Since most of the world is stuck safe at home and streaming church services, I wanted to find creative ways to celebrate Easter with my kids. I hoped finding creative, fun and frugal ways to celebrate the spring holiday would help my kids avoid feeling sad or disappointed that we couldn’t celebrate with family or participate in our usual Easter activities.

Together, my kids (ages 18, 15, and 9) and I compiled a list of activities that are fun for all ages and break up the boredom. All in our attempt to make the days leading up to Easter more fun.

Make Easter cards.

Although our extended family lives so close, our parents and cousins have compromised immune systems and we have not been able to visit with them, like many of your loved ones. These days have been especially lonely for our grandparents, but having the grandkids create and mail handmade Easter greetings will definitely lift their spirits. Who doesn’t love a little love in the mail?

Dye eggs.

Dyeing eggs is a timeless Easter activity. If you cannot locate any egg dye kits at your grocery store, perfer not going to the store or you would rather save your pennies, try making some homemade egg dye by simply combining 20 drops of food coloring with a teaspoon of distilled white vinegar and a ¼ cup of boiling water in a small boil.

If you prefer a more natural egg dye, allrecipes.com has some great natural egg dye concoctions using ingredients you will have in your pantry.

Bake Easter basket cupcakes.

My middle daughter loves to bake. During our quarantine days, there has been an endless supply of baked goods. When I asked her what she would like to bake for Easter, she immediately replied, “Easter basket cupcakes” and selected this adorable presentation from Home Is Where the Boat Is.

Make marshmallow bird nests.

My oldest loves their marshmallow rice cripsy treats. Therefore, these marshmallow bird nests made with La Choy Chow Mein Noodles and Cadbury Mini Eggs are super easy to make and are right up their alley. 

Have a glow in the dark egg hunt

This is one of our family’s favorite Easter-eve activities! Using 12-pack count of large plastic eggs and a set of glow sticks, tuck one glow stick inside each egg. Hide them around the yard or inside your home. Then, send the kids to find them.

Have a backyard plastic egg hunt.

Every year, the Easter bunny leaves plastic eggs filled with jelly beans in our yard and I anticipate he will do the same this year. 😉 If you are unable to be outside, then hide plastic eggs inside your home. 

In the days leading up to Easter, why not switch things up and stuff letters inside the plastic eggs? This is great for young ones just learning the alphabet or phonics for struggling readers, like my nine year old dyslexic son who uses the Orton-Gillingham approach to letter sounds.

For the OG method, I used two different colored markers – black marker for consonants and blends and a pink marker for vowels. I cut up index cards into small inch squares and wrote the letters and blends on each square. Then, I stuffed a letter sound or blend in each egg. When my son saw me assembling this game, he jumped into help fill the eggs. “Mom, y needs to be in the yellow egg for the “ya” sound.” Absolutely, son. 🙂

Create stained glass sidewalk chalk art.

Using painter’s tape, create a geometric design on your driveway or sidewalk. Then, color each shape a different color. See the full directions for Stained Glass SideWalk Chalk Art at Your Modern Family.

Make an origami cross.

Since no one can attend a Palm Sunday service and receive a palm, try making an origami cross.

Play Easter charades.

My nine year old son is obsessed with charades lately and every evening, he directs encourages the entire family to play along. 

For an Easter version of this classic game, fill plastic eggs with folded cards containing Easter related words to be acted out, such as parade, bonnet, bunny, etc. Each person takes a turn choosing an egg and then mimes the word or phrase on the card. The person who guesses the correct answer gets to keep the egg and then takes the next turn. The winner is the person with the most eggs at the end of the game. 

Print out the Easter charade cards in color or black and white here.

Create an Easter egg bunting.

Print out this paint chip printable onto cardstock or thick paper. Then, cut the rectangular shapes into egg shapes. Punch small holes on either side of the egg. Using ribbon or twine, string the eggs together like lacing a shoe (over, under). Then, festoon your bunting across the wall or above a window.

Make an Easter Wreath

Grab your glue gun and search around your house for a wire coat hanger, some artificial flowers and plastic eggs. Then, follow these steps from wikihow to assemble your wreath.

Or try this making this coat hanger wreath using upcycled mesh sponges and plastic eggs.

Do the Bunny Hop.

Have you ever done the Bunny Hop? It’s actually good silly fun! Make some paper bunny ears and shake your cottontail! Learn the dance steps basics by watching the video below.

What Easter activities do you plan to do with your kids during quarantine?

If you need more Easter activity ideas, follow my Easter Fun Pinterest board.

After Easter, use up all that Easter candy with my favorite shortbread candy bar recipe.