Playful Spring with Eggs

We are all about having fun together and if we can do that by reusing and repurposing items in our household, even better! With Spring Break and Easter upon us, it can be a great time to spend some time together and have fun with those old household items. One of those seasonal items that comes to mind this time of year are those little refillable plastic eggs; they can be used not only for those early morning Easter egg hunts (if you celebrate that), but also throughout the spring as items to find in scavenger hunts! They are the perfect size to hide inside and outside of your house for your kiddos to find.

Here are some fun ways to reuse those wonderful fillable plastic eggs on Easter and the following weeks this spring.

1. Love Notes. Caregivers can write up things they love about their child and stash their little notes inside of the eggs for their child to find throughout the house and yard. Are you a caregiver with multiple children and still want to keep it personalized? Assign each child to a certain coloured egg and get them to pick only their coloured egg (“Sarah, look for all the purple eggs and Steve, see if you can find the green eggs”). Some of examples of short love notes are: “I am so proud of how hard you worked on your science project”, “I love when you help me grocery shop” “I love our time reading together” “You smile brightens my day” “I love how creative you when building Lego structures” “ I love how you never give up on riding your bike; your perseverance is amazing!”

2. Pretend Prompts. Within each egg, caregivers can write out a variety of movements or scenes for children to act out on their way to finding another egg. Need inspiration, try prompts like: “Hop like a bunny” “Jump like a frog” “Moo like a cow” “Flap your butterfly wings” “Stomp around like an elephant” “Drive around like you are in Nascar” “Sneak around quietly” “Talk like a royal princess or prince”

3. Activity ideas. Boredom no more with creating eggs filled with activity ideas for children to do by themselves or even better, with you! The ideas in the eggs can be used that day or saved to be pulled out when boredom strikes (which we all know will come up at some point during spring break). Caregivers can suggest ideas such as: building a puzzle together, playing a boardgame, going out to the park, dance party, baking a new recipe or their favourite one, doing a craft together, going to the library, going swimming, and/or even playing a video game together.

4. Loose and Natural Parts. Look around the house and yard to fill the eggs with different materials to create a final creative masterpiece. Eggs can be filled with buttons, string, rocks, marbles, jewels, stickers, pipe cleaners, straws, pine cones, and/or small sticks; once all the eggs/materials have been found, encourage your children to use their imagination to create an art piece.

5. Book and Movie Quotes. We all have those movies and books we have watched and read a million times that we could quote them with our eyes closed – so why not fill eggs with those little quotes and sayings and get your child to guess what movie or book they came from. Feel free to stick to one movie or book or mix it up by putting in a few different once. Bonus activity- watch or read the book together afterwards.

6. Word Scrambler. Have a child who loves spelling things in the house? Write out a specific word and hide each letter of the word in a different egg; encourage your child to find each egg and unscramble the letters to see what word was left for them.

7. Candy and Chocolate. Last, but not least, filling those little eggs with some sort of tasty candy is always a safe bet that brings upon smiles on everyone’s faces.

These are just a few ways to have fun this spring with those plastic reusable eggs; remember, don’t put too much pressure on yourself to make things perfect, just being present and having fun with your kiddos is all you need!

Sources and references

https://psycatgames.com/magazine/party-games/easter-egg-hunt-ideas/ https://www.roseandrex.com/blogs/blog/playful-alternatives-to-the-traditional-egg-hunt https://www.pexels.com/photo/easter-eggs-in-bucket-and-basket-on-rug-7168822/