Activity Based Ideas for Kids During Easter/Spring

March 31, 2015

Not everyone celebrates Easter, but surely we are all familiar with chocolate Easter eggs and the Easter Bunny! Over the years, many holidays have been nationally transformed from religious occasions to commercialized shopping holidays for the general public. When referring to holiday “shopping,” chocolates and candy are often the most popular items to be purchased. Easter is among the holidays that fall into this category.

This year however, instead of filling your children’s Easter/Spring baskets with 2,000 calories worth of marshmallow bunnies, sugar loaded jelly beans, and cream filled candy eggs, you should try these fun and healthy activity based alternatives for your Easter/Spring celebration instead.

Easter/Spring Themed Activities:

• Easter Egg Fitness Treasure Hunt

Keep your kids hopping with this exciting twist on the traditional Easter Egg Hunt game.

1. Write clues and exercise instructions on pieces of paper. (ex. “Do ten jumping jacks… Then look in the kitchen for your next clue.”)
2. Place clues and exercise instructions inside plastic eggs.
3. Place eggs in various locations to be found by excited children.
4. Children must do the exercises before moving onto the next location.

For full details on how to create your own, visit Super Healthy Kids.

• Egg in the Nest

This game is a fun way to work on colors and sorting with the kids. You can make it more interesting by scattering the colored eggs around the house or yard.

1. Start by making or purchasing colorful grass.
2. Glue a handful of colorful shredded grass to paper plates. (Each plate a different color grass.)
3. Set out the colorful grass, along with a basket of plastic eggs that are the same color for the children, to use as a sorting game.
4. The children can mix up all the colors as they wish, then begin to sort.

Visit Teach Preschool for more information on how to set up the game.

• Bunny Hop Sack Race

Give each child an old pillowcase to hop in. First one to the end of the yard wins!

• Egg Toss

Warning: This game could get messy!

1. Create teams of two.
2. Each team is given one raw.
3. For the first round, the partners stand just three feet apart and toss the egg to each other. If the egg breaks, then the team is eliminated.
4. After each round, the partners take a giant step back (becoming even farther apart) and toss the egg again. The rounds continue until there is just one team left to win the game.

• Egg Relay

Get a little competitive with your kids by putting together a relay race- don’t drop the egg!

1. Participants carry eggs on spoons and then transfer the egg to their teammate’s spoon.
2. Every time a team breaks an egg, they have to start from the beginning.
3. First team to complete the race without breaking their egg is the winner.

Overall, there are plenty of ways to celebrate Easter/Spring that don’t have to include buying or consuming chocolates and candy. The options mentioned in this article can be far better alternatives that keep your traditions alive and set a positive example for healthy living.

The NYCDCC Benefit Funds would like to wish a happy and healthy spring to everyone, and a happy and healthy Easter to all those who celebrate!