14 Easter crafts for kids

19th March 2015suzy Share:FacebookTwitterShare

 

Image source: BlueOrange Studio

Easter is a great time of year to celebrate with your kids: it marks the end of a long winter and the start of spring (hoorah!) and, of course, there’s plenty of chocolate going around.

It’s also the first long holiday you’ve all had together since Christmas, and it can be difficult to know how to fill the days. So we’ve put together 14 great Easter activities for your whole family to enjoy - one for each day of the school holidays.

They range from ‘shake ‘em up and wear ‘em out’ games to ‘let’s calm them down before bed’ craft ideas.

We hope this guide will keep everyone sweet this Easter. Enjoy!

Contents

1. Easter egg hunt                                             8.   Easter crown parade
2. Easter bunting                                              9.   Egg family
3. Felt eggs                                                         10. Bunny ragdoll
4. Easter bunny dress up                                11.  Easter cupcakes
5. Dyed eggs                                                      12.  Easter egg cosies
6. Healthy bunny fruit lollies                         13.  Painted eggs
7. Easter bunny eggs                                        14.  Homemade chocolate eggs

 

 

Click here to download the PDF version of this guide.

 

1. Easter egg hunt

This traditional Easter game is a great outdoor activity and a wonderful way to take advantage of that lovely springtime weather!

You will need

Hide the eggs in your garden or local park for your kids to find. Little ones can get frustrated easily, so don’t do too good a job of hiding them or the hunt might quickly end in tears.

For older children, make the hiding places as tricky as possible - under plants and trees or in the long grass - to keep their interest.

Give each child a basket for collecting the eggs, then enjoy watching the hunt! Remember to tell them the rules beforehand: can they keep what they find, or does everyone get to share the spoils at the end?

 

2. Easter bunting

A lovely, handmade way to spruce up your living room, this bunting is bright, beautiful and Easter-themed!

You will need

  • Cardboard egg template, 15 cm long
  • Scissors
  • Paper or card
  • Paints, felt tip pens, glitter and glue
  • Clothes pegs
  • String

Using your cardboard egg template, cut out 10 egg shapes from plain paper or card. Let your little ones loose on the eggs with paint,
felt tips, glitter and glue - whatever you’ve got handy. 

Once the decorated eggs are dry, peg them to a length of string or twine to make your Easter bunting!

 

3. Felt eggs

These little beauties can be used as hanging decorations, Easter gifts, or even pin cushions.

You will need

  • Cardboard egg template, 15 cm long
  • Scissors
  • Brightly colored felt (at least 3 different colours)
  • Needle and thread
  • Cotton wool
  • PVA glue

Using your template, cut out as many egg shapes as you want from your coloured felt.

Make them into three dimensional ‘eggs’ by stitching or gluing two egg shapes together and stuffing them with cotton wool (older children can help with this).

Decorate your eggs by cutting out funky shapes from different coloured felt and sticking them on with PVA glue. Spots and stripes look especially good, but your kids might have other ideas!

 

4. Easter bunny dress up

The Easter bunny is on his way, so get your kids excited about something other than chocolate by playing a game of dress-up.

You will need

Help your cuties dress up as Easter bunnies with bunny ears, painted whiskers and cotton wool tails. Fluffy jumpers and onesies are ideal for this activity too.

Once they’re in their costumes, encourage carrot munching, sing rabbit songs and let them hop off some excess energy!

 

5. Dyed eggs

A simple way to create pretty eggs for an Easter egg hunt, or to display around your home.

You will need

  • Vinegar
  • Food colouring (as many colours as you want)
  • 1 bowl or mug per colour
  • Hard boiled eggs (cooled)
  • Slotted spoon
  • Wire rack
  • Kitchen roll
  • Vegetable oil

Mix 1 tsp of vinegar with 20 drops of food colouring in a bowl or mug of water, and repeat for however many colours you have chosen. 

Submerge your eggs in the coloured water for up to 5 minutes: the longer you leave them, the darker they will go. Take them out using a slotted spoon and place them to dry on a wire rack with kitchen roll underneath to protect your work surface from staining.

If you really want your eggs to shine, rub them gently with kitchen roll dipped in a tiny drop of vegetable oil.

 

6. Healthy bunny fruit lollies

The perfect antidote to all that chocolate, these healthy bunny lollies will give your kids a hit of much-needed Vitamin C.

You will need

Everybody can choose their favourite juice and soft fruits (like strawberries, raspberries, blueberries or blueberries). Pop them in the blender and blitz until smooth. 

Together, pour the fruit mixture into the bunny lolly moulds and freeze. Remove from the freezer after at least 2 hours, and enjoy!

 

7. Easter bunny eggs

Transform regular hard boiled eggs into happy little bunnies that will look delightful on your mantelpiece!

You will need

  • Hard boiled eggs (cooled)
  • Scissors
  • Craft foam or felt
  • PVA glue
  • Paints and paintbrushes, glitter and glue
  • Marker pens

Hard boil your eggs to prepare them for decorating. Whilst they’re cooling, cut out rabbit ears, feet and arms from craft foam or felt. 

Stick your felt shapes to the eggs using PVA glue, then draw on the rabbits’ faces using a marker pen. You can add extra decorations with paints or glitter and glue!

