Easter fun with children in lockdown

Easter is certainly going to be a very different type of Easter this year! Traditionally we have always hoped that the weather will be good so that we can get out and about over the holiday and enjoy the company of friends and family. Whilst the weather forecast is currently looking promising, there will be no chance for any of us to get together for a family get together and we will all be very restricted in what we can do this Easter - which will certainly be a challenge if you have children….

Enjoy an Easter Egg Hunt

If the weather is good, you will certainly be able to get Easter off to a good start with an Easter egg hunt for your children- either out in the garden or if ‘rain stops play’ in the sitting room! Children of all ages love an Easter egg hunt and you can make the eggs easy or difficult to find – depending on the age of your children. If your children are older, you can make the hunt slightly harder by turning it into a treasure hunt with a variety of numbered clues. The small, foil wrapped chocolate eggs are perfect for this and available in all supermarkets.

Paint Easter egg stones.

This is a fun-filled activity if the weather is good. You will need to find some egg-shaped stones in advance and wash them well and leave them to dry thoroughly. Anchor some newspaper down on the garden path or similar location and give your children some poster paints and a fine brush. Once the stones have been painted, they can be left to dry totally and then a decorative pattern can be added or a beautifully painted bow. The stones make fun decorations around the house.

Dye some hard boiled eggs.

In Greece, the shells of hard boiled eggs are stained using natural colours for example onion skins colour egg shells yellow, beetroot turn shells pink and turmeric makes shells yellow. The easy to follow technique can be found on - Click Here to Buy

After lunch on Easter Sunday, children in Greece choose a hard-boiled egg and then they play a game similar to the British game of ‘conkers’. They tap another person’s egg with their egg to see if it cracks. The winner is the person whose egg does not break even though it has tapped three or four others!

Challenge with an obstacle course!

It is almost as much fun creating an obstacle course as it is going over it! Use boxes, hula hoops as well as water measures, straws and ping pong balls and bean bags to make a fun course for your children to negotiate.

Get gardening!

Allocate your children part of a flowerbed which they can decorate with stones to mark the boundaries. Get some fast growing flower seeds like sweet peas and sunflowers or if your child prefers they can grow vegetables. For the best results, plant the seeds in flower pots and then transplant. If you are living in a flat, children will enjoy planting a window box or in a grow bag if you have a balcony.

Teach them about the moon and stars!

As an Easter treat, let them stay up and see the sky at night. There are various Apps you can use on your phone to help you pinpoint the various constellations and planets and others that describe the phases of the moon and about shooting stars. This can be as much fun for the adults!

Go on a night time owl watch.

Your only have to go out into the garden or onto the balcony for this one, but it can be lots of fun too. Stand still quietly together and see if you can hear an owl or a see a bat. If you are in the garden, watch out for a scurrying hedgehog too.

If the weather isn’t good, there are are still plenty of fun things to do inside….

Bake some Easter biscuits!

Children of all ages enjoy baking and look forward to the testing session afterwards! As well as baking Easter biscuits your children will enjoy icing them too, but will need some guidance -otherwise everything in the kitchen will get iced!

Have a fun game with an Easter egg!

This is so much fun for all the family! You will need a plate with a medium-sized hollow chocolate Easter egg, a knife and fork. You will also need a pair of large gloves, a hat and a scarf. Everyone takes it in turn to throw a dice and when the number six is thrown, that person puts on all the clothes and starts trying to cut the chocolate with the knife and fork – so that they can eat a piece! All the time they are getting dressed, the dice continues to roll and if someone else throws a six, the first person must get undressed and return to their seat, whilst the second person gets dressed up and so on! Lots of fun!

Visit a zoo virtually!

Why not enjoy going to a zoo without moving off your sofa? This can be an educational bit of fun for all the family. A number of zoos have webcams including Edinburgh – Click Here to Buy A number of museums offer virtual tours too including the British Museum Click Here to Buy or you can see the famous painting of the Mona Lisa at the Louvre in Paris- Click Here to Buy

Watch a new film together!

It might not be possible to go to the cinema to see one of the new releases but you can still share the fun of watching a new release. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, a number of new films are being released ‘on demand’ through Sky, Amazon etc. and these include Dreamworks Trolls World Tour which is being released on Monday 6 April. Disney is also offering a seven day free trial period – Click Here to Buy
Happy Easter!