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Easter Resources-lots of printables

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"EGGS"tra Special Learning Center/Activities
Use plastic eggs to create some holiday fun at your centers. Fill the eggs with math problems, story problems, spelling activities, parts of speech challenges, writing prompts... Place the eggs in baskets at your center. Children pick eggs and complete the task inside.

Easter Bunny's Basket of Eggs
Copy basket pictures onto sturdy cardstock and laminate.  Program bunny cards with numbers appropriate for the age of your children.  Older kids could read number words!  Have a supply of small Easter eggs available.  The children pick a bunny and read the number of eggs he needs in his basket. They place that number of eggs on a basket. If working with a friend, the friend checks the basket to see if the bunny's basket has enough eggs.

Musical Writing
I did this activity when I taught in the computer lab and in a regular classroom.   You give the children a prompt. Mine was The Easter Bunny's Adventure.  Give the children a few minutes to think about how they can start this story.  Then ask them to write until they hear the music stop.  When the music stops, they move the seat to the right of them.  They leave their papers behind as they move.  Give them a minute or two to read what the other person wrote.  When the music starts, they add onto the story they have in front of them.  Again, they write until the music stops.  I usually only have them move 2 times.  This creates a beginning, middle and an ending.  Before we start, the children are told how the whole project is going to take place. They are reminded on writing neat and complete!  They are also reminded that we all have different writing styles and abilities and that positive attitudes and manners are expected at all times. When they stories are done, each author adds their name and we add them to a class book. The kids love to see how their story progresses!  I can honestly say this is one of my favorite writing activities! The kids loved it too!

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Need Easter Themed Manipulatives?

Colored Pasta Pieces are always fun! Specialty food stores sell them around the holidays. Stop in after the holiday and get them on sale!  That's what I do!

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Easter Crafts and other fun Easter Activities
Craft ideas mentioned have been all done with my own kids and students!

 Berry Basket Easter Baskets
I love those plastic berry baskets!  Weaver ribbon, paper or even pipe cleaners through them for an extra special touch.  Make a pipe cleaner handle. Fill with grass and treats.

 Blown Easter Egg Fun- Confetti Eggs
I love to blow eggs with kids! What an experience for everyone!  Wash raw eggs with  warm soapy water and rinse well. Blow eggs by piercing both ends of a raw egg with a large needle (this is for grown-ups to do).  Hold egg over a bowl and gently but with enough force, blow into one hole- pushing the egg yolk out the other end.  Continue until egg feels empty. Rinse with warm soapy water and let air dry over night.  With a small funnel fill the  dried eggs with small confetti, glitter, hole punches (kids love to hole punch!)... Now it is time to seal up the egg! With small pieces of tissue paper and liquid starch ( or watered down white glue) collage the tissue paper all over the egg- making sure to seal the holes!  Let dry.  Another idea is to simply dye the eggs and seal just the ends with tissue. To make fun table place settings, use a permanent marker and right the names of your guests on each egg an place them on your table. Guests can break the eggs after dinner for some Easter magic.  Another fun idea is to fill one egg with gold confetti ( or glitter). Place all eggs in a basket and let children (or adults) choose an egg. The recipient of the Golden Egg wins a larger prize such as chocolate bunny!
 

Blown Egg Chicks
Wash raw eggs with  warm soapy water and rinse well. Blow eggs by piercing both ends of a raw egg with a large needle (this is for grown-ups to do).  Hold egg over a bowl and gently but with enough force, blow into one hole- pushing the egg yolk out the other end.  Continue until egg feels empty. Rinse with warm soapy water.  Pat dry.   Color eggs with egg dyes and let dry.  Cut out a heart shape to serve as feet and a base for your egg to sit on.   Glue the egg to the base. In the hole on top of the egg stick a feather.  Add a feather for a tail.   You can add paper wings or feather wings. I personally like using paper wings so that there are not too many feather being used. Add 2 small googly eyes and a paper beak.   They are adorable when done!

