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Easter Activities And Fun

Post from: Easter Made EasyEaster Activities And Fun

Easter Bouquet To Make At Home

This is a quick and easy way to make an Easter Bouquet that is cheap and fun to do – and it doesn’t make much mess either – always a plus with any Easter activities and crafts!

Materials:-

Tissue Paper – a mixture of colors is best
Pipe cleaners – green are best if you can get them
Styrofoam bocks – you can use chunks of old tiles, or florists foam
A vase, or cellophane wrapping for your bouquet
Scissors
A variety of ribbons

Make sure you have plenty of space for this – the children tend to get a bit carried away

1. Choose your tissue paper colors to make a pleasing bouquet – eight or nine flowers are a good number

2. Cut the paper into four inch long strips along it’s length, then layer several of the sheets on top of each other. You can use all the same color or different ones.

3. Loosely roll the papers up lengthwise so you have a short ‘tube’.

4. Wrap one end of a pipe cleaner around the center of the tube and twist it together to make it secure. You should have a long ‘stem’

5. Separate out each sheet of paper, creating petals and pull them up making a fold so that they surround the end of the pipe cleaner. If the paper is too long, trim it down, and shape the petals a little. You can use florists tape to secure them but it shouldn’t be necessary.

6. When you have made enough flowers, wrap a piece of ribbon around them

7. Put the flowers into a vase, pushing the ‘stems’ into the Styrofoam to keep them steady or wrap them in cellophane and tie a ribbon around them to make a presentation bouquet.

Post from: Easter Made EasyEaster Bouquet To Make At Home

Post from: Easter Made EasyEaster Bouquet To Make At Home

Easter Finish My Phrase

Easter Finish My Phrase is one of my favorite quick and easy Easter games. Which player has the power to read your thoughts? Find out with this fun game. Players compete to see who can match your wit by filling in the same answer to these Easter related phrases. Will the answer to “Easter ___” be Easter Parade, Easter Sunday or even Easter Bunny! Answer key included.

The big advantage to these games is that you can print as many copies as you want once you have downloaded it, so it can be used again and again….

Post from: Easter Made EasyEaster Finish My Phrase

Post from: Easter Made EasyEaster Finish My Phrase

Out and About at Easter

Easter is the time of year when we start venturing out and having fun – and there are just so many places to go, things to do and such fun to be had!

For me it’s the chance to start doing all the things I enjoy, gardening, walking, playing golf, taking part in all the local events and so on. In this part of the site you’ll find just a few of the choicest ideas and the things you need to help you enjoy them.

The Boys in the family tend to want to do different things, maybe thinking about going fishing, or sports and such, but at Easter I must admit I like to do things round and about the home – maybe visit local places of take part in things like Easter Parades, there are all kinds of traditional events that go on and I’m sure you would find some in your local area.

Post from: Easter Made EasyOut and About at Easter

Post from: Easter Made EasyOut and About at Easter

Make Your Easter Flowers Last

Being female I love to receive flowers as a gift – not an exclusively female trait I know, but it goes with the territory – like chocolate! They look so lovely when they are fresh and bursting with life and colour, it seems such a shame that they don’t survive for longer. There are ways you can get round that though so you can enjoy them for a much longer time.

One of my favorite methods is to press them. I know it’s seen as something of a Victorian hobby, but I use them for all sorts of things combining old and new. I use a microwave flower press wherever possible using only the best of the flowers, sometimes even raiding the arrangement before it’s past it’s best. If you don’t have one of those presses, just use a reasonably heavy book (or even two) and place the flower between two sheets of paper to protect the book. It does take a while but you can hurry it along by placing the books in an airing cupboard – but don’t do that with any books you treasure – they might just curl! Once they are dry I use them on cards or my current favorite is to laminate them in plastic and make bookmarks, coasters or gift tags. Now that you can get home laminators
relatively cheaply it’s a new way of using them.

You can also air dry them but for this you really must start before the flowers are fully open and it doesn’t work for all blooms, you need to test them out in an ideal world. Tie the flowers into a bunch with some string and make a loop out of the ends of the string. Hang that in a sunny spot in the house with the heads of the flowers hanging down. It will take a few weeks for them to dry then you can use them as you wish.

