April 12 // Easter Egg Tree, Nature Scavenger Hunt, and More!
Try out these beautiful activities!
Hi there! We’ve got some great springtime activities for you today!
But first, a behind-the-scenes confession: the plan was to show you cool ideas for dyeing Easter eggs. The kids and I watched lots of craft videos and did tons of research. But you know what? I didn’t want to do it. For a large family like ours, that would be using a lot of eggs, and it felt wasteful. So—following our own advice from last Friday’s newsletter—I gave myself permission to not dye eggs.
Instead, I decided to make some new traditions! Check these out!
Paper Easter Eggs
Have you ever heard of Ostereierbaum? Apparently it’s a tradition in Europe (primarily Germany) where you hang eggs on trees. Look at this beauty 🤯
We, however, made paper eggs. All you need is thick paper, crafting supplies of your choice, a hole punch, and string! …And some foraged twigs and a jar or vase.
Below is an egg template for you and your kids to color and cut out, but if you’re using watercolor paper, it probably won’t print well. Simply draw ovals of random sizes! You don’t have to paint inside the lines because you’ll be cutting out egg shapes anyway.
Older kids and grownups can decorate the eggs however they wish. If you want a more aesthetically pleasing tree, limit the color palette. Creative ideas: use washi tape as decoration or for masking/peeling off, make a collage with old book pages, imitate your favorite art, etc. We kept ours simple this time.
Toddlers can go wild scribbling, but it’ll still look pretty good once you cut it out.
Washi tape was a big hit for all ages. (You just have to prepare the tape pieces for the littlest ones.)
You might want to decorate both sides to make a more colorful tree.
This is an activity that you can spend a lot of time on!
Once you’ve decorated your eggs, either hole punch and tie them onto the tree, or use a needle and thread, or whatever you prefer, and hang them on there!
Please send in pictures of your eggs and trees! We’d love to see them.
Frozen Egg Marbles
This activity is really simple and so lovely.
Crack open the tops of eggs, pour the insides into a bowl (and save them for scrambling!), then rinse them out. Invite your kids to forage for some pretty things in nature—even grass and dried-out flowers work—and stuff your eggs with them. Fill to the top with water, put back into the egg carton, and freeze!
Unpeeling the eggs is really satisfying (albeit cold) and the frozen gem that comes out is gorgeous. People of every age will be mesmerized by the glasslike beauty.
And here’s what we did with the contents of the eggs! 😉 Nothing wasted.
Nature Scavenger Hunt
Egg cartons work as fantastic dividers for things you find in nature. You can just give it to your kids and let them run free with a treasure box, or you can make it a scavenger hunt for them to find.
We made some printables for you either way!
Thoughtfulness Challenge: Invite Someone for Easter!
Who might be lonely on Easter? An international student? An older person? Is there anyone you can invite to your table this Sunday afternoon? Plus, chances are they’ll be willing to help with dishes or playing with the kids, so that will even make your day a bit easier! 😛
Bonus: Interesting Egg Art From Ukraine
We continue to mourn with Ukraine and pray for peace. But can we also take a minute to admire how cool this art form is? Pyansky is kind of like what we do when we use paint over washi tape then peel it off…except they use beeswax and a special tool, create super fine lines, and use many layers of dye. So impressive.
Hopefully this newsletter gave you some good ideas for activities to do with your kids this week! Please share it with a friend who might like it!
Warmly,
Hope and the Family Scripts Team
Love these!!! We made an egg tree with salt dough ornaments and Easter shaped cookie cutters!!!! Kids loved painting them!
Also we are doing a seed unit and used egg shells to start the seedlings!!! It’s been so fun!!
That German egg tree! 😍