Tag Archives: Easter

Easter Egg Spelling Hunt

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Buddy and I are home for spring break, and I’ve been looking for fun ways to help him work on his reading and writing. He particularly needs to work on writing lowercase letters. So after doing a regular Easter egg hunt with him, I realized how we could work on his literacy skills while having fun at the same time.

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We started by pulling out some magnetic letters and putting them into empty Easter eggs. Then I hid the eggs around the house. Buddy had a great time looking around our house for the eggs.

I had suggested that we write down the letters we found, but Buddy had the idea to make words with them first. So we decided to open all of the eggs up, pull out the letters, and then make a word. Then we recorded the words on a piece of paper.

I could have limited Buddy to using sight words or specific words that he’s been doing in school. But I let him do whatever he wanted, since my main focus was just getting him to work on his hand writing. So of course, his first word was t-rex. We did take some time to form magic e words to practice a skill from school.

If you have a younger child at your house, you could always do this the way we did a few years ago when Buddy was 3. We just found the letters and matched them up to letters written on a cake pan. You can read more about that activity here.

We had a lot of fun doing our Easter egg hunt, and I’m so happy Buddy was willing to work on his handwriting. I know we’ll be doing this again at least once before the end of break.

Toddler Science: Jellybean Experiment

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I love finding activities to do with Buddy with materials I already have at home. When I came across the idea of doing a jellybean water experiment on Crafty Morning’s blog, I knew it would be fun and easy to do with Buddy. All you need is jellybeans, a plate, and a little water.

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We started the experiment by making a circle of jellybeans on a plate. As we set things up, we talked about the different colors of jellybeans. I asked Buddy what he thought would happen when we added water, and he didn’t know. I put some water into a squeeze bottle, so it would be easy for him to squirt. He added water just until the edges of the jellybeans were wet. Then we sat back and watched. 

The colors started to bleed right away. I told Buddy how the water was dissolving the candy and the jellybeans’ colors were blending into the water. He was really interested in watching the colors come out into the middle. The black ones dominated the other colors, so if I were to do it again, I wouldn’t include the black jellybeans.

Once the colors had come out, we wondered what would happen if we blew on the water. At first, the red color went on top of the black color, and Buddy thought this was amazing!

Then we tried again, and all of the colors mixed together to form black. What Buddy found most  interesting was when he blows hard it made a hole in the water. 

The last thing we did was see what happened to the jellybeans. We discovered the top side was still shiny, but the part that was in the water was all bumpy! Buddy wanted to try a dissolved jellybean, so I let him have one.

This was a fun and easy experiment! Buddy and I both enjoyed it, and I think he learned something new. I’m sure we’ll try it again next Easter.

Easter Egg Fillers for Preschoolers

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Easter is right around the corner, but I’m still in the process of figuring out all of the details. I took awhile this year to figure out what I wanted to put inside Buddy’s Easter eggs. Easter eggs are much more fun with things in them. But I’d rather not give a bunch of candy to my almost three year old. Here are some of the ideas I came up with for some fun things to put in Easter eggs for a preschooler.

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Mini cars– This is what I am putting in Buddy’s Easter eggs this year. I know he’ll be so excited about them!

Mini trains – We love our Thomas minis! They are great for travel, and they keep Buddy entertained for a long time. If we didn’t already have a ton of them, I would definitely be getting these for him.

Pieces to travel games – I was looking for travel toys for Buddy’s Easter basket because I love having new things for him when we travel. And travel stuff is small, which is perfect for an Easter basket. It occurred to me that it might be fun to put the pieces for a game in each egg and then give whatever’s left after the egg hunt. That might work well with this Connect 4 travel game, or this take anywhere bingo game (which will be in Buddy’s Easter basket this year.)

Mini animals or dinosaurs – Buddy loves playing with a set of mini dinosaurs that I got for him from the dollar store. Many of them would fit well in an egg. I got a dinosaur TOOB for him and some will probably be put in eggs. There are many great animal TOOBs as well.

Ink stamps – These mini stamps would be a lot of fun for a preschooler who likes artsy things.

Wiki sticks– These are wax coated sticks that can be used to create different things. You could curl up a different one in each egg.

Temporary tattoos – Buddy isn’t really into these, but a lot of kids love them!

Plastic bracelets – They make them for both boys and girls. I almost bought a set of Thomas the train ones from a party store for Buddy’s party last year.

Puzzle pieces – There are many different mini puzzles available at the dollar store. You could put a piece or two in each egg and have a whole puzzle at the end of the hunt.

Colorforms– I love these for travel, and you can often find them at the dollar store. You could put a different one in each egg and give the scene at the end.

Stickers – This is what I did for Buddy last year. I cut up stickers from the dollar store and put a few in each egg.

