The Easter holidays can be a difficult time if you’ve not arranged activities to keep your kids busy! The weather can be so hit and miss at this time of year, so it’s best to have a a few craft ideas ready for any bad weather days!
Here’s three great crafty ideas for you to try:
1. Easter Baking
Baking is always a fun activity to get the kids involved with. You can even see it as an educational activity – requiring weighing and measuring skills, boosting your kids kitchen confidence, and some even say baking is a science! Depending on your skill level and the age of your kids, there are many Easter-themed bakes to try your hand at!
For younger children, start with simple rice crispy or cornflake cakes – try to form them into nest shapes and decorate with mini eggs for a festive touch. They’re a family favourite and rely on many store cupboard staples you probably already have.
Older kids would love to assist in making brownies or blondies with halved fondant-filled chocolate eggs placed in the batter just prior to baking. You can even use the caramel or peanut butter filled eggs if you prefer! Brownies are a great treat to learn to make as they are so customisable.
If your kids are baking protégées, why not try making hot cross buns? They may seem like a more complicated bake, as they require bread flour and yeast, but pre-teens are perfectly capable of weighing out ingredients and kneading dough, and you’ll all be amazed to see it double in size after proving!
These baked goods will be ideal to serve to visiting guests or to take on spring walks or picnics.
2. Easter Bonnet/Basket Decorating
Decorating a hat for Easter is a classic activity to do – coming from the tradition to have new clothes for Easter dating back to the 16th Century, thought to be essential for a lucky season!
Pastel straw hats for this specific activity are available at most craft retailers, supermarkets, and discount stores – or you can even use an old hat or cap that’s looking a bit shabby and in need of decoration. If you’ve got a child who isn’t keen on wearing hats, they may prefer to decorate a small basket, which you can find online or in craft shops.
Stock up on fun and special decorations that can be glued on, like ribbon in cheerful colours and gingham patterns, and packs of miniature chicks, bunnies, and eggs, which are usually available alongside the hats. This fun activity is also a great one to do if your kids are having friends over to visit, or even if you’re having an Easter party – just make sure you have enough glue sticks to go around!
Easter bonnet parades are still popular in America, with people taking to the streets to boast their extravagant hats on Easter Sunday, so if you have multiple creations we would recommend creating a runway for your kids to show off what they’ve made.
3. Origami Bunnies
There are lots of videos online you can watch with your kids to learn origami skills, and rabbits are a great choice for the season! This is a perfect way to recycle old paper or magazines, and the folding is an ideal way for your children to practice their fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and concentration.
There are various rabbits you can make, ranging in complexity, so start off with a basic 2D rabbit face. Make a few to practise this skill, and once you have enough you can easily connect them to some yarn or thin twine to make Easter bunting.
Once you’ve got the hang of a 2D bunny, you should be ready to fold a 3D rabbit that can be used to hold jelly beans or Easter treats! They’re also a sweet gift to give if your kids friends have dietary requirements or food allergies. You could also use these standing paper bunnies to decorate your home, perhaps at the center of your mantelpiece or to adorn your dinner table.
These craft activities are a perfect way to have festive fun with your children this season, and if you enjoy them as a family you can build new traditions together and bring them back every year.