The Easter Holidays are right around the corner, yet lockdown restrictions are still in place. This means that despite the welcome respite of a school holiday, for many families there may be a struggle to manage childcare responsibilities with work or other commitments, as well as the challenge of keeping little ones entertained all day for two weeks!
Yoopies is here to help! Whether you’re looking after your own children this holiday, in search of childcare or home support, or a babysitter or nanny in need of some Easter themed activity ideas, Yoopies has all the answers to make this Easter as fun as possible despite the circumstances!
Easter Themed Activities for Children
The Easter Egg Hunt:
Perhaps the most traditional activity of all is an Easter Egg Hunt for children, which involves hiding chocolate eggs around a garden or outdoor space and setting the children loose to find as many of the hidden treats as quickly as possible. The story goes that the Easter Bunny leaves chocolates and treats out when they arrive overnight so that on Easter Sunday the children will have chocolate to enjoy after a long 40 days of lent!
The Easter Egg Hunt is a tradition long loved by children, so why not get creative and have different types of treasure hunts and scavenger hunts throughout the Easter holidays! These do not have to be expensive or involve lots of treats and you can be as creative as you like, depending on the age of your children and how long you want them to spend treasure hunting!
For older children who are able to read, a scavenger hunt is a great activity to keep them occupied for hours as you can leave clues around the house or the garden with notes, rhymes or puzzles to send them to the next location with a final prize waiting for them at the end. For younger children why not recreate the traditional Easter Egg Hunt with toys or teddies they already have and place them in unusual locations around the garden.
Another great idea for an Easter Egg Hunt is to first paint and decorate your eggs (see our next activity!) and then use these for your hunt! That way each individual child will know exactly what they are looking for as it will be an egg of their own creation.
Whilst traditional Easter Egg Hunts are held outside, usually in a garden, if you’ve not got any outdoor space don’t worry! Why not choose a designated area of your house or go to a local park or field that has an enclosed space to ensure the children are safe to run around and search for their hidden treats!
Egg Painting:
Egg painting is a great activity for children as it not only is fun to do but they finish the process with a festive themed decoration that can also be used during an Easter Egg Hunt!
First you need to get your equipment starting with eggs, it doesn’t matter what type (and this can be a great idea if you have some leftover eggs that have gone out of date). The equipment you need is:
- Eggs
- Two large bowls
- Washing up liquid
- A safety pin
- Paints and a paintbrush or pens
- Glitter and glue to decorate
To start with you need to use the safety pin to pierce a hole into the top and bottom of the egg. Once you have the safety pin inside the egg, move it around to break up the yolk then carefully remove it and allow the liquid to pour out into a bowl. Blow carefully into the top hole to force out any remaining liquid until the egg is completely empty inside. Then fill your second bowl with warm water and washing up liquid and carefully place your empty egg into the bowl to wash it out. Leave the egg to drain and dry completely before getting to work with your decorations.
Now for the fun part, the decorations! This is completely up to you how you and your children decide to decorate your eggs. Why not paint them bright colours, draw shapes or write on them or make them into little animals! The choices are endless, and why not post your creative egg designs on Instagram and tag us @yoopiesuk .
Easter Baking
Easter is a time for good food, but this doesn’t just have to be chocolate! Baking is a great activity to do with your children, it can teach them so many different things about the kitchen such as learning to measure and weigh out ingredients, showing them how their food is made and what ingredients are used in different recipes and also giving them a chance to be hands on and creative when it comes to decorating their baked goodies!
Your recipes do not need to be complicated to be a triumph, you can adapt your old tried and tested favourites such as biscuits, brownies, cupcakes and cookies by making them ‘Easter themed’. This can be easily done by cutting your baked good into an Easter Egg or bunny shape, or decorating them with chocolate eggs! Carrot flavoured recipes can be a great addition to any easter feast too, as they are rumoured to be the Easter Bunny’s favourite! Another Easter classic is chocolate nests, which do not require any baking and simply need to set in the fridge, so can be a great option to do with children if you want to stay away from the oven. Check out some easy and simple Easter recipes to bake with children here, or come up with your own creations and show us on our Instagram @yoopiesuk .
If baking really isn’t your strong suit, there is always the option to buy ready baked biscuits from the supermarket and set your children free to decorate them with icing and edible decorations.
Yoopies is here to help
No matter what your situation is this Easter, Yoopies is here to help your family with whatever type of care provider you might need. Whether it’s one off emergency childcare you need, a nanny to help cover the entire holiday, or a housekeeper or cleaner to help keep on top of the holiday chaos we’ve got the help you need!
Simply decide what type of care provider you are looking for and use our quick and refined search filters to discover all the high quality, trustworthy care givers in your local area. Happy Easter from Yoopies!