After Christmas, Easter is probably the most exciting holiday period that kids look forward to each year. And with this long weekend fast approaching, we thought we would give you a few ideas on how to ‘turn up the fun’ over an Easter weekend in the outdoors with AfriCamps. It’s important to make these special times as magical as possible, especially while your kids are still young.
ARTS AND CRAFTS
Decorating eggs
Keep the shells from the eggs you are using for breakfast for this activity. Cut a small hole at the top and the bottom of the egg using a sharp knife and blow the yolk out using the hole at the top. Once empty, you can rinse and dry the shells and let the kids decorate the eggs shells using paint or markers
Easter themed crafts
Save your toilet roll cardboard inners and bring a few pieces of paper and arts and crafts bits with you. Let the kids make Easter themed bunnies, chickens and people. They could make puppets and do a puppet show or create some fun Easter hats and put on a show.
GAMES
Egg and spoon race
Take some additional eggs with you because this game is likely to leave you with a few less eggs to cook. An egg and spoon race is really fun for the whole family. All you need is a few tablespoons and a few eggs. Get each person to draw a silly face on their egg so you can tell them apart when they fall. Give smaller children a bigger spoon. Set the boundaries of where your race is taking place and… go!
Glow in the dark egg hunt
Use plastic egg containers and glow in the dark sticks for this game. Activate the sticks and put one inside each egg. Add a single small chocolate inside as a treat for the kids. (optional) You could also add a task or a dare into each egg, keeping the games going. Hide these around the surrounding area and let the games begin.
Three-legged bunny hop
A quirky adaptation of the well known three-legged race. The end result? Contenders hopping like bunnies to get to the finish line! The prize? An Easter egg of course.
EASTER EGG HUNT
And now for the main event. Being outdoors can make this a little tricky as you don’t want to leave any treats out overnight for the nearby wildlife to find, so you either need to get up really early to beat the kids or you will have to get creative.
Bunny footprints
Most kids are worried that the Easter bunny won’t find them because they are not at home. One way to reassure them is to get them to leave a note at home for the bunny telling him where they will be. When Easter arrives, wait until they are in bed, and then use paper stencils and flour to leave a few bunny footprints for them to find, showing them that he did in fact come during the night.
The Hunt
There is only so many sweet things a kid can eat, so hide a few non-edible items amongst the treats like a headlight, crayons, puzzles, activity booklet, bubbles, glow in the dark sticks, bug catching net and tools (anything entertaining). This will keep them busy for a while longer and is probably better for their teeth too.
Use plastic egg containers (which now can be found in most grocery stores) to fill with smaller sweets and chocolates to hide in the outdoors.
SMORES
Anybody who has ever watched an American family movie or series would have seen them making smores when camping and wondered what exactly it was. Here it is, South African style:
Ingredients
- Marie Biscuits or Tennis Biscuits
- Marshmallows
- Easter Bunny (or a little Nutella if the Easter bunny hasn’t been yet)
Method
- Put two biscuits on a plate and add a generous piece of chocolate or nutella onto one biscuit.
- Roast a marshmallow on the braai using a long stick
- Put the roasted marshmallow on top of the chocolate and place the other biscuit on top of the marshmallow and push down.
- Here you have your first smore.
- Make sure you help the kids with this to ensure it is done safely.
