5 Fun Easter Activities for Children

Spend Time in the Garden With the Kids This Easter

Looking for ways to keep the kids busy these Easter holidays? Well, with the children off school and the weather starting to heat up again, Easter is the perfect time to get children involved in gardening and outside enjoying the fresh air.  

Here, we give you five great activities to encourage the children to get outside and enjoy their time off school:

 

Grow an Easter Basket

Easter BasketKids are always excited to get their Easter basket filled with all kinds of goodies.  How much more excited would they be if they created their own living Easter basket that is then filled with all their favourite sweets and snacks.  This is one great way to introduce children to gardening, connecting kids with the outdoors, getting them exercise, and most importantly, creating lifelong memories.  

This is a simple project that only needs a basket (relatively shallow like a typical Easter basket), carrier bag, some garden or potting soil or mix, scissors, a fast growing grass seed like annual ryegrass seed, and a spray bottle.  The basket gets lined with the carrier bag, the soil is added (keeping the soil below the top edge of the basket and rather flat), the extra edges of bag are trimmed with the scissors (parents may want to do this task), the grass seed is sprinkled liberally over the entire surface (to make a very thick grass), and the spray bottle is used to water the entire surface of the soil. 

Lastly, the basket is placed near a sunny window or on a balcony or porch; having the kids spray the seeds with water every few days.  As the grass grows it can then be trimmed with the scissors (again, task for parental supervision), creating a very special little Easter garden of grass.

 

Enjoy Egg Games

an egg in someone's handEggs are a central element of most Easter activities with children so why not play games with eggs in the garden.  

One of the most obvious games is the egg-and-spoon race, but kids may have more fun playing egg catch (since they have the possibility of getting messy).  Kids love it when they are allowed to get messy, why not in the garden.  All that is needed is some eggs and maybe an apron.  Kids (and parents) need only stand about three steps apart and then begin to play catch.  

After successful throws and catches the kids can each take a step further apart and continue to toss the eggs back and forth.  The further apart the kids get the more challenging the game becomes until someone will inevitably miss the catch or drop the egg, at which time the kids will likely scream for joy as the egg drops and breaks open.

 

Make Mud Pies, Ponds & Castles

a child with muddy handsWhat better way to get in touch with nature than smoosh your hands right into it?

Parents need only choose a  patch of ground and use a spade or a trowel to dig and loosen the soil so it will make good mud.  Kids are given a little watering can, a washing up bottle, or a sprayer filled with water.  Provide them with child-sized hand shovels or just allow them to use their hands to dig holes and fill them with water.  

You may even want to dig a hole and place a small bowl filled with water to create what the child's imagination will interpret as a little pond.  Place some floating leaves or flowers in it to bring their imagination to life.

Parents can also let the kids use little plant pots to make mud castles and then use flowers to create imaginary flags, while using small stones to decorate the sides of the castles. 

The mud pies can be made by giving the kids a bowl so they can create the pie with mud, leaves, grass and any other garden items that make the pie look delicious.

 

Grow a Cress Head

cress growingYou can introduce very young children to gardening through this easy, much loved activity. Simply remove the top quarter of an egg (save the egg for cooking later). Wash out the egg with soapy water.

If your child is old enough, they can decorate the egg with a face, stickers, paint or glitter. If not, you can add a cheeky face or even a picture of your child.

Place cotton wool or folded kitchen paper in the egg shell and dampen with a water spray. Sprinkle in the cress seeds. Leave on a sunny windowsill. Help your child spray with water each day.

Soon, cress 'hair' will grow. Who knows what your child will want to grow next?

 

Create a Fairy Garden

a fairy gardenAdd some magic to your garden this Easter with a Fairy Garden. Use an old wheelbarrow, a tyre, a large planter or even just a patch of dedicated space in your border. If you use some sort of container, add holes for drainage.

Your child will love making and adding miniature features for the fairies to enjoy. Try lids for ponds, lollipop sticks for fences, pine cones as trees, twigs and twine for a washing line, and dolls house furniture.

Add small plants such as nasturtiums, lobelia and sedums.

 

Here are some more Easter activity ideas for kids:

 

5 Fun Easter Activities

 

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