Buttons, erasers, and other things for an iSpy bottle – Buddy still loves his iSpy bottle we made together almost two years ago. (Read more about it here.) You could put a different item in each egg and then make an iSpy bottle at the end to remember the hunt.

Small Playdoh tools – This set has lots of fun, small cookie cutters. (We love those for traveling with play doh on a plane.) I actually bought these jumbo Easter eggs that are stuffed with small dinosaur playdoh molds for Buddy this year.

Marbles – This would be especially fun with a marble maze at the end of the hunt.

Magnets – Last year I threw a few magnetic letters in some of Buddy’s eggs. He loved it!

Scavenger hunt in foil egg – This is an idea for one egg, instead of the whole set of eggs. This is a tradition from when I grew up. My mom wrapped one egg in foil, and that egg starts a scavenger hunt. The end of that hunt was a gift for my sister and me to share (like a game or a movie). Last year, I did a modified hunt for Buddy. The foil egg told him where an Easter gift was. This year, I will do a full scavenger hunt like I did for Valentine’s Day (read about that scavenger hunt here.) 

I hope I’ve given you some inspiration for your preschooler’s Easter eggs! If you have any other ideas, please share in the comments.

Easter Basket Ideas for Babies and Toddlers

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Spring is just around the corner, which means it’s almost Easter. I love picking out fun things for spring and summer to put in Buddy’s Easter basket. It’s a challenge though to find Easter basket items for babies and toddlers that aren’t candy or a choking hazard. Here are some of the things that I’ve put in Buddy’s Easter basket. I have it sorted into things specific to babies and toddlers, as well as ideas that work for both ages.

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Great for Both Babies and Toddlers

  • Bath Toys – Buddy’s first Easter was in Florida, so many of his toys were beach and bath toys to leave at Nana’s house. His favorite that year was this Munchkin bath ball and these Float and Play Bath Balls. Last year I got Thomas and Friends bath toys for him. Some other bath toys we love are Munchkin Barnyard Friends bath toys and the Munchkin Fishing Toy.
  • Balls – I bought the Bright Starts Activity Balls for Buddy as an infant, and they were a favorite for a long time. We throw beach balls around all the time at our house, and that would be perfect for an Easter basket. Koosh balls are also lots of fun.
  • Pull back vehicles – I got a pull back James train for Buddy and it is by far the best pull back toy I’ve ever seen. He also has pull back planes and a pull back penguin that he loves.
  • Cars – Buddy loved the O’Ball Go Gripper cars when he was younger (and he still does, although we play with them less). Last year he got a VTech Go Go Smart Wheels FireTruck. We haven’t done hot wheels yet, but he got a small Lightning McQueen car at Christmas, and we will probably will buy something similar this Easter.
  • Books – As an infant, Buddy loved small finger puppet books and the Indestructible books, which are so great because they take up no space! The dollar store also has nice, small board books. Buddy is now starting to appreciate paper back books as well.
  • Small stuffed animals – Buddy got a Teeny Ty as a early birthday gift from a friend, and he is obsessed with it! We will be getting him another one for Easter.
  • Finger puppets
  • Small instruments – kazoos, egg shakers, or other small instruments. Buddy loved this musical instrument set as an infant.
  • Bubbles
  • Pinwheels

Babies:

  • Teethers
  • Rattle
  • Pacifier
  • Bibs

Toddlers: 

  • Puzzles – We got a great two piece one from the Target dollar spot. There are also great ones at the dollar store.  This one is similar to one I made for Buddy.
  • Crayons and coloring books – We love Crayola triangular washable crayons. Our current set is well loved and it will be nice to have a new box.
  • Color Wonder markers and  Color Wonder paper
  • Card games – Buddy loves games! We put this Go Fish animal game, and an World of Disney Eye Found It card game in his stocking this year, but they’d also be great in an Easter basket.
  • Stickers – Puffy ones are our favorite, and right now there are some great ones at our dollar store. Party stores also have great stickers for cheap.
  • Animal figures– Last Easter, Buddy got some Little People zoo animals. This year I think we will get some dinosaur figurines for him.
  • Colorforms – They are reusable stickers that are so travel friendly. We love them! Here is a link to some great ones from Frozen, but you can also find them sometimes at the dollar store.
  • Fun Band-aids – Buddy wants Bandaids all the time. I’m sure he’s not the only toddler who would find this fun.
  • Squishy toys
  • Play doh and tools – We have these dough tools from Caryko that are great!
  • Water wow – We love these for travel! You can paint with water and then it dries clear. Last Easter Buddy got this one.
  • Temporary tattoos
  • Sidewalk Chalk – We went through a ton of sidewalk chalk last year. Buddy will be really excited to see this in his Easter basket this year.


What will be in your kids’ Easter basket this year? Please share your ideas in the comments.