“Character” Egg-Decorating For Families

04/02/2021

Which came first – the chicken or the egg? Well, for many families at this time of year, there’s no doubt. Eggs rule! While the kids are busy mixing, dipping and dying Easter eggs, rescue a few from the frenzy and decorate them together to fit each child’s personality, interest or something special you share with him or her.
Dye and decorate hard-boiled eggs close to Easter and keep them refrigerated, or empty eggshells for special keepsake eggs to bring out from year to year. To empty an egg, poke a small hole with a straight pin at each end of a washed raw egg. Carefully wiggle a toothpick or wooden skewer into one of the holes to break the yolk. Place a drinking straw over the hole on top, and blow through the straw, collecting the contents of the egg in a small dish. Rinse out the empty shell and let dry.
Store in an empty egg carton.
Here are ideas to “egg” on your imaginations with school-age kids:
–Make a series of character eggheads with a game called “Pass It On!” Everyone begins with a blown egg and starts by painting or gluing on yarn or string to make hair. Then you pass the egg on, and each person adds eyes, eyeglasses, eyelashes or whatever! Pass it on, and add a nose and other features or details. When you’re all done, set in eggcups to display and dry. You’ll no doubt hear the cheers – “that’s my nose!” “No, that’s my nose, but it’s your smile!”
–Create a “You’re a Good Egg” self-portrait using markers to draw the masterpiece onto the egg. Glue on craft-store movable eyes for personality and a feather for hair.
–A previous trip to the zoo might conjure up your child’s favorite animal or “eggimal.” His or her version of a fish, penguin or exotic bird can be created by tracing with a pencil a pattern of a beak, feet or fins onto different colored foam craft sheets. Cut them out and glue them onto the painted egg.
Note: Use nontoxic dyes, markers and household glue with these and other crafts with children.
Extra idea: Start a tradition of creating keepsake eggs. Unpack them every year and arrange them in a table centerpiece, or hang them with thread glued to each egg from a bouquet of forsythia and blossoming branches.

Share with friends!

You might also like:

Donna's Day

Blow A Tune With Bottles And Water

By Donna Erickson | 08/23/2021

Blow up a balloon, blow your nose and we hope the pitcher doesn’t blow the save in tonight’s baseball game. If it’s your birthday, blow out all the candles on your cake to make the wishes, blow in the wind … It’s fun to play a mind game with kids using a fun word like…

Donna's Day

Zucchini Chile-Cheese Bake

By Donna Erickson | 08/23/2021

Leaves that were green may be turning to brown, gold and red, but summer’s growing season isn’t over yet. Tall and free, sunflowers still climb upward like Jack’s beanstalk. Their bright yellow blooms sway with afternoon breezes, crossing property lines and surpassing the heights of fences. So full of life and growth, I recently observed…

Donna's Day

Put Waffles On The Menu For Mother’s Day Breakfast In Bed

By Donna Erickson | 05/06/2021

Wouldn’t a fluffy, crisp waffle taste good right now?Keep that thought, and now think about Mother’s Day. Mom would no doubt be delighted with breakfast-in-bed waffles smothered with her favorite toppings. Dollops of whipped cream and strawberries on top, or real maple syrup flooding the plate. I could go for that!Here are two ways to…

Donna's Day

Decorate Mini Notebooks For A Mom’s Day Gift

By Donna Erickson | 05/06/2021

Think of all the times you need a little notebook: to jot down an inspiring quote, the name of a must-see movie, an appointment and all things in between. But wait; it’s 2021. Isn’t that what memo apps on phones are for? Where reminders and inspirational “aha” moments go up to the Cloud and back…

Donna's Day

Traditional-Look Silhouettes With Photos

By Donna Erickson | 05/06/2021

Remember back in your kindergarten days, making large shadow silhouettes on black construction paper for a one-of-a-kind Mother’s Day gift? Next to small handprints pressed into a round of plaster of Paris, silhouettes rank high on the list of personalized gifts Mom expects to receive sometime along the road of motherhood. To keep with tradition,…

Donna's Day

Gardening Kit In A Clay Pot

By Donna Erickson | 05/06/2021

A first-grade teacher does a project with her class where she gives each student a bag of “mystery seeds” to plant. With no idea what they are, the kids can only guess at the right soil and the best amount of water and sun. Then they watch them sprout and grow.Isn’t being a parent kind…

Donna's Day

Make and Decorate Easy Bunny Balloons

By Donna Erickson | 04/02/2021

What is the difference between a bunny and a rabbit? And, just as perplexing, what is a bunny rabbit?To California artist Ivy Chew, whether you call them “bunnies,” “rabbits” or “bunny rabbits, they’re the inspiration for her charming “Rabbit Run” series of archival ink and colored pencil art where her imagination takes us into the…

Donna's Day

Decorate Easter Eggs Five Creative Ways

By Donna Erickson | 04/02/2021

Hop to it! Easter is on its way. Here are some Easter egg-y ideas that are real kid-pleasers. For the first three, all you need are hard-cooked white eggs, prepared decorating dyes in small bowls and a variety of household items.RUBBER-BAND TIE-DYEWind two or three rubber bands of various widths snuggly around egg. Dye the…

Donna's Day

Spring Bouquet With Branches That Sprout Pom-Pom “Blooms”

By Donna Erickson | 04/02/2021

The first signs of spring are everywhere. Maybe you are noting them on your family calendar with your kids. Crocuses and daffodils poking up through dry leaves and songs of returning birds. Even in places where there aren’t mittens and woolen hats to put away, the first, fresh spring breezes and longer days of sunshine…

Donna's Day

Shake and Decorate an “Egg Plant”

By Donna Erickson | 04/02/2021

Shake and decorate hollowed-out Easter eggs, then save them as keepsakes to display from year to year as a whimsical “egg plant” centerpiece. The lovely eggs, together with other favorites, can be “blooming” out of a pretty Easter basket, a medium-size flowerpot or several mini containers lined down the center of your table or along…

Posted in

Donna Erickson

DONNA ERICKSON

Donna's Day

Categories

Sign Up For My Newsletter