Perhaps the thing I find most satisfying is to strike cuttings from some of the flowers, this is only possible with some varieties – Chrysanthemums do very well. If I spot a likely candidate when the flowers arrive, I will nip off the relevant bit and dunk it in the rooting powder and pop it in a pot, that way I have a permanent reminder of the lovely flowers and the kind soul who sent them to me.

Sometimes, it isn’t flowers that you get, but a plant and in the winter months I often think these are the best value, but they do need to be taken care of. The poor plants are often a little traumatised by the journey so they will need some TLC by way of water and food. They often need repotting fairly swiftly as well, but by taking just a little bit of care you have a lovely plant that will go on for years.

One last quick tip, if your flowers start to wilt – give them some lemonade instead of water, it often revives them!

Post from: Easter Made EasyMake Your Easter Flowers Last

Post from: Easter Made EasyMake Your Easter Flowers Last

Lilies For Easter

Lilies are something of a tradition at Easter, a bit like Poinsettias at Christmas. The beautiful while Arum or Bermuda Lilies are favorites, though I have to confess to a sneaking preference for the beautiful pink throated blooms.

Lilies have many associations, in Roman Mythology they are the flower of Juno, Queen of the Gods. It is said that when she was feeding Hercules during his labours she spilled some milk and wherever a drop fell a beautiful white lily grew. In the Christian tradition they symbolize the new life brought into being by the Resurrection, thus they also symbolize immortality and often decorate Churches at this time of year. It is also said that lilies sprang up from each drop of Jesus’ sweat in the Garden of Gethsemane.

The original home of the Easter Lily is Japan where they were found and sent to England around 1800, taking over a hundred years to travel across the Atlantic to America. The flowers are at their best around Easter and feature in many of the beautiful Easter Bouquets and Arrangements.

To make your lilies last longer, don’t forget to remove the yellow pollen bearing anthers. I find the best way is to hold a cup underneath and take them off with a fork. Do be careful not to get the pollen onto your clothes as it can leave a horrid stain that can’t easily be removed. Once you have done that keep the water fresh and don’t put them in direct sunlight and they will last for ages.

Post from: Easter Made EasyLilies For Easter

Post from: Easter Made EasyLilies For Easter

Easter Egg Decorating

Decorating Eggs has to be one of the oldest Easter traditions and it’s fun for everyone, if you take a few sensible precautions! First things first, I remember as a young Mum settling down with my daughter to decorate eggs when she reached the right sort of age. I forgot one thing, you need to hard boil the eggs! That was very messy experience for both of us. So before you do anything get those eggs boiled and cooled.

Stamps and stencils come in handy and you’ll need paints and dyes too. Then you want things to stick on the eggs like flowers, sequins, glitter, ribbons, just about anything will stick with the right glue – you need that too. If the eggs are for gifts (Grandparents love them) I like to put them in little containers which can be decorated to match, old yoghurt ports are great or you can use pre-cut boxes that you make up yourself.

You can get some really good Easter Egg Decorating Kits if you don’t have all the bits and pieces to hand and it’s a lot more reasonable than going out and buying supplies of everything – you would have loads left over.

If you are worried about mess you can always decorate your eggs with stickers, it’s quick if you are short of time too. You can buy loads of Easter stickers or even make your own using suitably sized sticky labels. If you want to make sure they stay put just get some wipe on varnish and put a coat over the stickers. It holds them on very well.

I generally dye the eggs on the drainer by the sink – less messy than everyone having their own pots of dye. Everyone can put their own eggs into the dye solution and then lift them out with a slotted spoon. They can go into the egg boxes to dry and dye doesn’t get spilled all over the kitchen. The drainer is easy to wash down afterwards too.

If you have the space and the weather is kind it can be a good idea to put a plastic sheet on the lawn and let the children work there – it stops the eggs getting dropped from the table to the floor as well.

Once the egg is dyed then it’s time to have fun with paints, felt tips pens and all the decorations you have. Putting a little glue on a paper plate is easier than managing a big pot for little hands. Once they are done and you have safely stored away the eggs you can just gather up the plastic sheet with all the rubbish and throw it away, clearing up in one simple step!

Post from: Easter Made EasyEaster Egg Decorating

Post from: Easter Made EasyEaster Egg Decorating

Easy Easter Quiz

After you have had your Easter meal it’s good to sit and rest a while, let the digestion do it’s work uninterrupted! The younger members of the party also often need a little light entertainment after their exertions in the Easter Egg Hunt. Here’s a little quiz for you – or you can download all kinds of family games from a number of sites on the internet ready to amuse everyone.