To Hang Blown Eggs-
Decorate your eggs and let dry. Break a toothpick in half and tie a string around the middle. You may want to add a touch of hot glue to secure the string to the stick. You may want to make it a loop for easier hanging.  Hold the stick and push one end into the one of the holes in your blown egg and let it drop in.  Pull on the string so the toothpick straightens out and becomes lodged inside the egg. You now have a hanger for your egg! Hanging eggs look great on an Easter Tree (a large branch painted white. Let the branch thoroughly dry out before painting!)

More blown egg fun on its way!

Chinette Plate Bunny Faces
The plates cost a bit more, but these bunny faces are so cute when done!  Use the back of the plate to create a bunny face. The plates are separated into three parts. The two smaller sections are used as the eyes, while the larger one is used as the mouth. Add large white ears and viola- you have a great Easter Bunny!

Clothespin Bunnies (magnets or pins)
You will need the old fashioned clothespins (the are one piece wooden ones), paint (white and pink), fine tip black marker, googly eyes, small pick pom-poms, pin backing and/or magnet strips. Paint the clothespins white and let dry. Laying the clothespin on the side that is flat will create a space perfect for a face. Add eyes and a pom-pom nose.  Using a fine tip black marker you can add eyelashes, whiskers, mouth...  Paint the center of the ears pink.  When dry add a pin backing or magnet strip.
 

Cotton Ball Chick
Glue a colored cotton ball into a cracked egg. Eggs can be died prior to doing this. 
Add tiny googly eyes and a paper beak to the cotton ball.

Edible Easter Paints
Kids love to eat. Kids love to paint. So why not let them do both!  Add food coloring to whipped cream or vanilla pudding to create a pastel palette of colors.  The children use these fun paints to fingerpaint and taste.  Just remember to have them wash their hands first because I can guarantee you they will taste!  Let artwork dry for an unusual look.  Fingerpaint paper works well!

Egg Heads
Crack and egg and clean it out.  Cut out some feet shape to create a base for the eggshell to sit on. Glue the eggshell to the base.  Give your egg a face.  Kids love those little tiny googly eyes. Put a little bit of soil in the egg. Add grass seed and a tiny bit of water.  Watch your egg head grow hair!  Watch out- you may have to give it a haircut!   To make it Eastery, add bunny ears or turn it into a chick by adding feathers.   Create a egg holder for your egg.

Egg Holders
Toilet paper tubes make the perfect egg holders.  Cut them down or leave them whole. Decorate them with paint, tissue paper, lace, paper... or decorate them to look like a body and set the EGG HEAD on top!  FUN!

Eggshell Mosaics
Great way to recycle eggshells. Use shells collected from your everyday cooking. They do not have to be from hard boiled eggs, although those work great too!  Just make sure you rinse your shells in hot soapy water.
You can use white shells or dye them first.  Crunch up the shells into small pieces. My kindergarten students loved doing the crunching! I put the shells in plastic ziploc bags and then placed the bags into brown paper lunch bags.  Using small rolling pins they rolled the shells into tiny pieces.  Sometimes too small, but boy did they have fun crunching! Once your shells are crunched, use them to fill in designs drawn (or from copies). Using a paintbrush, the children paint in the area they are going to fill in. For this one- lots of glue is good!  Then they sprinkle the shells on to their paper.  Shake off all excess.  For some sparkle, add some glitter.

EGGSperiment
Children of all ages love this experiment. Depending on the level of your learners this experiment could be simply a discussion and observation activity or a full blown scientific method activity complete with hypothesis, procedure, observations...
Place a hard boiled egg into a jar of vinegar and let it sit for a few days.  When removed the shell should have disintegrated and the egg itself will feel rubbery!  How cool is that!

Paper Mache Baskets-

Messy, but oh so fun!  To have the most success (and fun), model for your students how to do paper mache!
Trust me on this!  Having a parent helper is a great idea!

