This will be an Easter to we won't forget for sure. Although our lives are turned upside down right now and there will be no gathering at church with our community, no Easter Brunch with mimosas and bloody marys at a restaurant, no getting dressed up for an Easter buffet with the whole family, no community egg hunt, and no visiting the Easter Bunny at the mall, we really have all we need to have a beautiful and memorable Easter at home. In fact, social distancing is a great motivator to creating the best Easter yet! Instead of focusing on what we cannot do this year, here are 10 activities you CAN do that will leave your family smiling all day – most are free using stuff you already have at home without going to the store:
#1 The Ultimate Immune Boosting Easter Basket
Don’t worry, the Easter Bunny is safe from the virus and this means he can still visit everyone’s houses and leave a basket of “treats.”
I went overboard for my son’s first Easter Basket – he was three at the time. So this year we are keeping it simple and swapping candy for healthy alternatives:
- Healthy Treats -- Sugar and especially all the fake ingredients like Yellow 5 and high fructose corn syrup wreak havoc on kids’ immune systems. So skip the usual goodies and go for treats not sweets. We do include one treat like a couple Kindersurprise eggs but everything else is healthier like organic fruit gummy snacks, and organic snacks like these delicious new cauliflower crackers (they look like Cheezits but are healthy).
For younger kids grab your Little Monkey Company bib and stick some snacks inside for a cute presentation. Our bib has multi-point stain protection so clothes stay clean and don’t get ruined.
Two years ago during Easter Brunch my son had his adorable white button up shirt on and a bow tie. He saw the orange in our mimosa and the server brought him a plate of orange slices – his entire shirt had orange on it soon after! We had to take photos like this. With the Little Monkey Company bib clothes stay clean.
- Immune-Boosters -- I usually always put gummy vitamins inside my son’s Easter Basket -- this year especially. Since we just bought our Olly Kids Multi-Vitamin with Probiotics, I picked up vitamin D gummies. Extra Vitamin D keeps the immune system strong. You can get the drops too and put in your kid’s water cup. They don’t even taste it. We usually also do Elderberry drops as a preventative during flu season – November through March – but there’s some questions around COVID19 and Elderberry so we stopped taking this in March.
- A Stuffed Animal -- We rarely buy stuffed animals as gifts but on Easter we always put one in the basket. This year however, my mom is organizing her basement due to social distancing and found her collection of beanie babies (all brand new) – so she sent three bunnies to put in this year’s basket. Saves me a trip to the store which is like gold during the pandemic crisis.
- Puzzle or Activity -- Now that the kids are home with us, a great Easter gift is one that will keep them entertained while they learn. We put coloring stencils inside, sidewalk chalk (I can’t wait to try that stained glass chalk activity I keep seeing other moms do!), and this really cool wooden truck where all the pieces pop out and my son builds the car. Check out this: sidewalk stained glass chalk DIY steps.
- And if you cannot get to the store right now to get some activities – check out these fun and free printables we found (print and add to your kid's basket):
Easter Puppet
Easter Wreath
Another fun activity is painting nails and toes! (See more on our Pamper Party idea below.) You can paint different colors like colored Easter eggs. Make sure to choose a non-toxic polish.
Piggy Paint is our go-to safe nail polish for kids option – safe enough for babies even!
Mom Melanie Hurley was painting her daughters’ nails one day over a Styrofoam plate to catch any drips. She noticed the nail polish melted a hole right through the plate!
She thought to herself, “Gosh, if it eats through a plate within minutes, then what is it doing to my daughter?!” (You know how kids always put fingers in their mouths!)
This “ah-ha” moment inspired her to seek an eco-friendly alternative and when she could not find one, Piggy Paint was born!
- Non-toxic
- Virtually Odorless
- Water-based formula
- Hypoallergenic
- Fun, vibrant colors
- Dries to a hard, durable finish
- Cruelty-free
- Does not peel
- Kid-friendly
- Safe for use during Pregnancy!
- Made in USA
They have single bottles for $7.99 or adorable gift sets starting at $13.99 to choose from.
Their polish remover is also non-toxic.
- Outside fun. Getting outside during social distancing has been a boredom buster for sure. Vitamin D from the sun boosts the immune system and being out in nature boosts our happiness. So put in some activities that can be enjoyed outdoors on Easter. We got these cool bubble mitts and we also put in two little squirt guns with washable kids paint to do squirt gun painting on a big piece of paper. More on this below!
