Easter has always been an important holiday for us and our families, but the symbol of new life has never been more meaningful, than it is right now during this global pandemic. With kids all over the globe facing the reality of being confined to their homes for Easter, many parents are scratching their heads over how to keep them occupied for the Easter holidays and how to celebrate during our new normal and uncertain times. The Coronavirus pandemic has without a doubt restricted lots of our day-to-day activities and with Easter just around the corner, (this Sunday April 12th) you may be wondering how you can recreate this much loved time of year. If you are lucky enough to have a garden then things will be slightly easier, but if like many others who live in apartment buildings where gardens and open spaces are either out of bounds or have limited use due to social distancing, it means you need to get creative with space inside your own home. Well, the good news is we have some suggestions for you on how to still have fun in the comfort of your own home.
Carrot Patch Brownies
By now, I am sure the kids have dyed, painted, added sequins to and drawn on many boxes of real eggs and you will have various egg shaped cut-outs of different shapes and sizes serving as decorations all around your home. So how about helping the kids make some carrot patch brownies for Easter Sunday. This activity is guaranteed to keep busy little hands occupied, with the added bonus of kids being able to proudly display their creations on the Easter table and enjoy them after! You can also ask them to create their own shopping list, calculate the cost and help with measuring out the ingredients. You can make many variations of these but the basics are chocolate brownie mix, strawberries, white chocolate and orange food colouring for dipping the strawberries and whatever mini eggs or small Easter decorations you may have lying around the house.
Egg And Spoon Races
This one has to be an Easter favorite all over the world! If you have one of the plastic egg sets that’s even better to avoid the mess, if not hard boiled eggs will do. Kids can write their names on the eggs and their mission is to balance an egg upon a spoon and race or walk fast (if in a confined space) and reach the finish line without dropping the egg! If the egg falls from the spoon, you have to stop, retrieve the egg and start again. Watch out for cheaters who may try to hold onto the egg with one finger or even try to stick the egg to the spoon as has been known in my house! A variation of this game is to blindfold the runners or make up a relay with Easter themed teams. If eggs are not available you can use a lemon or a small ball and you can run with the spoon in your mouth, probably not the best idea given recent circumstances but you could always ask the kids to use their imaginations and come up with their own versions of this much loved Easter tradition.
Inside Easter Egg Hunt
What is Easter without an Easter egg hunt, it’s like Christmas without Santa! There are many ways you can bring the Easter fun inside and still have the kids hunt all over for their goodies. You can draw up a map and at every checkpoint have a hidden egg in that area. The first one to find the egg receives it with the others have to do a funny forfeit, hopping like a rabbit or clucking like a chicken, the options for fun challenges are endless and one the kids will enjoy planning in advance. To avoid conflict you could have the eggs color coded, so one child only picks up the yellow eggs and another the blue, that way it ensures that everyone gets the same number of eggs. Another option is to do a ‘Bunny Trail’ where kids have to follow cotton wool balls or bunny foot prints made of out of flour, if you’r lucky enough to access some outside space! Another idea is a colour coded scavenger hunt, where each kid is assigned a colour and they have to find the eggs hidden near a place with the same colour or shade. For example, you could hide a blue egg behind a blue cushion on the sofa or a red egg behind a red book on the bookshelf. I still recall finding green eggs hidden inside my vegetable cupboard long after Easter was finished one year! A safety tip for everyone is to clear the room of all possible hazards for a smooth and safe flow.
Whatever the circumstances that may stop you from celebrating Easter outside right now, with a little bit of both imagination and enthusiasm it is possible to achieve the yearly egg hunt and the kids will definitely appreciate all the extra efforts you’ve done to pull off a fun and memorable celebration.
