Easter is one of the most anticipated celebrations in the United States, not just as a spring holiday but also a symbolic and meaningful commemoration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
In this article, we’ll explore a range of exciting and hands-on Easter activities designed to make the celebration fun, meaningful, and memorable for children of all ages.
| Activity | Best For |
|---|---|
| Decorating Boiled Eggs | Ages 3–7 |
| Easter Egg Hunts | Ages 3–11 |
| Baking Hot Cross Buns | Ages 7–11 |
| Making Chocolate Nests | Ages 4–8 |
| Easter Colouring | Ages 3–8 |
| Easter Bonnet Making | Ages 4–8 |
| Egg Dance | Ages 5–10 |
| Easter Storytime | All ages |
| Science Experiments | Ages 4–11 |
| Math Games | Ages 3–8 |
| Nature Walks & Picnic | All ages |
| Movie Marathon & Puzzles | All ages |
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🍪 Food Activities for Easter
Easter celebrations in the US are often marked by delicious treats like chocolate eggs, candy peeps, and other festive foods that children love to make and enjoy.
🥚Decorating Boiled Eggs
While chocolate eggs are more popular these days, real eggs were traditionally decorated and given at Easter in the US. Eggs are often associated with the symbol of new life and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
To kickstart this activity, pick a simple theme, whether it's emojis, animals, movie characters, or food, to give the kids a point of reference and prepare the necessary color dyes, papers, and brushes.1
Suggested age group: 3–7 years old (suitable for kids in preschool, elementary school, or even Sunday School)
Why it's perfect for kids to enjoy: Kids can develop their motor skills while painting, drawing, and cutting colored paper. It's also super safe and simple, with no complex instructions.
🏃 Easter Egg Hunts
Next, let’s explore one of the staple activities of Easter — the Easter egg hunt.
Whether it's a large outdoor egg hunt at several English heritage sites or planning a backyard egg hunt at your own home, it's a fun and meaningful activity for children of different age groups.
Suggested age group: 3–11 years (with adult supervision, especially for outdoor areas)
Why it's perfect for kids to enjoy: It is a great physical activity that encourages teamwork and persistence.
Additionally, it fosters healthy competition, making the activity engaging from beginning to end.
🍞 Baking Hot Cross Buns
Apart from eggs, hot cross buns are traditionally eaten on Good Friday. Eaten warm with butter, the buns are marked with a cross symbol (using icing) to commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
This baking activity involves simple mixing, shaping, and decorating without complex skills, so it's a fun way for older kids to get creative in the kitchen.
Suggested age group: 7–11 years
Why it's perfect for kids to enjoy: Expose children to simple baking concepts and instructions like yeast baking, frosting, measuring, and kneading.
🍫 Making Easter Chocolate Nests
While the chocolate nest has no roots in the religious significance of Easter, this dessert is commonly made by families, schools, and local communities today during the celebrations because it doesn't require baking.
Here's a simple egg-free, nut-free, chocolate nest recipe you can make with your kids:
Ingredients & Materials
- 2.5 cups of chocolate of your choice (dark, white, or milk)
- 1.5 cups of cornflakes, lightly crushed
- 40-50 mini chocolate eggs
- 2 tbsp golden syrup
- 16 paper cupcake cases
Instructions
- Break the chocolate into pieces and melt in a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water, stirring until smooth.
- Remove from the heat and mix in the golden syrup. Fold in the crushed cornflakes until evenly coated.
- Divide the mixture among cupcake cases, using the back of a teaspoon to create a hollow in the centre of each nest.
- Place mini chocolate eggs into each hollow and refrigerate for at least 1 hour until firm.
Suggested age group: 4–8 years old
Why it's perfect for kids to enjoy: No actual baking process, simple and fun indoor activity where it's easy to monitor under adult supervision
🌈 Art Activities for Easter
If you are looking for artsy Easter activities for kids, here are our recommendations.
🎨 Easter Coloring
Easter coloring is a widely practiced activity in nurseries, elementary schools, churches, and homes during the Easter season.
This activity is highly accessible, as numerous educational websites provide free printable coloring pages featuring Easter themes such as bunnies, decorated eggs, lambs, and spring flowers.
Suggested age group: 3–8 years (can be easily adaptable according to difficulty levels)
Why it's perfect for kids: Coloring develops fine motor control and pencil grip. It also encourages creativity and color recognition, suitable for solo and group settings.
✂️ Easter Bonnet Making
Many US elementary schools hold annual Easter Bonnet Parades as part of the celebration, where children display their completed bonnets featuring eggs, spring flowers, chicks, and other Easter motifs, then parade them around the school.
Easter bonnets trace back to early Christian traditions in the US, symbolizing renewal and rebirth with new spring clothes for Easter church services. It became popular during the Victorian era, later becoming a fashion statement towards the 20th and 21st centuries. 2
Materials
- Plain straw hat or a homemade cardboard hat band and brim (cardboard tube + round rim).
- Artificial eggs (plastic or wooden) and mini chocolate eggs for decorations
- Faux flowers or tissue paper flowers.
- Fluffy chick figures or craft chicks.
- Feathers, ribbons, and colorful cards (for decorations)
- Scissors, craft glue, or a glue gun
- Tape and markers
Instructions
- Use a plain straw hat or make a simple one from cardboard (a strip for the head and a round brim taped on)
- Cover the hat with pastel tissue paper or colored paper
- Glue fake or paper flowers around the brim
- Glue small plastic or craft eggs onto the hat.
