Easter Games and fun things to do

Cooking Eggs
Let your child help you prepare scrambled eggs, or make an egg sandwich. For scrambled eggs, your child can mix the eggs and milk together, and you should cook them. But if you have a microwave, the egg sandwich works better. To make an egg sandwich, take one egg, put it in a clean dish, a clean cream cheese container works well, because it is round. Have your child scramble the egg and place a piece of cheese on top. Place the container in the microwave, and place a lid on top, or paper towel, but make sure that the cover is NOT air tight. Cook for about 40 seconds, check to see if it is cooked all the way through, cook a little more if needed. Then toast an english muffin, or bread, and butter. Put the egg and cheese on the bread or muffin and serve. My son loves to push the buttons on the microwave, and set the toaster, but these things
should only be done under close adult supervision.

Vinegar and Eggs
Well we probably all have seen this at one time or another. Place a hard boiled egg in a cup of vinegar, and see what happens. It bubbles. After one day, take out the egg, wipe it off with a paper towel and feel the egg. Ask your child questions about what you see and feel.

Carnations
Obtain a white carnation. Fill a clear vase or jar half with water. Ask your child which color he/she would like to make the carnation, and add food coloring in the vase to that color (Make the color dark). Color mixing is a good science lesson. Then put the carnation in the water. What happens after a few days?

Duck Pond
There is a commercial game out on the market that teaches children about colors using the classic duck pond game. Try out this game.

Duck Pond 2
Obtain ten plastic ducks that will float in water. Depending on the skill you would like to work on laminate five numbers, colors or letters to the bottom of ten ducks, so there are two matching ducks. Place the ducks in the water table or a dishpan with water. Have the children pick a duck and ask them what color, letter or number they got.

Duck Pond Concentration Game
Use the ducks from the above activity. Place the ducks in the water table or a dishpan with water. Have the children pick a duck. The child will keep the first duck and try to find it's match. Played like concentration.

Easter Egg Match-Up
Collect different colored plastic eggs. Take the eggs apart and have your child find two egg halves of the same color and put them together.

Easter Egg Sort
Have the children sort the eggs by size or color.

Basket Game
Supply the children with 5 baskets and easter eggs. Place a piece of paper with a number on it in each basket and instruct the children to place that many eggs in the basket. If the basket says "5" place five eggs in the basket.

Lacing Cards
Cut colored posterboard into a easter shape (egg, bunny, duck) and punch holes around the edges. Them let your child lace yarn or a shoestring into the cards.

Stamping Patterns
Use Easter Theme rubber stamps to create a simple patterm on the top half of a piece of paper. Ask your child to help you recreate the patterm on the bottom half of the paper. Tip: Start with one stamp, and have your child pick which stamp you used. Start slowly and work your way up to more complicated patterns.

Easter Egg Balance
Supply the children with plastic eggs and a balance to play with.

Chick Sequence Cards
Make simple sequence cards for your child. Draw the different stages of a chick hatching from an egg. Draw an egg in its' nest, an egg cracking, a chick partly out of the egg, and a chick that is completely hatched.

Easter Match Up
There are many ways to set this up depending on the skill level or the particular skill you wish to work on. Try these different set ups:

Cut out egg shapes (or ducks, bunnies) from different colors of paper. Give each child one egg. Ask the children to find one person with the same color egg.

Cut out egg shapes from different colors of paper. Cut the egg in half using a puzzle type cut, like zig zag or interlocking pieces. Give each child one half of a egg, and ask them to find the person with the other half. Or, give the children two pieces and have the children make a circle, with one child that has one match on one side and the other match on the other side. You may end up with 2 or more circles depending on how the egg pieces are distributed.

Cut Easter shapes (eggs, ducks or bunnies) from one color of paper. Label one set of shapes with numbers, i.e. if you have 20 children, label the shapes with the numbers one to ten. The other half, draw one dot on one, two on another, and so on until ten. Give each child one shape and have them find the child with their match.

Cut the shapes from one color of paper. Place matching stickers on two shapes. Give each child one shape and have them find the child with their match.

Cut the egg shapes from one color of paper. Cut the egg in half using a puzzle type cut, like zig zag or interlocking pieces. Place matching stickers on each half of a egg. Give each child one egg half and have them find the child with their match.

Place matching Easter stickers on separate index cards. Give each child a card and ask them to find the child with their match.

Try all the above, but in a file folder format. Glue one part of the egg to the file folder and laminate it's match.

Easter Fishing Game
Tie 3 feet of string to a wooden spoon. Attach a magnet to the end of the string. Cut and laminate many different colored, and Easter Shapes (eggs ducks and bunnies) from construction paper (not too big though). Attach a paper clip to each shape. Spread the shapes on the floor and let your child try to catch the shapes. Have them try to catch the red shpae, or the biggest shape. For a twist, label the shpaes with letters or numbers. Ask the children to catch a specific shpae, or ask them which shape they caught.

