7 Extra Special Easter Activities to Try With Kids

Refresh your favorite Easter traditions!

When you have kids, holidays are a welcome excuse to break out the construction paper and glue sticks and get crafting, decorating and even baking. There’s nothing I love more than a holiday-themed activity that can help to get the whole family in the mood for whatever occasion is upcoming — and keep everyone entertained on a spring afternoon.

Holidays can be tricky when it comes to sustainability, though, and can often result in an onslaught of single-use plastics. Easter is no different, what with plastic eggs and candy wrappers in abundance, but these ideas will give you a slightly eco-friendly edge on the traditional activities and traditions. 

Scroll through the arrows above for some fun and creative ideas. 

Crack cascarones

Have you ever heard of cascarones? I first encountered the confetti-filled dyed eggs while living in Texas — they were sold at little stands on the side of the road in the weeks leading up to Easter. They’re a Mexican tradition and the idea is to smash them (ideally over an unsuspecting friend’s head!) and relish in the paper confetti mess. You can typically purchase them in grocery stores in states that border our southern neighbors, or you can DIY them fairly easily. Just make sure your confetti is made of paper! Pretty Prudent has a simple DIY tutorial for making your own cascarones this Easter.

Decorate an Easter tree

Easter trees have roots in Swedish traditions, which call for decorating branches with feathers and naturally dyed Easter eggs (more on that a few pages ahead). Easter trees are fun for kids to put together, and they make show-stopping centerpieces or table decor for an Easter meal. The blog The House that Lars Built features several versions, including a simple option with dyed eggs and another with paper feathers.

Gold-leaf your eggs

Older children will get a kick out of this novel take on decorating Easter eggs. It takes a little more patience to gold-leaf your Easter eggs, but the result is stunning and your kids will learn how to work with a new art medium at the same time. The blog Lily Ardor offers a simple tutorial for gold-leafing eggs and the result makes the perfect centerpiece for Easter brunch.

Choose zero-waste Easter treats

Easter baskets don’t have to be a one-use plastic nightmare. The author of the blog Gypsy Soul offers solutions that will enable you to create zero-waste Easter treats, from reusing egg cartons for treats to stocking up at the bulk bins instead of purchasing individually wrapped chocolates.

Bake an Easter basket cake

I’m all for typical Easter baskets, but a cake version is definitely more delicious. You only need a few elements to turn a simple round cake into an Easter basket: a handle, extra treats for inside the basket and icing in a few different colors. The author of the blog Sugar Hero made Easter basket cupcakes which is another cute idea, with more elaborate icing than I’d be able to manage, but they certainly serve as inspiration.

Serve up egg salad

One of the ways you can make your Easter a bit more environmentally conscious is to make sure you eat up the hard-boiled eggs you dye! If you make it a family tradition to dye Easter eggs on Easter morning or even the day before Easter, you can use those eggs to make a delicious dish for brunch. 

Paint wooden eggs

Here’s another lovely craft idea that isn’t quite as breakable as dying real eggs: Paint wooden eggs instead. The blog My Poppet offers inspiration for cheerfully colored Easter eggs and of course, the decorating schemes are endless.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in March 2020 and updated in March 2021.