It's April already and it's Easter! 2020 feels like it is on pause whilst the world is forced to stay home due to the virus that we will not name (sorry but every time we see those terms we get a little anxious). BUT the world is still turning and the little ones in our lives don’t know any better and still need nurturing & entertained. Kids are kids no matter where you are in the world and they have so much energy (we wish we could bottle it for ourselves) to burn and the last few weeks for parents, grandparents and carers has likely been harder than most with everyone cooped up at home. Easter presents us with an opportunity to change up ways to tire them out physically and mentally. With that in mind we want to share a few activities that we do with our family each Easter.
EGG PAINTING / DECORATING
This is a tradition as old as the bible - some historians actually believe that it predates Christianity. The debate aside, painting eggs is a great activity to do as a family. This activity is great because it gets us all (young & old) around the table as a group to focus on the task at hand. It's fun but also allows parents and grandparents to engage and help children which is amazing for all generations. For grandparents it engages their cognitive processes and therefore their cognitive scores get better, which helps with longevity. On the flip side, children who spend quality time with parents and grandparents in particular, increase their resilience because they are able to identify themselves through intergeneration. Children spending time with older adults are also less likely to suffer depression. All the generations around the table generally result in a lot of laughs too and hopefully memories that last a lifetime. We feel this last point is the biggest “win".
Painting eggs can be done numerous ways depending on what culture or even family you have been brought up in. Most families opt for hard boiling the eggs. The benefit of doing this is you get to snack on them on Easter Sunday :-) When using this method we prefer to use natural food dyes to paint the eggs otherwise you run the risk of contaminating the egg which could cause some health issues if you (or your little ones) decide to eat the eggs!
You can purchase natural food dyes from the supermarket but the last few years we've been combining our method with a Martha Steward recipe (see below) to make our own food dyes using foods and spices such as red cabbage and turmeric. The set up can take a little bit longer but the results are worth it!