- Add some bling – but choose your jewelry carefully!
Our go-to jewelry shop for little girls is Chanteur Designs. Did you know that most mall jewelry has toxins and lead in it? We don’t let our kids play with lead paint, so ditch the lead jewelry too!
Chanteur has the most beautiful, non-toxic jewelry for kids:
*100{3eef1f002d1e0193b4b964844dbc64e3636761dc336ac7205011e67901c7a764} lead, nickel, and cadmium free
*Swarovski Elements crystals
*Tons of trendy designs for your little diva - unicorn, mermaid, turtle, and much more with classics like hearts and pearls.
*Necklaces, earrings, bangles, bracelets, purses, hairclips and more
$19.95 - earrings
$24.95 for necklaces
We love their bunny and baby chick sets for Easter.
- Don’t forget your baby! Little babies won’t remember Easter so no need to go all out but we love these angel calling rattles from Ilado-store.com.
- Another fab gift for kids instead of sugary candy is the baby/toddler yoga mat by Woombie. Since our kids are home with us and we still need to get a workout in, this is a great way for kids to follow along. It’s a great changing mat too.
#2 Egg Hunt
What’s Easter without adorable kids running around so excited finding eggs?
Last year it was raining and my son had his little rain jacket on and rain boots going all over the yard finding eggs.
Be careful though if it’s raining or it just rained. Ticks come out in this weather! My son had one embedded in his head last Easter (found after his nap – the thought of it there during his nap makes me cringe). Now we don’t have any issues with ticks since buying this organic tick repellent called Yaya Tick Repellant. We don’t go outside without spraying all around our feet and ankles and our neck and body. Smells good too!
Last year I filled all the eggs with candy. It was WAY too much for a three year old. We don’t eat candy in our home so not sure why I did that (I guess I was just remembering how my mom did it as a kid and wanted him to have the full experience without me restricting him).
This year the Easter bunny will hide eggs outside and most of the eggs will be empty – some will have gummy snacks, some will have raisins inside, and some will have little tickets that have clues on them. All the tickets numbered 1-10 will lead my son back inside to do a Scavenger Hunt for eggs inside.
Older kids love money so adding little tickets marked with money amounts is better than adding the dirty money inside (just to be safe during social distancing).
#3 Decorate Eggs
Decorating eggs a day before Easter is when we do it. There are coloring kids from the store or you can even do DIY colored eggs from ingredients you may have at home.
In Russia they use onion skins to color their eggs – they turn out to be a deep orangey brown.
How to dye Easter eggs without a coloring kit.
#4 Egg & Spoon Race
What’s more fitting than and egg and spoon race on Easter?! This is really fun. Take some of the colored eggs or boil some eggs and have two people see how fast they can go without dropping their egg. If it drops, they start over. You can do it with raw eggs too – more challenging, but more messy.
#5 Squirt Gun Painting
This keeps kids entertained and having fun, plus you end up with a cool art piece. This is an outside activity. All you need is a squirt gun, some washable kids paint, and a big piece of poster paper.
Hang the paper – on an easel is best but we don’t have one so we will hang it on the fence or deck – maybe a shrub. (the paint washes off)
Check out squirt-gun painting for kids here.
#6 Musical Spots
So this game is half made up by me based off another idea I saw. So how it works is number something 1 – 20 and put all over the yard – not in order. I am going to use the back of a paper plate to put the numbers on or old card board from boxes. Secure with a rock if windy.
Then get two Easter Baskets or buckets (or hats) and number two sets of tickets 1 through 20. So in one basket there will be pieces of paper 1 – 20 and in the other one pieces of paper 1 – 20.
You also need some type of music on your phone or we plan to use our water resistant, portable JBL speaker (connects to our phone through Bluetooth and we play music with it).
Lastly get some gift bags or any bag for each player and we will have a bunch of small gift and goodies. Like Kindersurprise egg, gummy snacks, these little egg hactchable toys, and some other little gifts.
Set one of the baskets aside with the numbers 1 – 20 inside. Using the other basket with numbers inside all players pick a number without looking.
No one looks at their number until the music starts. When the music starts everyone must run in a big circle going the same way around or could be a square too.
