Tuesday, March 28, 2023
Hello Everyone!
Yesterday, we published our regular Monday blog post yesterday…
Did you see Part One of our Easter Eggstravaganza?
If you haven’t read it yet, you can find it here!
As you may recall, Laura shared fun ideas for activities to do with your Littles
who are babies or toddlers
and we included links to other sites
that offered engaging ideas for this age group, as well!
💜
Since we had so much content to share,
we decided to divide the post into two parts!
SO…
TODAY (in Part Two!), Laurie offers unique ways to celebrate Easter
with preschoolers and older children,
Including meaningful ways to celebrate if you are a distant grandparent!
She also provides links to other sites we love!!
💜
Then, don’t forget to scroll to the end of this post… Laurie has a special suggestion for us all! Be sure to check out this fun addition to your Easter gathering with your family - the Littles, the Middles and the other Grands in your life!
As a reminder… If you will be spending any time with your Littles
during the next few weeks -
caring for them, perhaps during a school break,
celebrating together during a family gathering,
traveling to them for Easter
or spending time together on a Zoom call...
we’ve got you covered!
Keep on reading!
Over the years, I’ve had such eggs-tra special fun - with my own Littles, with Sunday School classes and, of course, my kindergartners! I’m eggs-cited to share some favorite activities here!
Make Your Own Easter Egg Hunt!
I loved doing this activity with my Sunday School 3-year-olds and my kindergartners!
3 Year Olds
• Ahead of time, make sets of 2 matching paper Easter Eggs using different colors and patterns. It probably works best to make them very distinct. (Example - only 1 set of pink eggs, 1 set of pattern eggs, etc.)
• Hide one egg from each set. For younger preschoolers such as 3’s, it helps to have the “hidden” egg pretty well exposed!
• Give your Little the other eggs. Have them lay them out in a line on the floor. When they find a hidden egg, have them match it to the same one on the floor!
Fours, Fives and Sixers
• Give your Little(s) each a pair of white egg shapes, cut out of paper..
• Show your Little(s) how to make a copy of an egg. For example - “I will make a blue stripe on this first one. Then I will also make the blue stripe on the second egg.”
• When you are done, each Little should have a pair of eggs that look basically the same.
• Take one of each pair and hide it. Be sure to have part of the egg showing while hidden!
• Lay the extra eggs out. Your Little (or you!) will pick up one egg and walk around looking for its match. If you have multiple Littles, they can hide them for each other!
Note: All Littles develop differently! These are just suggested ages for each activity! You know what will work best for your own Little!
Grandparenting from a Distance!
A Distance Egg Hunt for YOU!
If YOU are a grandparent who will be unable to spend Easter
with your Little(s),
here's a fun way for you to connect with each other and celebrate!
Ahead of Time: With your distant Littles’ parents - your Middles, decide together on the colors to be used to create sets of colored paper eggs (i.e. yellow, blue, pink) You, as the Grand will make one egg for each color. Your Middle will make a matching egg for each Little. Just prior to your next FaceTime call with your Littles, have your Middles hide the eggs they’ve made at their home. Then, while on your call, hold up a color for your Littles and ask them to go find the matching egg(s)!! Time them! How fast can they find its match? A Distance Egg Hunt can be loads of fun!
Bunny Bait!
Want to entice the Easter Bunny to your house on Easter Eve? Make Bunny Bait with your Littles! It’s easy because you can mix together a variety of ingredients you may have on hand! What do bunnies love? Vegetables!! Let your Littles participate by chopping up carrots and other vegetables with a plastic knife . Add them to a bowl and have your Little sprinkle their Bunny Bait on your lawn..
Just a Note - it will probably be eaten up quickly by animals such as squirrels, rabbits, birds, or even raccoons and deer roaming in your area. If you do not want to encourage this, put the Bunny Bait in a bowl by the front door and assure your Little that the Easter Bunny can smell this yummy treat! Don’t forget to remove most of the bait before morning!!