Easter Shaped Games
The following games require you to cut out many different Easter shapes from construction paper. You may choose to laminate these shapes so they last longer.

Easter Shape Sizing
Cut out many different sized Easter shapes. Ask the children to line up the Easter shapes from largest to smallest.

Easter Shape Numbers
Cut out ten Easter shapes. Number them one to ten. Ask the children to line up the Easter shapes from one to ten.

Easter Shapes Colors
Ask the children to sort the Easter shapes by color.

Easter Shapes Sort
Ask the children to sort the Easter shapes by size.

Easter Shapes
Cut out many different Easter Shapes. Ducks, bunnies and eggs. Ask the children to sort the shapes into three piles, ducks, bunnies and eggs.

What is in the Egg?
Place different objects inside plastic eggs. Have the children shake the egss and try to guess what is inside. Open up the eggs:)

Mystery Egg
Send a large plastic easter egg home with a child. Send a letter with the egg similiar to this:
Dear parents:
This month we are going to be playing a game called "Mystery Egg" every day. I am sending the egg home with your child. Please help your child find something to place inside the egg and return it tommorrow with three clues written on a piece of paper. The children will try to guess what it is and the first person to guess correctly will take home the egg.

Group Time Games

Egg Hop
Cut out large egg shapes from colored paper. Laminate them and cut them out. Place them on the floor and ask the children to hop from one egg to another. These may also be used at seat markers for group time.

Bunny Hop Parade
Have the children make bunny headbands. See art activites! Have each child wear their bunny ears and hop around the center in a Bunny Hop Parade.

Footprint Fun
Cut out large bunny or duck foot prints shapes from colored paper. Laminate them and cut them out. Place them on the floor for the children to follow.

Where is your Egg?
Played like "Doggie Doggie where's your bone?" Have one child sit in the middle of the circle, and hide their eyes. Give another child an egg to hide behind their back. Have all the other children put their hands behind their back. Chant the following song:
Bunny, Bunny,
Your egg you can't find
Somebody has it,
check behind,
The child in the middle gets three guesses. Then the child
who had the egg goes into the middle.

What time is it Easter Bunny?
This is a fun game to play outside. You can change the name to suit any theme. The children all line up against a wall or fence. And one child, (Easter Bunny) or the teacher faces away from the children, a good distance away from the children. The children yell, what time is it "Easter Bunny", Easter Bunny answers 1 o'clock, and the children all take one step toward Easter Bunny. The children yell again, what time is it "Easter Bunny", Easter Bunny answers (fill in the blank) o'clock, and the children all take same number of step toward Easter Bunny. This continues until all the children are very close to Easter Bunny then Easter Bunny will answer it's midnight, and Easter Bunny chases the children back to the fence or wall that they started at. The first person Easter Bunny touches will be the new Easter Bunny.

Egg Toss
Supply the children with plastic eggs and a easter basket. Place a piece of masking tape on the floor for a throw line. the distance from the basket to the line should vary with abilities. Have the children throw the eggs into the basket.

Bunny Bowling
Obtain 10 half gallon milk cartons, or 2 liter bottles. Fill the bottles about 1/8 full with water and seal the lid. Then, decorate the bottles like bunnies, adding construction paper ears, and use permanent markers for the eyes and nose. Set the bottles up like they were bowling pins and have the children roll a ball to try to knock them over. If they don't knock over easily remove some of the water.

Bunny Hop Race
Have the children race by hopping like bunnies.

Duck Waddle Race
Have the children grasp their ankles and have a duck waddle race.

Jelly Bean Jar
For older children. Fill a small jar with jelly beans. Ask each child to guess how many jelly beans are in the jar. For younger children, limit the number of beans to less than ten. Record each child's guess. Count the jelly beans.

Jelly Bean Jar for Schoolagers
Provide three identical jars with pre-counted jelly beans of 20, 30, and 40. Label these jars 20, 30 and 40. Place 20 to 40 jelly beans in a fourth identical jar. Allow the children to examine all four jars before they guess. Record the children's approximations. Count the jelly beans.

Bunny May I?
Played just like Mother May I? The child and parent stand at opposite sides of a room. The child asks if he/she may: take so may step forward. i.e. "Mother may I Please take 3 baby steps forward?" the answer would be either, "Yes you may", or "No you may not." The child wins when they reach you. Encourage the use of descriptive words, such as little, big, huge, tiny, and giant. You can also play this with a group of children. The winner would be the one who reaches you first.

