The Easter Long Weekend is one of the busiest weekends for WA families – it’s the first week of the school holidays, it’s a minimum of four days off (for most people) and it’s traditionally a time for a big family get-together. But this year, the landscape of the Easter holidays looks quite different. The COVID-19 pandemic means we can’t travel outside of our home region, and we can’t celebrate outside of our immediate household, so we’ve put together a list of seven of our favourite Easter activities to do at home!
Easter Egg Hunt
This one needs no explanation, but the Easter Bunny might have to sneak out just before the hunt to get these eggs hidden. It’s going to be a warm Easter, and there’s nothing worse than finding melted Easter eggs (or some that have been overrun by ants!) We recommend shady spots, out of direct sunlight, and remind the Easter Bunny to keep track of how many were hidden when you count your haul at the end of the hunt! Bonus points if you design a scavenger hunt to give clues to the hunters.
Egg & Spoon Race
If you don’t want to use real eggs for the race, try mini throwing bean bags, tennis balls, or even Christmas tree baubles (more on why you’ll have those already unpacked later!) You may decide to do a traditional race across the backyard, or you may set up an obstacle course through the house.
Bake Hot Cross Buns
Who doesn’t love the delicious smell of baking? And when you add that special warm spice smell that can only mean Hot Cross Buns – you’re on a winner! We can’t go past these two star recipes from Donna Hay and Taste.com.au
Easter Bonnet Parade
A traditional favourite that seems to have gone somewhat out of fashion, we think the Easter Bonnet Parade is due for a return to fashion. Why not create your bonnet entirely out of items you have around the house? Cereal boxes, fabric offcuts and crafting leftovers, and even old gift wrap that you were saving make a great starting point. Decorate with paints, crayons and textas, and adorn with stickers, Lego people, mini dinosaurs, the more outlandish the better!
Jelly Bean (or Mini Easter Egg) Guessing Game
Fill a large jar with jelly beans (or mini easter eggs) and challenge the family to guess how many there are inside. Whoever gets closest to the correct answer wins! Be sure that the winner shares their haul around, or you may have a sugar overdose on your hands.
Decorate an “Easter” Tree
Here’s where the Christmas decorations come in! Now, we’ve seen on some clever crafting blogs people who regularly decorate an Easter tree, but we reckon it’s time to break the Christmas tree out of its 11 month hibernation, and give it some love! You can use your regular Christmas decorations, or get crafty and design some new ones, specially for Easter. Think egg ornaments (drawn on craft card) baby chickens and bunnies made from cotton wool balls and glue, and paper chain garlands.
Enjoy some Easter Crafts
Enjoy some Easter CraftsEaster is a great time for nature crafts, and if you’re up for the challenge we’d love you to try our Egg Dyeing with Natural Colours craft. We’ve also shared some other clever Easter craft projects we think you might like!
Whatever you’re up to over the Easter Long Weekend, we hope you have a wonderful, safe time at home with your families. Video calls through Facebook Messenger, Skype or Zoom are a great way to say “Hi!” to the grandies and other rellies, while still doing our part to reduce the risk of COVID-19.
Happy Easter!
Check out our COVID-19 Self Isolation Resources for Families for great things to do around the home, as well as lists of the incredible free resources available for families online, from cool nature livestreams, to lessons from zoos, museums and art galleries, right through to getting active with fitness videos!
The Department for Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions has information about staying home and not going to campgrounds for camping. For full details on campground closures and advice, please visit Explore Parks WA
Be sure to keep up to date with information about COVID-19 at the official Australian government website – Coronavirus (COVID-19) Health Alert and the Western Australian government website – Coronavirus: COVID-19