Easter is a wonderful time of year for children, as an abundance of chocolate heralds the lengthening of days, and the warming of the new season – as well as two weeks off from school. As a parent, you may be worrying about how exactly to keep your children occupied, engaged and happy throughout the half-term holiday, which is why we’re here with some simple suggestions for a fun-filled Easter holiday.
Getting Crafty
There is something about the Easter holidays that begs activities of a craftier nature, whether the theme of harvest or the more commercial trappings of the holiday. Either way, the Easter half-term presents the perfect opportunity to sit your little ones down for a few afternoons of creative fun – crafternoons, even. Egg-painting is the quintessential holiday activity, requiring little more than a dozen of your supermarket’s finest and some paints; watercolours are best, as they are easier to clean up and less likely to stain any of your lovely interior furnishings. Food colouring and vinegar enable you to dye the eggs before painting, widening the horizons for your children’s creative visions.
Home-made Easter cards are also a fantastic way to capture your kids’ attention. You could provide them with different colours of card and glitter, and a brief for them to stick to – from the basics of eggs and bunnies to the themes of the season, and the springing of Spring. Helping them figure out what to write on the inside and where to send them to can also be an important part of the experience.
Garden Games
With all kids freed from the yoke of school for a glorious two weeks at the outset of the year’s best weather, hosting your children’s friends for an Easter garden party seems unavoidable – but can be a great way to engage them, as well as to get the grown-ups together for little afternoon tipple. There are myriad games your children could play in the garden, but several stand out as particularly fitting for the season.
The first, and by far the most popular, would have to be the Easter egg hunt. Organise a chocolate Easter egg delivery ahead of time, hide said eggs all over the garden and offer rewards for the most found and claimed within a time limit, or over the course of the afternoon. Continuing with the egg theme, you could host an egg-and-spoon race across your garden using the eggs you helped your children decorate, and maybe even incorporate sacks for an additional sack-race challenge. Pin-the-tail-on-the-bunny can be a fun side-activity, and as a fun option for kids and adults alike you could create a bunny-themed cornhole board for tossing bean bags.
Out and About
Aside from indoor crafting and party-hosting, Easter is a vibrant time of year, and can offer brilliant opportunities to get your kids out of the house for a breath of fresh air. Your local park or National Trust site might be hosting their own Easter egg hunt, giving your children the chance to win fun prizes and meet other children in the process. You could also take them to public gardens to see Spring flowers in bloom, and teach them about the seasons. The world is your oyster!
