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Easter Activities to do with your Kids on Easter Day- Easter Eggs, Easter Bunnies, and Easter Games

Submitted by Staff on Thu, 2010-03-18 17:06
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Kids' Easter Activities and Games for Your Easter Gathering

1. Egg Hunt

An egg hunt is an easy game to play outside or if it is too cold or wet you can do inside your house.  Fill plastic eggs with a candy, snack or small, inexpensive item.

 

2. Egg, Duck or Rabbit Guessing Game

Fill a Large Basket with eater grass and fill the surface with plastic eggs. Some eggs should have a mark or sticker on the bottom of the egg and some should be blank. The kids get a small prize if the egg they select has a dot or sticker on the bottom.

 

3.  Scoop the Eggs

Get a Large Round Plastic or Metal Container and fill it with water. Find a Scoop, Laddle or Toy Net and let kids dip for eggs. You can either give each kid 30 seconds to scoop as many eggs as they can. give little prizes or a piece of candy for the number of eggs they scoop up.

 

4. Egg Shell Game

Just like the Original Shell Game you will need 3 Colorful Cups or Tins and an Easter Egg.  One person will hide the egg under 1 of the cups and then someone will guess where the egg is hiding.  Each child will take a turn guessing where the egg is hidden.  Even Adults can get in on the fun.  You can always award a piece of candy or a small item if they guess correctly.

Easter Egg Hunt for Kids With A Fun Twist

Submitted by Staff on Thu, 2010-03-18 15:14
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Imagine … 

It’s Easter morning, the egg hunt is over.  What’s that noise?  It’s certainly not the normal sugar-induced-race-around-the-house-finger-painting-the-walls-with-chocolate-stained-fingers noise that typically follows the traditional egg hunt. 

No, this year it’s the sound of quiet giggles.  You inch your way closer to their bedroom door and hear … friendly bartering for tickets?  You shake your head to clear the obvious static and lean in a little closer … Surely they are fighting because one of them ate all of his favorite peanut butter chocolate nuggets and ‘conveniently’ forgot that the green basket belongs to his brother as he ‘innocently’ helped himself to a another. 

You brush off the fleeting thought that perhaps your hearing is failing already as you adjust your Mommy Antenna to hear more clearly.  There, now you can hear, the sounds of … yes, that IS quiet giggling and friendly bartering!  

Panic sets in!  Who stole your kids and replaced them with what sounds like gentle, joyful, well-behaved negotiators? 

Irish Wishing Rocks Game Is A Fun Family Game Kids Can Make & Play for St Patricks

Submitted by sharon on Sat, 2010-02-27 17:31
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At ZiggityZoom we love to play family games.  In fact, we like to play so much that we even invent our own games from time to time.  Our newest game that the whole family can play is called the Irish Wishing Rocks game that was created by our creative director.

The concept of play is simple yet fun and the game can be made quickly.  The whole family can help to make the game and then also play.  You only need 12 small, smooth stones about the same size or you can make them out of  craft clay, such as Sculpey, that you bake in the oven for a few minutes.  If you don't want to use stones, you can substitute 12 plastic discs or make them out of cardboard.  The important thing is to have 12 small obects, all the same, that can be marked on one side with marker or stick on letters.

The object of the game is to get all the letters that spell Irish.  I-R-I-S-H  The first person who can spell Irish, by "wishing" and choosing, wins the game.  Fun for kids of all ages.

RULES :

Fun Christmas Site For Kids Visit the North Pole with Santa and His Reindeer

Submitted by Staff on Fri, 2009-12-18 11:05
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Ho Ho Ho ... what a fun site to visit before Christmas ... Northpole.com !  Downloads, games, e-cards, and stories keep kids busy until the big night, when they can actually track Santa with NORAD. There’s even a huge area for parents, with printables perfect for homeschooling and a ton of recipes.

Kids can check out Santa's workshop, read stories about Santa, the elves and reindeer, chat with Santa's elves, and print out fun activities.

Tons of things for teachers too, including basic skills and printable flash cards.  It's a fun-filled site for preschool kids and kids in general.

Fun Marshmallow Igloo You Can Make for A Christmas Holiday Centerpiece

Submitted by Staff on Sun, 2009-12-06 16:06
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This is a fun food project that your whole family will have fun making.  It's an Igloo made from large marshmallows. Kids love to play with food, so this will be a favorite activity for the Christmas season.

Ours is put together with pretzel sticks, but you can also use white icing to "glue" the marshmallows together, like a gingerbread house. So break out those marshmallows and get started.  

See complete instructions in our Activity section.

Kids Can Make Fun SnowGlobes with This Fun Family Craft Activity for Christmas

Submitted by Staff on Sun, 2009-12-06 13:37
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Snowglobes ... who doesn't love them ... they are mesmerizing and fun to play with, even for adults.  So imagine the fun kids will have making and playing with these cute little snowglobes.

Ours are only made from plastic jars or bottles, including small mayonnaise jars and a new little round Coca Cola bottle that coke just introduced this holiday season.  We're actually very excited about this particular little bottle and we are hoping the Coca Cola people keep these going all year.  Really ... I have been keeping my eyes open for something like this for a SnowGlobe project for ages and I can think of other fun uses for during the year.

To make the snowglobes, the main thing is finding an appropriate little figure or ornament that will fit into your jar or bottle.  The mayonnaise jars are easy to find items, but the little round coke bottles are more difficult.  I suggest looking in craft stores and anywhere you might find mini-ornaments.