 

8. Easter crown parade

Little ones will love to show off their crowns, so stick on some music and encourage enthusiastic dancing. 

You will need

  • Scissors
  • A4 coloured card
  • Sticky tape
  • Sequins, tissue paper, pipe cleaners, glitter
  • PVA glue

Cut a sheet of coloured A4 card longways, into strips. Stick two strips together with sticky tape to make one long strip - this will become the crown. 

Get out your stash of bright, sparkly crafting goodies, including sequins, tissue paper, pipe cleaners, glitter and PVA glue, then let your kids decorate their card using whatever they want. When it has dried, tape the two ends of the card strip together to make a crown!

 

9. Egg family

You don’t have to stick to traditional egg decorations: try making a funny Easter family instead!

You will need

  • Hard boiled eggs
  • Marker pens or felt tip pens
  • Ribbon, wool, buttons
  • PVA glue

Create your own egg family by taking your hard boiled eggs and drawing funny faces onto them with marker pens: the sillier the better. You can even stick on ribbons for decoration, wool for hair
and buttons for clothes! 

And the fun doesn’t have to stop there. There are all sorts of dramas your egg family can star in: little kids can create stories for their egg people, and older kids could even create a film clip of an egg family soap opera or disaster film.

 

10. Bunny ragdoll

Our extremely cute make-your-own-bunny kit is the perfect calming Easter activity for older kids (6 years plus). 

You will need

The kit has everything you will need - pre-cut shapes, thread, plastic needles, glue and easy instructions - to make your very own beautiful bunny rag doll. 

When you’ve helped your little one make their own doll, don’t forget to name her and give her some chocolate eggs to guard!

 

11. Easter cupcakes

Yes, it’s a chocolate activity, but at least you know exactly what’s going into these cakes and there are no nasty E-numbers. 

You will need

  • 12 basic cupcakes (homemade or bought)
  • 110g butter
  • 200g dark chocolate
  • 500g icing sugar
  • 70ml milk
  • Whisk
  • Piping bag and multi opening piping tip
  • Chocolate mini eggs

You can make the cupcakes yourself, or buy some plain ones to save you time. To make the icing, melt 30g of the butter and all the chocolate in a bain marie (a glass bowl set over a pan of simmering water), stirring gently as it melts. Allow the mixture to cool. 

In another bowl, get your child to help whisk the icing sugar, milk, remaining butter and chocolate mixture together. Spoon half the mixture into the piping bag and carefully pipe it onto each cake. You should end up with ‘chocolate spaghetti’ that will make a nest shape when piped in a circle. Add two or three mini eggs to the top and you’re done!

 

12. Easter egg cosies

These cute egg cosies are fun to make and they’ll keep your boiled eggs toasty warm. 

You will need

Print the templates and use them to cut out the shapes from your white and yellow felt. 

If your children are older, you can help them to sew the bodies together using a needle and thread. Each cosy has two body pieces: line them up and pin, then stitch them together using a neat running stitch in a contrasting thread. Alternatively, glue the two halves together, but make sure your cosy has fully dried before you use it.

Younger kids can stick on buttons for eyes and felt shapes for the mouths/beaks, ears and wings. Now boil up some eggs and keep them warm with your cute cosies!

 

13. Painted eggs

This activity can get messy, so cover your table with some newspaper before you let your children loose with the paintbrushes.

You will need

  • Hard boiled eggs
  • Egg cups
  • Paint
  • Brushes

Put the boiled eggs in egg cups to steady them and then break out the paints and brushes. They can paint any design they like: spots and stripes, splodges of colour, or more intricate designs like flowers and bunnies.

Once they’ve finished, you can display the eggs around the house or even use them in an Easter egg hunt!

 

14. Homemade chocolate eggs

These chocolate eggs are easy to make and are an inexpensive, thoughtful alternative to whatever’s on the supermarket shelf. 

You will need

  • Cooking chocolate
  • Heatproof bowl
  • Saucepan
  • Chocolate egg mould
  • Pastry brush
  • Coloured tissue paper or foil
  • Ribbon

Break the chocolate into pieces and melt it in a bain marie (a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water). 

When the melted chocolate has cooled a little but is still runny, spoon half the mixture into the egg moulds and spread it around evenly with a pastry brush. Chill in the fridge for 5 minutes until set, then take them out of the mould and set aside. 

Reheat the remaining chocolate and fill the egg moulds again. Chill this batch in the fridge for 5 minutes as well, then pop them out of the moulds.

Make whole eggs by sealing two of the half eggs together using a little melted chocolate. If you want to give them as a gift, wrap each one in coloured tissue paper or foil, and tie with a ribbon.

 

Whatever you get up to this Easter, DotComGiftShop wishes you and yours a lovely spring break!

 

Image source 1: Kostenko Maxim                                                         Image source 8: FamVeld
Image source 2: Maya Kruchankova                                                    Image source 9: YanLev
Image source 3: mholka                                                                           Image source 10: DotComGiftShop bunny ragdoll kit
Image source 4: Liudmila P. Sundikova                                              Image source 11: Ruth Black
Image source 5: Steve Cukrov                                                                Image source 12: mholka
Image source 6: DotComGiftShop bunny lolly moulds                  Image source 13: DenisNata
Image source 7: melis                                                                               Image source 14: DotComGiftShop Easter egg mould

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