This picture shows an unpainted basket.
You will need balloons, newspaper, flour and water.  Paper mache paste can be purchased at craft stores if desired.  Blow up a balloon and with a permanent marker draw a line around the bottom portion of the balloon (this will the bottom of the basket). Draw a line up and over the top to create a line for the handle. These lines become the guidelines for your children to paper mache around.  Cut strip of newspaper about 1 inch wide by 2 inches.  Note- your strips do not have to be perfect! They can be longer if you wish! Also, cut long strips long enough to create a handle for your basket. Mix flour with warm water to create a paste.  I have my students hold the balloon by the tip (where you tied the knot) and then palm it like a basketball.   Dip the strips of paper into the paste and wipe off the excess paste. Place on balloon and repeat until the balloon base is covered. Overlap strips and wipe off any excess paste.  Using the long strips place 3-4 strips over the handle line.  Set on a plastic cup to dry. When the top is dry, turn over to allow bottom portion to dry.  When completely dry, pop the balloon. My kids loved this part! Some balloons really POP, while other slowly disappear! If any part of the balloon needs reinforcing, this is the time to do it.  DO NOT USE TOO MUCH paste!!! Your basket will become wet and soggy and collapse!  Paint your baskets with tempera paint. Add a drop or tow of dish soap to your paints to speed up cleaning!  Let dry.   Now, not all balloons are going to sit nice and flat! Solution- use plastic lids from take out pop glasses.  I hot-glued mine on and voila- instant base.  Fill with grass and Easter treats and ENJOY!

You can spray baskets with a clear coat finish if you desire to.
 

Rocking Rabbits
This can be done with large or small paper plates. Fold plate in half to resemble a taco.  Cut out 2 white ears and add pink centers. On the crease, glue the ears.  Add a cotton ball tail.  Add a pink pom-pom nose and 2 googly eyes.  Draw whiskers and a mouth. These make great Easter cards- just add an Easter greeting inside. They also make great table toppers and place setting cards for parties. 

Shaving Cream Easter Paints
Not only will your kids love this project, but your tables will get clean too! Add food coloring to  shaving cream and let the children finger paint.  Just be careful and remind them not to taste or put in their eyes!

Spoon Bunny Puppets- Picture coming soon!
 Take a white (or really any color) spoon. With permanent marker draw a bunny face on the back of the spoon.  Add a small pink pom-pom nose. Add felt or paper ears.  A cotton ball makes a great tail.  Add a small bow.

String Eggs
You will need a balloon, liquid starch and string similar to that used for embroidering.  Blow up a balloon into an egg shape. Attach a string the knot. This will allow you to hang your egg up to dry with out disturbing the strings.  Dip the string into the starch (remove excess starch) and wrap around the balloon. Continue until balloon is covered in a lacey or spider web like design.  Hang to dry- this may take a few days! When the balloon is completely dry, pop it!   Add decoration to your liking.

Tied Dyed Easter Egg (with paper towels!)
As a teacher, I am always looking for fun and CHEAP projects to do with my students.  This one is a hit with all ages! I have done it with my own small children - 5th grade!  You will need white paper towels, eye droppers and food coloring.  You will also need small cups (bathroom size Dixie cups work great), water and newspaper.  Mix the food coloring in the cups of water. Add more color for intense colors.
Lay a stack of newspaper under each work station.  Tear off one paper towel and lay it on the newspaper.  Using an eye dropper drop colored water onto the towel. Overlap drops and watch the magic as the colors run together. Fill in the majority of the paper towel. Transfer wet towels to a large piece of white paper. Construction paper works well.  If you leave the wet towels on the newspaper the ink will run and ruin your beautiful colors! Let dry.  The effect is a tie dyed one- very stunning!
When dry, carefully trace a large egg (or many small ones) onto the paper towel.  With sharp scissors, carefully cut the egg out.  You can use your egg to decorate Easter cards, Easter basket pictures...  Simply glue it down. I use a glue stick and gently glue just the edges. With small children I have let them use a paintbrush and a very small supply of white glue to dot glue around just the edges. 