Also, let me clue you in ... some other sites will suggest that you use mineral oil or baby oil to fill your globe.  Don't bother even trying this or wasting your money.  My first attempt was with mineral oil and it wasn't pretty!  Not only do you have to find this items in the store, but it was so sloudy looking and the glitter seemed to stay suspended in the oil.  Water, which is free, worked really well and you get a very pretty snow swirling around.

For complete instructions, go to our SnowGlobe activity here on ZiggityZoom.

Make Christmas Ornaments with the Kids with This Easy Salt Dough Recipe

Submitted by Staff on Wed, 2009-12-02 15:34
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Salt dough is an easy dough that you can make with basic kitchen ingredients.  It is perfect for making Christmas ornaments with the kids.

There are two basic recipes, one uses only flour and salt, the other adds in vegetable oil.  There are a few differences, so read recipe through before starting.  Store your salt dough in a sealed container in the refrigerator, but usually not more than a couple of days.

Basic Salt Dough

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup of salt
  • 1 cup of flour
  • 1/2 cup of water

Instructions:

  • In a large bowl, combine the salt and the flour
  • Make a well in the salt/flour mixture and add the water
  • Knead until smooth and shape into a ball
  • When not in use, wrap in plastic or store in an airtight container

    To get a softer dough you can add more flour. Adding more salt will lend a more granulous affect. To add color to your dough, add food coloring or paint. Knead to get an even color. Paint your ornaments and sculptures after they dry.

Recipe with Oil

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups flour
  • 1 cup salt
  • 1 -1/2 cups hot tap water
  • 2 tsp vegetable oil

Instructions:

  • Combine salt and flour in a bowl
  • Gradually add water until dough becomes elastic
  • Add vegetable oil

    If dough is too sticky ... add more flour....too crumbly....add more water. For colored dough, add food coloring or paint into water before adding to dry ingredients. Or simply paint your ornaments after they dry (either air dry or bake at 200 degrees F). Painted ornaments will need to be sealed with clear varnish.

Thanksgiving Holiday Traditions-Sharing the Traditions We Love

Submitted by Staff on Wed, 2009-11-18 21:19
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I am fortunate to have a good size family (no those are not all my kids!). I have 3 brothers and a sister and every year we are close enough to be able to get everyone together with their families for a night to have a Thanksgiving Celebration. I wanted to share some of our Family Traditions in hopes it might inspire you to start a new family tradition or share one of your family traditions with us.

Thanksgiving

1.A newer family tradition we like to do is read stories about Thanksgiving for several days before Thanksgiving Day. I think that stretches out the Holiday longer and gives our kids a better sense of what Thanksgiving is all about.

We also read a Thanksgiving story the day of Thanksgiving.

2. We go Around the Table and Say what we are Thankful for.
Seriously, if someone has a problem with this maybe they should not come - they have a year of things to be thankful for, at the very least for the meal! And I love hearing the kids comments-probably worth writing down to pull out years later.

3. Let the Kids Help Make Placecard/Name Holders for the Thanksgiving Table.
I remember doing this when I was little and I loved helping putting the Name Spots where someone was going to sit. It is also great to let your kids help make a centerpiece or help set the table.

Kids in the Kitchen - the Little Chefs in Your House

Submitted by sharon on Mon, 2009-03-23 19:19
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I'm sure you've noticed that little kids love to bake.  They always want to help in the kitchen.  And at our house the favorite thing to bake is cookies!  Even though, at times, we just want to hurry and get done we can't forget to think back to what it's like to be a child.  Can you remember times helping your own mom in the kitchen?

Baking a cookie to a child is like making a gourmet meal to us.  They feel such a sense of accomplishment when those cookies come out of the oven, don't they?  We need to remember to feed their little egos and help build their self esteem, even with things as simple as baking cookies.

And when your child has an interest in cooking other things, try to encourage that interest.  Find a good cookbook for kids, like one of the ones we have listed below.  You may even want to go choose a cookbook with your child from the bookstore.  Then let them choose a recipe to make and buy the ingredients together, if you don't have all the necessary things at home.  You'd be surprised at how many grownup Chefs actually started cooking when they were very little.

Here are a few books that you might consider:

William-Sonoma: The Kid's Cookbook: A Great Book for Kids Who Love to Cook! (Williams-Sonoma Lifestyles)

Fun Things to Do During the Easter Holiday Vacation

Submitted by sharon on Tue, 2009-03-17 19:47
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Easter break is fast approaching and with many children having an entire week off for Easter now is the time to plan some fun activities.  We don't want to take away from the religious significance of Easter but, as parents, we all know that it is best to have some activities planned when the kids have off for a length of time.

Considering the current economy, trying to find activities that are inexpensive or free are on most parents minds this Easter.  But we all want to have fun and enjoy family time whenever possible. 

We have some fun suggestions that you might want to try this year and maybe even incorporate some of these activities into a new Easter holiday tradition. 

1.  Decorate Eggs to give to the neighbors.  We all usually have little gifts to give neighbors at Christmas, but why not at Easter?  Sharing a little basket of hand-decorated eggs is a great way to spread good cheer.

2.  Plan an Easter play.  Let the kids have an Easter play and they can decide how it plays out.  Maybe it will be a bunny theme or a duck theme or even a religious theme.  Let them pick a convenient time and the family can plan to "attend."

3.  Visit a Petting Zoo.  Most areas have a petting zoo close by and this is a fun time of the year to go see Easter lambs and Easter bunnies.

4.  Have an Easter Parade.  Are their kids in your neighborhood or some cousins that visit at Easter?  Plan a parade that the kids can dress up with fancy hats they make or as a bunny or duck, etc.  Serve some punch and cookies after the parade.

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