- Stick on fluffy chicks, bunnies, or butterflies.
- Tie ribbon around the hat and add feathers or glitter
- Leave it to dry completely
Suggested age group: 4–8 years old
Why it's perfect for kids: This is an easy easter craft that encourages boundless creativity in design and promotes confidence through participation in a parade.
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😄 Interactive Activities for Easter
Looking for more "action-packed" and animated Easter games?
💃 Egg Dance
Popularized throughout late medieval Europe, the egg dance was often performed by couples who had to dance between many raw eggs on the ground.
Later, it evolved to be a traditional Easter game that includes hopping, where the players will be blindfolded and dance while hopping with one leg without breaking any raw eggs.3
Fun tip: You can modify this activity by substituting plastic or card eggs for raw eggs to keep things neater indoors, but you can absolutely spice things up with real, boiled eggs when you're outdoors.
Suggested age group: 5–10 years
Why it's perfect for kids: It is a social and interactive activity that enhances balance and coordination in a fun setting, and is adaptable for indoor or outdoor spaces.
📖 Easter Storytime
Next, you could also read Easter-themed stories to children, emphasizing the religious and cultural significance of the celebration.
Here are some book recommendations:
| Title | Author/Illustrator | Age Range | Key Features | Significance and relevance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Easter Story | Brian Wildsmith | 3-7 | Follows Jesus from Palm Sunday to resurrection via a donkey's view; vivid illustrations. | Ties to US church processions and spring walks. |
| The Garden, The Curtain, and the Cross | Carl Laferton | 4-8 | Explains separation from God and resurrection access using garden/temple imagery. | Reflects Sunday school teaching styles. |
| The Tale of Three Trees | Angela Elwell Hunt | 4-9 | Trees fulfill dreams through Jesus' life, cross, and empty tomb. | Echoes folklore storytelling traditions. |
| The Story of Easter | Fiona Boon | 0-4 | Rhyming board book on death and resurrection with simple text. | Suits nursery rhyme culture like Hot Cross Buns songs. |
| Good News! It's Easter! | Glenys Nellist | 2-5 | Rhymes nature's renewal (tulips, leaves) with Jesus rising. | Links to spring flower festivals and bonnets. |
Explore these lovely Easter songs that you can teach the children during the celebration.
📝 Educational Activities for Easter
If you are a teacher in kindergarten or elementary school, here's how you can add an educational twist to Easter fun to help your students stay engaged throughout this celebration.
🧪 Science Experiments
The Easter eggs can be used to teach students about simple Science principles through these two simple experiments:
Dissolving an Eggshell in Vinegar
- Place a raw egg in a clear glass and cover it with vinegar. Leave it for 24 to 48 hours.
- Expected results: The shell will dissolve, leaving a soft, rubbery “bouncy” egg.
- Best for students aged 5–11 (with adult supervision)
Floating Egg Test (Fresh vs. Old Eggs)
- Place eggs in two different bowls of water, one labelled for fresh eggs, another labelled as old eggs
- Expected results: Fresh eggs sink, while older eggs float due to air trapped inside.
- Best for students aged 4–10
Learning outcomes: Through these two experiments, children will learn about basic chemical reactions (acid reacting with calcium carbonate and concepts of density and buoyancy.
➕ Math Games
Here are two activities to teach your students early numeracy skills and basic arithmetic.
Counting and Sorting Jellybeans
- Give children a small pile of jellybeans or mini eggs.
- Ask them to sort by color, count each group, and compare which has more or fewer.
- Best for students aged 3–6
Chocolate Egg Addition and Subtraction
- Prepare mini chocolate eggs as props
- Ask them basic arithmetic questions based on adding or removing the eggs
- Best for students aged 5–8
Learning outcomes: Through these two activities, children build confidence to count and grasp abstract number concepts (adding, subtracting) through concrete objects (like eggs or jellybeans).
🍃 Recreational Easter Activities
If you're a parent planning for slower-paced Easter activities with friends in your local neighborhood, here are some ideas for outdoor play and indoor stay.
🦋 Outdoor activities
First, you can organize nature walks to observe springtime changes, such as the budding trees and blooming flowers. Additionally, you can come up with a mission list for the children to collect specific flowers or leaves for crafts.
After the nature walk, you can gather the children and families for an Easter picnic with themed games and foods.
🎬 Indoor activities
You can enjoy a cozy indoor Easter celebration without worrying about the unpredictable weather with family and friends, too. One way to do it is plan a movie marathon and watch Easter-themed or spring-themed movies or cartoons suitable for children. Some examples include The King of Kings and Peter Rabbit.
After the movie, you can also engage in Easter jigsaw puzzles or board games as a family.
We hope you've enjoyed the above activity recommendations for kids during Easter. Have a lovely and warm celebration!
References
- Decorating Easter Eggs! | Downshire Primary School. (2022). Downshireps.co.uk; Downshire Primary School. https://www.downshireps.co.uk/decorating-easter-eggs/
- Alam, P. (2024, October 8). The History and Tradition of Easter Bonnet. British Wire. https://britishwire.co.uk/the-history-and-tradition-of-easter-bonnet/
- Traditional Easter Games. (2024). English Heritage. https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/easter/traditional-easter-games/
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