Parents divide into two camps over Easter – those who love it and those who dread having to find activities for the kids. If you’re in the latter camp, don’t worry, we’ve got you – and your nanny!
Historical Easter activities
Forget the day when the National Trust was a place where you had to take a reverential tour through a stately home. In 2023 there will be over 190 Easter trails to explore right across the country, so there’s bound to be something for everyone – each trail is different but they all offer beautiful scenery, a change to discover the past and of course – an Easter Egg!
Royal Easter fun
Fancy a royal connection for Easter – there’s always the famous Lindt Gold Bunny Hunt at Hampton Court Palace. Travelling through 60 acres of gorgeous formal garden, you have to find the gold bunny statues, identify the name of the palace character attached to each statue and at the end you receive a Lindt Gold Bunny (there’s a non-chocolate reward available on request too).
Easter outdoors
- There are so many fun activities with an Easter theme – using eggshells as part of your spring planting is just one. You simply make a hole in the bottom of an eggshell and fill it with some compost before adding some seeds. Spray the compost to keep it moist (watering will swamp the soil) and once the seedlings emerge you can move them to a larger pot.
- A great Easter activity is to support local bird life too – you can do this by making a bird cake using RSPCA approved ingredients such as bird seed, raisins, peanuts, grated cheese and suet (vegetarian suet works just as well as the traditional kind). Start my making a small hole in the bottom of an old yogurt pot, feed string through this hole and knot it on the inside, leaving a length you can tie to a tree or high fence. Pour all the ingredients into a bowl and mix with fingertips until it all sticks together (body heat will cause the suet to melt). Fill the yogurt pot and put in the fridge to set for an hour. Hang and watch the birds arrive!
Easter indoors
Spring weather is changeable so no matter what you’ve planned, having an indoor plan helps you and your nanny keep the kids happy whatever the weather.
- Thumb bunnies are easy – just dip your thumb in paint to make the bunny body and when the pain dries add detail with felt tip pens. Remember that sideways thumbprints make good running bunnies!
- Spring masks are a step up from thumb bunnies – you need paper plates, string and paint. Cut eyeholes in the plates and then decorate with paint, string, wool, cotton wool balls etc. Traditional themes are bunny, chick and lamb but you can be whatever you fancy!
- Egg rolling is fun too – hard boil and cool one egg per child and set a start and finish line on the floor. For older children you can use different utensils: wooden spoons, barbecue tongs etc but for small children, crawling on hands and knees and pushing the egg with their noses is probably most fun. Obviously the one who gets to the finish line fastest is the winner, but there can be all kinds of prizes: funniest, slowest, most careful, etc.