When the music stops, you have to be the first one to your numbered spot. If you are first, you get a prize to put in your bag.
Then there is a cash bonus prize – again instead of real cash we are using tickets and then people can cash out as real cash. So you take the second basket of numbers sitting off to the side and you pick three numbers until you pick someone’s number that they are standing on. So say there are two people playing and they are on numbers 5 and 17. Say the first number chosen for the bonus cash prize is 2. Non one has that number so a second number is chosen. Say it’s 10. No one has that number so the final third ticket is chosen and say that it’s 5. #5 gets the cash bonus prize. Say no one’s number is chosen. Then everyone gets $1 or $2. If numbers 5 and 17 were chosen they split the cash bonus for that round between them.
For the cash amounts you can do it however you want but we are doing it this way:
Round 1 - $5
Round 2 - $10
Round 3 - $20
Round 4 - $50
You can keep the rounds going until all the bonus cash rounds have been given away. To make it go quicker you can pull 5 numbers instead of three with only 2 or 3 players.
This game is not only active, it’s really fun!
#7 Have a Pamper Party
Have a daughter? Do a spa day at home.
I was recently thinking how grateful I am to be low maintenance. My sister laughed at me when I said I haven’t had my hair cut in a year! She doesn’t have kids and gets her hair done often – it’s always so beautiful. For me, it’s just a time thing. As a business owner and a mom getting my hair done falls last on the list. When this social distancing is over I will treat myself to highlights and a trim.
Until then, the messy bun or a hat will be my go-to look.
Paint your nails together (we love Piggy Paint - non-toxic nail polish for kids)
Another fun activity is to make these homemade DIY natural face masks for kids – safe for kids!
Here are some other ideas for a mommy daughter spa day at home.
#8 Obstacle Course
My son watches this video on YouTube from Ryan’s Toy Reviews where the mom counts down and they all have to get up off the floor so lava does not get them.
So this is a spin on this. Create an obstacle course in the backyard where kids must step only on the course and not touch the ground. For older kids can make it more challenging and for younger kids can be just things to step on, balance, on and jump to reach.
You can even make an obstacle course using chalk and draw different shapes and write inside what you have to do like hop on one foot, spin around three times, or go back to the beginning.
#9 Paint Kindness Rocks
Target sells this really cool rock painting kit but you can just make your own with paint and rocks you find outside. When we go to the beach or hiking we always grab some good painting rocks to bring home.
- Painting outside is best – a great way to soak in some vitamin D from the sun and be in the fresh air, plus easier to clean up.
- I use washable kids paint and spread newspapers or old cardboard on the table then paint away!
- Paint the rock one solid color or different colors on each side and set aside to dry for a bit.
- Then add some accents like polka dots, zigzags, smiley faces, words like “You Rock!” “SMILE” “Kindness” “Happy” “Joy” “Healthy” “Lucky Charm” “Gratitude” “You are Loved” etc.
- Set aside to dry.
- Then you can leave them at neighbors' doors, leave them along hiking trails, benches at the beach, etc. for other people to find.
#10 Hiking
We have been exploring these amazing hiking trails near our home – wide enough trails to keep a safe distance from people and actually we don’t pass many people at all while hiking.
Our four year old loves hiking and he keeps up well even on the hills. Nature boosts our happiness and creates a surge of positive energy.
- Bring water
- Spray yourself with Yaya Tick Repellent
- Where light colored clothing (repels ticks)
- Where good sneakers or hiking boots
- Bring a backpack – easy to carry.
- At the beginning of the trail there is usually a map – take a photo so you can reference it.
- When done do a tick check before getting back in the car. Hair, neck, ankles, etc.
- Bring along a nature scavenger hunt – here’s an easy one. Just write these down on a piece of paper with a checkbox and check them off as you find them.
Find something blue.
Find something green.
Find something wet.
Find something small.
Find something red.
Find something hard.
Find something soft.
Find something short.
Find something tall.
Find something white.
Find something beautiful.
Find something cool.
Find something noisy.
Find something grey.
Find something brown.
Find something flying.
Find something growing.
Find something round.
Find something flat.
Find something big.
Find something that smells.
So even though Easter will be much different this year, we can make it super fun at home. Don't forget to video chat with loved ones!