🐇
Easter Egg Conversation Starters!
We have heard study after study about the benefits that family dinners which include meaningful conversations have on a child’s development! However, let’s face it, sometimes Littles answer questions with a “yes”, “no”or a “whatever” (Welcome to the preteen years!) Here is an easy way to encourage some heartfelt and maybe silly dinner conversation.
If you are a Grand, this would be a thoughtful Easter gift to give your Middles and Littles to enjoy at each mealtime! Of course, you can join in the conversations, too! Set up a basket of plastic Easter Eggs! Write a fun question on a slip of paper and insert one in each egg. Family members take turns picking one egg at dinner. The chosen family member reads the day’s question and asks each family member to answer it. It is totally acceptable to giggle or ask questions of the person who is answering! You may learn a lot about your family!
This will work great for distance grandparents, too! During your calls with your Littles, take an egg, open it up and ask your Little the question. Be sure to share your answer as well! (Or during your regular calls, you can ask your Littles about their recent family conversations at dinnertime. It’s a fun activity for your Littles to recall these experiences and share family answers with you… and, at the same time, you can share your answers, too!)
Need some suggestions for questions to get you going?
Here’s our ideas!
Don’t forget…
The best part of this activity is asking “why” after someone answers the question!!
Also, It is always smart to set some ground rules beforehand,
such as listen respectfully,
don’t make fun of someone’s answer,
and ask questions to learn more!
Some day, our own grandbabies will be ready for these eggs-citing activities!
For now we are bookmarking them for future reference!
If your own Littles are at the stage to enjoy them now,
preschool or older, please do!
Remember to check out yesterday’s post for ideas to use with
your babies and toddler Littles!
Feel free to tap on each link provided to learn more!
from 11 Cupcakes
Fill an egg with a tiny item and invite others to guess what’s in it! Repeat with more fun things!
from The Seasoned Mom
Fill your plastic eggs with suggestions for some movin’ and groovin’ fun!
from Real Simple!
Try Egg Basketball, Easter Scavenger Hunt, Pin the Tail on the Bunny, and Chocolate Bunny Bowling! (There are some ideas at the end of the list that are perfect for adult Easter fun, too!)
from The Stem Laboratory
Follow these simple instructions to make an egg-citing science experiment! Perfect for your older Littles who love science!
21+ Easter Stem Activities
from Little Bins for Little Hands
More STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) activities to keep your younger and older Littles’ brains thinking!
We can’t forget about our Middles (our grown up kids)
and
other Grands in our lives (friends our age)!
Check out this festive activity, compliments of Laurie!
It would be a perfect addition to your family’s Easter festivities fun for all ages!
PEEPS TASTING!
Whether you love them or you hate them,
there are so many flavors of these marshmallowy treats out now!
Here’s a fun taste testing activity for families to enjoy together…
😀
1. Shop for different flavors of Peeps. (We suggest a minimum of 3 flavors.)
2. Set them out on labeled plates by flavors (I had about 24 people participating so I cut them into pieces)
3. Have different colored shapes of paper available for each flavor - also put these by the plates. I used my paper punch (similar to this one) to quickly create these.
4. Guests taste samples, choose their own favorite and write their names on the corresponding shapes and glue them on the graph (we like using glue sticks for this)..
Our results may surprise you!!!
I never expected Hot Tamale to win last year!!
We hope that, while reading our last two posts,
you’ve found lots of eggs-tra special activities
to enjoy with your Littles… of all ages!
As always, thanks for your ongoing support! It means so much to these two Grands!
where we’ll continue to post more Easter Eggstravaganza ideas with you!
We have ONE MORE post for you this week!
On Thursday (March 30), we’ll be back with a timely post,
Our Easter Eggstravaganza Continues…
Baskets for Our Littles
and
A Family Egg Hunt!
Then, be sure to come back next Monday (April 3),
when we’ll share our faith-filled thoughts on how to to focus on
the true meaning of Easter with our Littles!