Duck, Duck, Bunny!!!
Played like "Duck, Duck, Goose" except the children will hop around the circle, and say "Bunny" instead of "Goose".

Egg Hunt
Ummm Yeah!!! Hide plastic eggs, and uhhh, have your child hunt for them. Yeah, that's how you do it. Lol. Add a twist, put coins in the eggs (for children over 3).

Roll the Egg
Lol, I'm Laughing already!!!! This one is sooooo fun. If you have more than one child it can be a race, or for one child you can time them. Here goes... place masking tape on the floor for the start and finish lines. Place one plastic egg on the starting line for each child. Explain that the object of the game is to roll the egg to the finish line with YOUR NOSE. If they get too good, add a few obstacles, such as a chair to go around, or tape a line for them to try to follow, be creative.

Bunny Hop
Play the song "Bunny Hop". Have the child dance around until the Bump, Bump, Bump. Explain that that is the the time to Hop. Dance and Hop with your child.

Egg Hunt Party
Use one or all of the art ideas to create invitations to an Egg Hunt party. A few ideas that I have seen have been:
-Place coins in the eggs.
-Place paper in the eggs that tells you what they have "won", like a toosie roll, or a sticker.
-Let the children turn in the eggs for the prizes, 1 egg, 1 prize!
-Let the children keep the eggs, and hand out goodie bags too.

Bunny Says:
Played just like "Simon Say" except the teacher says "Bunny Says". With younger children, do not make children sit out... just say "Bunny didn't say".

Bunny Hop Musical Chairs
If they children made bunny headbands, have them wear them during this activity. Arrange the chairs in a circle. If you have younger children it is best to have too many chairs. This can be a game where everyone wins. Have the children hop around the chairs until the music stops. Then everyone finds a chair.

Easter Egg Bean Bag Toss
Cut out three egg shapes from a piece of cardboard. Paint around the shapes with three different colors. When dry, prop up the cardboard and have the children play bean bag toss, trying to get the bean bags in the egg holes.

Musical Easter Eggs
Cut out large egg shapes from colored paper. Laminate them and cut them out. Place them on the floor. It is best for younger children to have more eggs than children. Play music and have the children walk around the room. When the music stops each child needs to find an egg to stand on.

Pass the Egg
Played like hot potato... have the children sit in a circle and pass plastic egg around the circle when mucis is playing, when the music stops the child holding the egg sits in the middle or the "Easter Egg pot" until the music stops again and the next child replaces the first. You may also chant "Easter Egg, Easter Egg 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10" and the child who has the egg on 10 is in the "Easter Egg pot."

Pass the Egg II
For older children. Have one child hold a plastic egg under his/her chin and try to pass the egg to a friend. You could do this in a circle or you can do a relay race where the children have to run with the egg under their chin.

Sand and Water Table Ideas:
- Add plastic ducks or eggs with water to the sand and water table.
- For older children (over 3) place broken dried eggshells in the sand and water table.
- Burry plastic eggs in sand for the children to find. Place stickers inside the eggs.
- Provide the children with plastic bunnies and ducks in the sand for dramatic play.
- Supply the children with different colors of plastic Easter grass for a tactile experience.
- Hide plastic eggs in plastic grass for the children to find.

Egg Shaped Snacks
For a snack use any of the following for an egg shape:
Sliced Bananas
Sliced Oranges
Sliced Cucumbers
Sliced Egg
Round Crackers

Bunny Day
Invite each child to bring in a stuffed bunny rabbit.

What Color Bunny?
Ask each child "What color bunny did you bring in?" Graph the results. Who has the biggest bunny? Who has the smallest? Which one is the most unique?

Bunny Picnic 
Have a picnic on the floor or outside with each child's favorite stuffed bunny. You can either pretend to eat, or have snack or lunch picnic style. 

Bunny Wagon   
Obtain a box that the stuffed bunny will fit into. Have the child decorate as desired. When dry, poke a hole big enough to thread a piece of yarn through. Tie a piece of yarn, just long enough for the child to hold, while the box rests on the floor. Let the child pull the wagon around with their stuffed bunny inside.  

Bunny Parade 
Have a group of children line up, or walk around in a group, with their bunnies in their wagons, and have a parade. Play marching music. 

Easter Shape Jello
Make jello, use less water so the children can hold the jello better. Use a cookie cutter to cut out Easter Shapes. 

Dramatic Play

Dress up Farmer 
Supply overalls, straw hats, scarves, and boots to pretend to be a farmer. 

Block Area:
Supply the children with ducks and bunnies in the block area.

Pretend to be the Easter Bunny
Supply the children with Easter Baskets, grass, and plastic eggs in the dramatic play area. Suggest one child pretends to be the Easter Bunny, and delivers the basket.