Here comes Peter Cottontail, skiing down the bunny trail…. that is what is feels like this year in Ohio. Snowy, wet, damp, cold – feels more like Thanksgiving or Christmas instead of Easter and Spring. But, regardless, it is March and this ickiness will pass.
But, what do you do with children (and perhaps grown ups) that are tired of the cold, damp weather and indoor activities? You bring the outdoors in. I will say right now, none of these activities are completely original with me, but they are fun, and educational in a playful way, so I thought it useful to post them here for my readers.
Using a paring knife, make a couple of slits near the top of a raw egg. Remove the top, and pour out the contents (make scrambled eggs for lunch or bake some cookies). Rinse the shell out and let them dry for a couple hours. Place 3 or 4 small rocks in the bottom of the egg (if the weather isn’t too bad spend the time the eggs are drying going out side on a rock hunt).
Once the eggs are dry place a small amount of soil in each egg. Make a layer of grass seed (wheat grass is pretty), and cover with more soil. Water them and place in a sunny window (using an egg carton or egg cup to keep them upright). You will have sprouts in 2-3 days.
Indoor Egg Hunt:
This time of year color plastic eggs are plentiful and not expensive. Invest in a few dozen. This game is actually fun year round, and children love to both hide and seek eggs. It is not necessary to place anything inside. The game is in finding them. Here are some twists on the traditional egg hunt.
- Have the children hide them and the adults find them.
- Assign each child a different color to find. Each must bring back only the color assigned.
- Place color circles (labeled with the color word) on the table or floor and have children sort them by color as they bring them back.
- Play “Beat the Clock” see how quickly all eggs can be found.
- Give each child a teaspoon, have each balance an egg on the spoon and go through an obstacle course (around a table, backwards, use masking tape on the floor to make a pathway).
If you want to fill the eggs – especially for Easter day, but want to avoid too much candy or sweet treats, here are some more ideas:
- stickers
- rubber bracelets
- erasers
- Squinkees
- paper slips with activities to be done – color eggs, go for a walk, go to the park, watch a family movie, work a puzzle, play a board game, read a book.
Draw a Spring Time Mural
So as I look out my office window as I am writing this, the sky is grey and the ground is brown and grey and all is slightly dismal looking. It may be the same where you are. Here is the solution! Place a long, wide strip of paper on a wall (sticky tack or painter’s tape will protect your wall). Make sure the paper is wide enough they children cannot accidentally color off the top and get crayon on the wall (if they do Mister Clean Magic Eraser is a wonderful thing). Suggest making a spring time mural – sunshine, trees, green grass, colorful flowers, bunnies, squirrels, birds – make suggestions but allow the children’s imaginations to go wild. Get down on the floor and color with them! Print spring time images from the internet
and cut them out and paste them on – great scissor practice for preschoolers/early childhood, tear pieces of construction or tissue paper and glue on in various designs and patterns. Here is a picture of the St Patrick’s Day Mural we did in the studio earlier this month.
The children and adults had so much fun with it, we will be putting up blank paper soon for more coloring fun. We used the back side of wrapping paper I found on clearance at Crafts 2000, but packing paper that comes in shipping boxes, or freezer paper would work as well.
Enroll in a Kindermusik Class
Get out of the house once a week, meet up with friends, sing, dance, play instruments, read stories and get more great ideas for activities at home, but coming to a Kindermusik class. We have ongoing year round classes with fun, educational themes. Check out our website www.misschristamusic.com or email Miss Christa (christa.miss@gmail.com) for more details.





