5 easy Easter activities for kids

There are more to egg hunts than chocolate eggs, the real fun is in searching and discovering. Did you know almost 1/3 of the weight of a traditional chocolate egg comes from its packaging? Avoid the excess packaging by hiding different kinds of treats around the house, you could even use homemade snacks if you want to be totally plastic-free. If they're unwrapped, you could create a trail clues to follow and eventually lead to a box of the treats.

If you have a garden space, you could even make it a nature hunt and get the egg hunters to find certain types of plants, insects, birds or different coloured stones and leaves. Use an app like Seek to help you identify different kinds of plants and animals, so you can learn about nature while you play.

Eggshells can be perfect little containers to start growing new seeds. Simply poke a hole in the bottom of the shells for drainage and fill each one with soil and a few seeds. Spray with water to keep moist rather than pouring as they’re such small containers. Once they start to sprout and are large enough that they need to come out of the shell, you can move them into a bigger pot or into the ground outside.

Top tip: when planting out, crack the shell to allow the roots to grow but leave it buried with your plant as it can provide lots of nutrients. If you’ve already decorated your egg shells, don’t worry! You can get planting in the egg carton too by following the same steps.

Got some eggs in the kitchen? You can have just as much fun decorating as cooking them, and this is a great no-waste activity to rescue egg shells from the bin. Simply pierce the shell with a needle and blow out the egg to use for cooking later. Boil the egg with natural dyes like turmeric, purple cabbage or spinach and watch it turn the colours of Easter! Add final touches with pens and stickers but remember to be gentle with the egg.

Top tip: you can use the leftover water from boiling eggs to water your plants (once it's cooled down, of course).

New chicks hatching is a popular image for Easter, so why not channel that spirit and feed your local birds? You can make your own easy bird feed mix using ingredients such as seeds, nuts and unsalted and unsweetened peanut butter, oats and even fruit. Simply chop them up small and mix together. Different species of birds like different things, so having a mix will attract different kinds. Leave it out with some fresh water in your garden or on your windowsill, and get observing.

There’s plenty of fun to be had with a simple piece of paper! When sorting out the wrappers from your chocolate eggs into recyclable foil and non-recyclable plastic, keep any bits of paper and cardboard and see what you can create with them. You could try learning origami shapes (chicks and bunnies of course), weaving a paper basket, having a drawing competition or playing Pictionary. We love these rabbit themed paper crafts – there's something for every-bunny!