1. The day of the hunt
An Easter weekend is not complete without an exciting treasure hunt. Make sure to find the perfect balance between easy finds and ones that need a little more effort. Give each child a basket or bag so they can store all their chocolate treasures. You could assign a different colour Easter egg to each child so they know exactly which eggs to look out for. Or, you could also use different colour stickers. Try to maintain an educational and active aspect too, whether it be counting the amount of flowers they can spot in the garden during their hunt, or doing a few jumping jacks after they find each hidden egg.
TIP: Allow your little one to get dressed up for their adventure, with bunny ears or a clip-on tail.
2. Get active
We can all do with being a little more active, especially over a long weekend when it can be tempting to lie in every morning and spend hours on the couch binge-watching the latest series. Make a point of getting the whole family outside to blow off steam every day. Go on a 30-minute walk, take the dog to play frisbee in park, or go all out and go on a day hike somewhere in your area. You’ll be rewarded with more relaxed co-operative kids.
TIP: In the evenings get the family involved in a games evening whether it’s playing charades, a quiz night or a board game like Monopoly or 30 Seconds where the whole family can get involved.
3. Easter activities all weekend
Easter-themed activities don’t have to be kept for Easter Sunday. Get the kids to decorate their own eggs – whether they’re hardboiled eggs or the hard, white-coated chocolate kind – with safe, edible paint or food colouring. You can also bake biscuits in the shape of bunnies or eggs and decorate them in different coloured icing, sprinkles or drizzles of chocolate. If you enjoy arts and crafts you can also try your hand at making an Easter bunny out of a toilet roll with a cotton wool tail and cardboard ears.
TIP: The whole family can get involved in an egg and spoon race. For younger kids you can also try egg rolling. Take hard boiled eggs (plain or decorated), mark out a start and end point, line up the troops and go! Eggs can be rolled using a wooden spoon, hands or even noses.
4. Challenge your family to a cook-off
Get creative in the kitchen with the whole family. Bake bread, make jam, whip up some homemade pickled fish, or try your hand at making pasta – there are so many options. You could also involve the whole family in Easter lunch, getting them excited about a delicious roast or whatever your family’s favourite meal is. Make a bit of a mess, put on some tunes and have fun!
TIP: Try not to stress the mess. Get each family member to agree beforehand what cleaning chore they’ll do after the cook-off to take the load off you. Whether washing dishes, stacking the dishwasher or wiping surfaces, remember more hands make light work.
5. Start a new tradition
Start a new tradition for your tribe. You could, for instance, start reading a book as a family, even just a chapter or two every evening over the weekend, with everyone taking a turn to read aloud. Try classics like Harry Potter, the Chronicles of Narnia or the David Walliams collection. Or you could watch an age appropriate series cosying up with hot chocolate and popcorn. To get them outside you could go on a tree-planting mission and plant a new tree somewhere in your garden, or even in your town or city. Choose something that the whole family will enjoy.
TIP: Traditions help facilitate bonding and can be repeated year after year. You could also create a giant poster together or build a big jigsaw puzzle – something you can do together that keeps you occupied over a few days.
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