Tissue Paper Eggs
Cut an egg shape from white poster board.  Cut out a variety of colored squares from tissue paper.  Paint a thin layer of glue over the entire egg.  Lay pieces of tissue paper of the egg- overlapping is encouraged!  When finished, paint a thin layer of liquid starch over the egg to give a smooth look. Let dry.

Torn Paper Eggs
Do you have lots of paper scraps in your scrap box?  Here is the perfect way to use them! Have children tear the paper into small pieces (great for fine motor skills).  Provide them with egg cut outs.  Have them glue the torn paper pieces inside the egg- filling the entire shape in. 

Stained Glass Easter Egg-
glue colored sheets of tissue paper to a piece of waxed paper with watered down white glue. Place another layer of glue over tissue and place another sheet of waxed paper on top. Smooth out.  Sandwich the waxed papers between egg shaped frames.  Trim excess waxed paper after the project has dried.

Chicky-
Trace child's foot for chicky's body. Add eyes, beak and feathers.  Brian wanted to glue scrunched up tissue paper onto his egg for the chicky.  The tissue paper was left over from the Stained Glass Egg.

Chicky-
Trace child's foot for chicky's body. Add eyes, beak and feathers.

Paint a paper plate yellow. Add eyes, feet  and a beak.  Trace your child's hands for the wings.  Staple another plate to the back to create a basket for Easter Egg candies!

Cover toilet paper tubes with construction paper and then decorate to look like your favorite Easter friend. Fill with candy and enjoy. We used ours as table favors at our Easter dinner. Their were a huge success!
 

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Games

     ~Have the children sit in a circle. Each child gets an egg.  Play some Easter music. As the music plays, the children pass their eggs to the person next to them.  An easy way to manage this is for the children to place the egg on the floor in front of the person they are passing to. When the music stops, the teacher calls a name and that person acts out their egg. I have a large craft stick with each child's name on it. I use these to pick the kids so that everyone gets a turn!

    ~A friend numbered her eggs and hid them around the classroom. The kids each found an egg and then they acted out their role in numerical order. 

Guess the Amounts- fill a jar with jelly beans or Easter M&Ms. Children take guess at how many are in the container.  When it is time to count, invite the kids to help. Have them count them out in sets and then count the total number.  The winner is the person who guesses the closest.

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Snacks

Cookie Chick
You will need: Nutter Butter cookies- you know the peanut shaped cookies, yellow tinted frosting, candy corn and mini chocolate chips.
Steps: Frost the cookie with the yellow frosting.
Place a candy corn for the chick's beak and 2 small chocolate chips for the eyes.
 

Easter Chick Nests 
You will need: round cookies (such as sugar cookies), coconut dyed green, jelly beans, a can of white frosting, Chick Peeps. 
Steps: Spread the icing on the cookie.  Sprinkle coconut on top of the frosting. Place your Peep on top. Place a few  jelly beans around your chick.

Rice Krispies Nests
You will need: Rice Krispy cereal, butter and marshmallows, green food coloring, small chick shaped candies (chocolate, Peeps, Easter Sweet Tarts... ) or Jelly Beans, Pam cooking spray, muffin tin
Steps: Make Rice Krispy treats as directed on cereal box. Add green food coloring.  Mix well.  Spray muffin tin with cooking spray.  Place a scoop of cereal mixture in each muffin compartment. Push the center down so the cereal mixture resembles a nest. Place chick shapes or jelly beans in the nest.  Let harden a bit before removing.

Recipes from Homespun and Country Kitchen

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Online Activities

Mix and Match Bunny Game at Billy Bear

Technology Integration Idea

I have created "Bunny Codes" for young learners to follow- great letter recognition and following direction activity. I simply list 3 letters that they are to click on and then answer questions about the Bunny they just created. The kids love it! I challenge them to come up with their own codes too.

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