Fun Family Easter Traditions to Try This Year
Sometimes, it can feel like we get into a holiday rut. We stick to the same old traditions we followed as kids, and while there’s a certain magic to that, you might be missing out on some fun new traditions that your family could take up.
In this post, we tried to come up with some new traditions that your family might not be doing yet. Pick a few and give them a try!
Donate an Easter Basket (or Your Time)
When the kids are little, a big part of the Easter fun is searching for the Easter baskets (and then eating all of the candy inside). Once the kids know the truth about the bunny, though, it gets a little less fun.
Instead, turn the tradition into a way to create some happiness for others. Have your kids make up some great Easter baskets, then donate them to a church, food pantry, or shelter. Alternatively, look for ways to donate your time to make the world a better place. Volunteer to serve meals at a shelter or get together with friends to clean up the park.
Try New Egg-Dying Methods
Dying eggs is a time-honoured tradition, but we tend to stick with the easy methods: buying the cheap coloured tablets and dipping eggs in the solution. If you look around, though, there are some new methods that are really cool. For instance, some people are dying eggs by colouring shaving cream or whipped cream and rolling the eggs in the mess. Kids love getting their hands all messy. Another new method is putting the dye into uncooked rice in a bag. You place the egg into the bag and shake it around. It creates a speckled effect. Finally, people are also looking at more natural ways to dye eggs, such as using beets to dye the eggs purple and red cabbage to dye them blue.
“Egg” the Neighbours
Looking to have fun with the neighbourhood? Start a tradition of egging. No, we’re not talking about throwing eggs at your neighbour’s house. We’re talking about bringing a few plastic eggs filled with treats and hiding them in your neighbour’s yard. Use a free printable to let them know what you’ve done. Hopefully, they’ll pass the favour on to someone else, and the idea will spread through the community.
Play the Egg Cracking Game
The egg cracking game is an old tradition that’s not so common anymore, but it’s something that could be fun to play with slightly older children. You have all those dyed Easter eggs that you probably won’t get around to eating, so this is just another way to use the eggs.
To play, two people take a hard-boiled egg and they knock them together. The goal is to try to get the other person’s egg to crack without cracking your own. If both eggs do crack, the person whose egg is less cracked is the winner.
Easter Chick Cupcakes
If you're looking for a delicious treat, try some Easter Chick Cupcakes. You can use whatever cupcake recipe you like (try this vanilla cupcake recipe from thestayathomechef.com - so fluffy!) and if you want to make it super easy, you can use a box mix instead. The frosting is the important part; you want a good, solid frosting!
We love a good buttercream like this one from allrecipes.com. Once you have that ready, you can decide what kind of design you'd like to do. You can keep it simple and frost your cupcakes, then cover with yellow glitter sprinkles and some candy eyes. Or you can get some candy eyes, star sprinkles and carrots to try a more 3D-design!
This video will show you how you can pipe an adorable chick:
'Magic' Jelly Beans
This is such a fun one for younger kids! And one of the most simple ideas on this list. Get some jelly beans (not fancy ones, trust us) and let your kids pick a few because they're going to plant them! Now, if the ground is still too cold or hard where you are, you can use pots. And by plant, we mean really plant them. Cover them with dirt, add water, the whole nine yards.
Make sure you mark which one belongs to which child. At this point, you can choose if you want to go back later in the day, or wait until the next day. The key is that you need to replace the jellybean with a treat - a giant lollipop is a great one!
Easter is a fun time of year, symbolizing a time of rebirth. Bring new life into your family’s traditions with some fresh ideas. Your family will be glad for the change.
