Best of Parent Hacks: Easter fun

Easter baskets are on their way! We're Jewish so we have other seasonal treats to look forward to (Mmmm. Matzoh.), but at least one Cadbury Creme Egg sneaks into our house every year. We also participate in an annual egg hunt with our neighbors which is incredibly fun.

Speaking of Easter, we've got lots of tips hiding in the archives:

Tips for dyeing Easter eggs with toddlers

What to do with empty plastic Easter eggs

Use watercolors to decorate Easter eggs

Veggie Booty as Easter basket "grass"

Getting marks off of Easter shoes

Use shredded paper as gift packing insulation

Dye raw eggs for Easter

Cookie decorating hack: Ice cube tray as frosting "palette"

Egg shakers: a non-candy Easter basket alternative

If you've got a favorite Easter hack, I'd love to hear it! Comment here or email it to me at hacks@parenthacks.com.

Comments

[Jill in Atlanta]

Valentine's Day? My 6yo informed us a few weeks ago that the next "Candy Holiday" was St. Patrick's Day because the Leprechaun would be bringing chocolate coins. I believe the kindergarten teacher last year was responsible for that one. I did not continue the lovely tradition.

[Anisa]

Here are more ideas of what the Easter Bunny can bring besides chocolate - like flower seeds, stickers, colorful pencils and more.
http://kidoinfo.com/ri/what-does-the-easter-bunny-bring/

[dot]

Thanks for the great list... I tried the Veggie Booty hack last year, my husband thought I was crazy :) I thought it was a great idea!

It's not truly a hack, but for the crafty people, here's a pattern and instructions a friend of mine did to make your own basket: http://tinyurl.com/celo3c

[Kyotocutie]

Along with Anisa's recommendations of alternative, non-candy, basket stuffers, I'd like to suggest canning the basket too! What am I gonna do with a bunch of pink baskets? I've used lunch boxes, upturned baseball caps, waste baskets, sand buckets, tumblers, pencil boxes, you name it! Anything that can be used instead of stored :)

[Nic]

Hello everyone,

I saw the article about Easter and am I am really looking forward to Easter this year as my sister is coming home from America, so that will be really nice. Easter is one of those religious festivals that can turn out to be quite stressful, what with all the family over demanding attention, and having to cook lunch for everyone... the list goes on, so this article will be most helpful. I always find Easter greetings cards quite expensive, and I really don't like giving my hard earned cash to those big greetings card companies. So I may have found an alternative solution in the form of electronic greetings cards. Not only do they save paper, and stamps, but as long as you opt for a free site then the Easter e-Card is going to be free. I have done my research and have found a really lovely Free Easter e-Card site. I like this site as I found it so easy to use, which is great because I am not very confident with computers, also I liked the wide range of choice of cards they offer. There are loads of e-Card sites out there, so it maybe worth doing your own research in order to find the best one. Hope everyone has a great Easter whatever you decide to get up to.

[Jess]

You're Jewish? We are, too! Do you know any Passover hacks? A seder is a long time for kids to sit at the table. Do you have a favorite Haggadah for kids? Thanks!

[MidlifeMidwife]

We're Jewish, too, but not traditionally observant. Our Passover Haggadah is of the cut-and-paste variety, runs about 10 xeroxed pages, lasts 1/2 hour, and includes things for the kids to do at certain points of the Seder. Plus, everyone dresses up like Jews leaving Egypt (think of the movie "The Ten Commandments"), we use plastic bugs and other toys to act out the plagues, we sing Debbie Friedman songs, and celebrate Miriam's cup as well as Elijah's.

Two members of our extended family live in Israel and come to America every couple of years at Passover. They are fascinated by Easter egg dye kits and always take them home for their grandchildren in Israel.

[Rita]

The first year I made an Easter basket for my oldest, I included a new pair of pjs, since the season change precipitated the need for some new lighter weight ones. Of course, the next year as Easter approached, my daughter was very excited about the prospect of new pjs from Easter bunny--I had to hustle to find some at the last minute. Also planning to include some fun socks this year.

[monera]

We put coins in our easter egg, that way they can save up for something they really want.

[mobilephone3]

very different festival , happy Easter day . I like the color egg!