or woman’s shelter. You will need a washcloth, rubber band and a plastic ice cube (found on Amazon, Bed Bath and Beyond or the Dollar Store). For directions, see sidebar.

Create mini Easter baskets to hand out at the senior centers. Use baskets from the dollar store and fill with hard candy, hand lotions, a magnifying glass, slipper socks or a large-type deck of cards.

Make Easter s’mores in a jar to pass out to neighbors and friends. You will need a one-pint jar with lid, 1 sleeve of crushed graham crackers, 1 ¼ cups of M&M’S candies, 1/3 cup of brown sugar and 8 bunny Peeps. Arrange dry ingredients in the jar and place bunny Peeps around the jar facing out. Cover with lid or fabric and attach gift tag (see sidebar) with instructions.

Do something as a family

Explain the Easter story to the kids by making Resurrection Rolls. You will need refrigerated crescent rolls, marshmallows, cinnamon, sugar and melted butter. Dip marshmallows in melted butter and then roll in cinnamon and sugar. Wrap up in the refrigerated crescent rolls. Bake per package instructions. For accompanying story, see sidebar.

Watch Easter shows like “It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown”, “Hop”, “Here Comes Peter Cottontail” or “Veggie Tales – An Easter Carol”. For older kids you may want to also include “Easter Parade” or “The Greatest Story Ever Told.”

Plant jelly beans with your child in the garden or flower beds. When they are asleep, the jelly beans will sprout into lollipops (with a little help from Mom and Dad).

Find those Easter Baskets

Show the kids evidence of the Easter Bunny’s visit by making a jelly bean trail from your child’s bedroom door to their Easter baskets. If you have pets, be sure to have them sleep with you that night to keep them from eating your trail.

Hunt for Easter baskets by leaving clues. Start with a note on their bedroom door leading them to different clue spots around the house and let them find the Easter basket in a crazy place like inside the dryer or tucked behind the couch.

Attach a piece of different colored yarn around each child’s doorknob. Take the string down the hall and through the house, wrapping it around chairs, inside closets and under couches to lead them to their Easter basket that is hidden somewhere in the house.


Directions for Making Boo-Boo Bunnies

Supplies:

  • Wash Cloth
  • Rubber Band
  • Plastic Ice Cube
  • Decorations – markers, pink pom pom (for nose), googly eyes, ribbon, white cotton ball for tail.

Lay the washcloth flat on the table. Starting at one corner, roll the washcloth up to the other end. Fold the cloth in half the long way (to form the hole for the ice) and then fold in half again to form the head. Place the rubber band around the second fold to form a head and bring the ends up to form the ears. Define the head more by wrapping a ribbon around the ears and making a bow. Create a face with markers or by hot-gluing googly eyes and pom pom for nose. Add the tail on the back of the bunny and insert the plastic ice cube.


New twists on the traditional Easter Egg Hunt. Add glow sticks or bracelets to create a glow-in-the-dark egg hunt.

  1. Place a puzzle piece inside each egg, and after the hunt put the puzzle together.
  2. Fill each egg with a number and have a corresponding prize waiting to match up with the egg.
  3. Add a silly request to each egg to be performed by the person who found the egg. For example, “Do the chicken dance” or “Do jumping jacks while reciting the ABCs.”
  4. Write the Easter story in short paragraphs and place them in order in the eggs. Number each egg and have the kids find them in numerical order. Read the story as each egg is found.
  5. Choose one color egg for each person, allowing them to only find their color. This lets you fill the eggs with age-appropriate or allergy-free items for each child.

Side Bar #3


Easter S’mores

Remove bunny Peeps from the jar and cut in small pieces using a scissors. Mix bunny pieces and dry ingredients from the jar into a large bowl. Add ½ cup of melted butter and a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Press mixture into a greased 8″ square pan and cook for 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool and cut into bars. Enjoy!