1 – The ……. Bunny legend originated in Germany

2 – On …….Day Wooden Eggs are rolled on the White House Lawn

3 – What holiday is always celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon nearest the Vernal Equinox

4 – What Holiday follows Lent

5 – What is the English name for the Holiday known as Ostern in German, Isuta in Japan and Eseta in Samoan

6 – Eggs are hidden by the Bunny so they can be found on what day

7 – For what holiday do we decorate eggs

8 – Special Chocolates are sold for which holiday

9 – When is the festival of Jesus Resurrection celebrated

10 – On which holiday do people in Finland eat Mammi

11 – Which holiday is named after the goddess Eostre

12 – We decorate …….Trees in our gardens with eggs and more

13 – Palm Sunday occurs exactly seven days before this holiday

14 – When does the beautiful white lily bloom

15 – You boil and decorate Eggs for …….

16 – Which Holiday did Katherine Milhous write about in ‘The Egg Tree’

Do you need an answer sheet – I don’t think so!

Post from: Easter Made EasyEasy Easter Quiz

Post from: Easter Made EasyEasy Easter Quiz

Easy Easter Childrens Party

The Easter Egg Hunt is great fun but often things fall a bit flat after that and you have a bunch of children moping around the place so it can be a good idea to have a small Easter party for them. If you plan carefully it doesn’t take too much doing and will keep everyone happy!

Lots of traditional Party Games can be adapted to Easter themes, like word games and drawing games that you can give an Easter theme – you can even download some that are ready to use, all you have to do is print them out.

Instead of Pin the Tail on the Donkey, you can put the beak on the Chick – or the ears on the Bunny, either will fit the theme just as well. You could go one step further and place the Chick in the nest. The children can draw, decorate and cut out their own chicks ready to place them in the nest. When everyone has done that, just like the traditional Donkey game, blindfold the player and see how close to the middle of the nest they can place their Chick.

Another game that uses up some of that extra energy children have at holiday times is ‘Duck, Duck, Goose’ – sit all the children in a circle with one walking round the outside. They tap each of their friends gently on the shoulder saying ‘Duck’ – until they reach the one they choose to be ‘Goose’. The Goose then has to jump up and chase them round the circle trying to catch up before they get back to the empty space. You can play this for ages, I find it’s a good one for just before they eat, a tired child sits and eats much better than one who is full of energy!

There are all kinds of Crafty projects and games you can do – painting eggs, making cards and table decorations, Easter Bunny masks are great to make too. It doesn’t take much imagination to keep them busy.

Food is easy, bite size Sandwiches, crunchy carrot sticks for Easter Bunnies, muesli bars with lots of Seeds for Easter Chicks – and healthy too. You can have a small dessert – but not too much with all the chocolate that’s around! I make simple cookies in the shape of Easter Characters and let the party goers decorate them with small tubes of colored icing.

End result – tired, but happy children.

Post from: Easter Made EasyEasy Easter Childrens Party

Post from: Easter Made EasyEasy Easter Childrens Party

Easter Sunday Saffron Cake

This recipe brings a Mediterranean flavor to the Easter table. Saffron originates from Greece. Saffron cakes and small saffron buns were eaten with clotted cream in Devon and Cornwall during the Easter period.

8oz (225g) margarine or butter
1lb (450g) plain flour
¼ tsp. Bicarbonate of soda
¼ tsp. saffron strands
6oz (175g) sultanas
2½ fl oz (65ml) cold water
8oz currants
6oz (175g) sugar
2 eggs
2oz (50g) mixed candied peel
small amount of milk
pinch of salt

Soak the saffron in salted cold water overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350ºF, Gas Mark 4, 180ºC.

Grease and line a 9 inch (23cm) round cake tin making sure greaseproof paper stands above the top of the tin. Sift together the flour and bicarbonate of soda and rub in the margarine or butter. Mix in the candied peel, currants, sugar and sultanas.

Stir in the strained saffron water and beaten eggs, then add enough milk to form a dropping consistency. Beat well and turn into the baking tin. Bake for one and a half to two hours. If a warm skewer comes out clean, remove from oven and leave to cool for 10-15 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool

Post from: Easter Made EasyEaster Sunday Saffron Cake

Post from: Easter Made EasyEaster Sunday Saffron Cake