Activities For Easter

New Zealand Activities For Easter

Get creative with your Easter celebrations - kids and adults will enjoy making Easter decorations, baking hot cross buns, throwing an Easter themed party or giving cards at Easter.

• Craft Supplies
• Christianity

Get creative with Easter activities
Some of the best memories for kids are of time spent being creative – and celebrating Easter is the perfect chance to do just that. Even if you’re not celebrating Easter as a religious festival, you can get into Easter crafts to celebrate the idea of new life and let your family enjoy Easter activities for children. Try these activities for Easter:

• Beautiful coloured Easter eggs – get an empty, whole eggshell to work with by piercing an egg at both ends with a needle and blowing into the egg with a small drinking straw. Rinse well before letting your little ones gently paint the eggshell with food colouring, finger paints, bright acrylic paints or star stickers.
• Make Easter baskets – using plasticine chickadees or bunnies, with ribbon and sparkles, create decorated baskets (large or small) and fill them with Easter eggs or hot cross buns. They make great gifts or Easter decorations round the home.
• Easter costumes – dress-ups are one of the joys of childhood. It’s easy to make a bunny costume from a simple jumpsuit pattern with a mask or hood added. If that seems like too much, get your kids involved in making Easter bunny ears – they’re simple with an elastic or plastic headband and cardboard ears attached.
• Easter surprise packages – place one or two mini chocolate eggs, a little bunny or chick figurine, and an Easter message of hope inside a cardboard roll, then cover with festive wrap – kids can help with wrapping and tying ribbons, then the whole family can enjoy ‘Easter crackers’ later.

Throw an Easter party!
Celebrating Easter with your kids can be fun – at the same time as reminding children about the meaning behind this festival – so why not get festive with an Easter party for your family and friends? If you're short on time, it's easy to shop online for Easter party supplies. Get into the spirit of the season with an Easter costume theme, encourage guests to bring a plate of Easter goodies (not just chocolate!) and play some Easter games:

• Have an Easter egg hunt, hiding mini chocolate Easter eggs around the house or in the backyard (and mum or dad as the Easter bunny!)
• Play Easter pictionary with Easter themed phrases, song titles, book titles and clues to draw and guess.
• Play ‘Easter bunny says…’, a fun variation on the traditional ‘Simon says…’
• Run egg and spoon relays, or bunny hopping races with an egg between your knees (it’s as difficult as it sounds!)
• Fill a jar with tiny Easter eggs; whoever can guess the correct number in the jar wins!

Do some festive Easter baking
Find a recipe for hot cross buns online – they’ll be a hit with the whole family! And hot cross buns are easy to make, so kids can get involved in the baking from start to finish. For other Easter baking fun, try making nests from cornflakes and melted chocolate chips in a muffin tray, then filling them with mini Easter eggs and little chick toys. You’ll find plenty of Easter recipies online, including spicy Easter bunny biscuits, homemade Easter eggs, Easter desserts, celebratory cakes and more. Perfect as Easter activities for children, baking days round Easter are a great time to bond with your little ones and enjoy the fruits of your efforts!

Spread cheer with an Easter card
What images come to mind when you think of Easter? It’s one of the most visually enticing seasonal holidays for kids (and adults!) and a good excuse to spread some seasonal cheer, good wishes and Easter greetings of peace and hope. Include an easter egg or a fresh batch of hot cross buns for extra brownie points. Try:

• Making your own handmade Easter cards – use coloured pens and pencils, or try making collages using coloured paper, material and felt. For inspiration, think white cotton-eared bunnies, colourful Easter eggs, baby animals and Spring flowers!
• Finding Easter pictures to colour in – this is a great idea for younger ones and can be great as cards when stuck onto coloured or black card. Easter images are easy to find online or in books at your local library.
• Creating your own messages for Easter – get a Christian or non-religious message of hope or peace, write it on a piece of card and decorate this with a simple message. Add a bunch of flowers or an Easter treat, and you've got an uplifting Easter gift!

Take some time out at an Easter camp
Many Easter camp gatherings are run by New Zealand churches and youth groups, and aim to commemorate and celebrate the life of Jesus Christ while teaching young people the meaning of the Easter festival. Christian Easter camps vary, but generally they will showcase inspirational speakers and involve teachings about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Many also have Christian rock bands and musicians playing. Just some of the Easter camps on offer for young New Zealanders are:

• Easter Camp – Christian events held in Christchurch, Wellington and Hamilton.
• BYM Easter Camp – A music event and camp run by the Baptist Youth Ministry to inspire young people to follow the ways of Jesus.
• HOLYground – An Easter camp held in Northland where 8 – 12 year olds can learn about God and take part in fun Easter activities.

Run a family Easter quiz
How much do you know about the meaning of Easter? Write as many quiz questions as you want, then make a night of it with friends or family – dinner followed by hot cross buns, coffee and Easter quiz! Kids will love getting the questions right and they’ll learn the significance of the Easter holiday. Questions can be traditional or based around pop culture and contemporary celebrations of Easter.

Lift your mood with Easter decorations
It’s easy to make your home festive around Easter time – and kids will be more than happy to help with Easter bunny decorations and creative Easter decor! Try making:

• An Easter centerpiece for your table – this could incorporate candles, Spring flowers, rabbits or Christian symbols. This can be decorative at your dinner table and can also provide a focus for Easter prayer or reflection.
• Easter fridge magnets using vintage Easter pictures or Easter images drawn by your kids.
• An ‘Easter tree’ using a branch painted white or silver and decorated with coloured eggs, hanging Easter decorations and chocolate treats. Set your ‘tree’ in a decorated plant holder.
• A picture string with pictures, cards and eggs – all reminding your family of Easter’s meaning and significance.

Looking for more information? Find activities for Easter in the NZS.com directory.

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Seasons and Celebrations images from Flickr: Decorated Eggs, Fireworks Finale and Christmas in Love.