Easter Family Fun at Home

Waking up to see what the Easter Bunny left is almost as exciting as looking for Santa's gifts. But Easter festivities don't need to be limited to eating the ears off a chocolate rabbit. Our REALTORS® have some great suggestions for family time before the big day. 

• Dyeing Boiled Eggs
  While this option seems intuitive, we certainly couldn't bypass it. You'll find any number of kits at every grocery store, filled with the tools to complete the task as well as decorative augmentations. If you prefer to do the job the old-fashioned way, just line up a cup for each color and add ten or more drops of food coloring to each. Add one teaspoon of vinegar and 1/2 cup of boiling water. Place the eggs in the cups for about ten minutes before removing them with tongs or a slotted spoon.
  
  
• Embellish the Colored Eggs
  The sky's the limit when it comes to adding fancy decorations to the dyed eggs. Some of our favorites are glitter, watercolor paints, and colored markers. But for the most fun with the least mess, little ones go crazy over stickers. From superheroes to dinosaurs, the dollar stores offer dozens of options your kids will love. They are inexpensive and colorful. For unique designs with a delicate result, try temporary tattoos. They cling to eggs as well as they do to skin and transform plain to breathtaking in seconds.
  
  
• Make Easter Bunny Helpers
  If you want to help the Bunny, you have to have bunny ears. Pull out the construction paper, scissors, and glue. Cut strips of white paper about two inches wide and make headbands. Cut rabbit ears from white paper and smaller ones from pink. Glue the pink on top of the white and attach them to the headbands. Your staff of helpers is now ready to make small baskets. If you can find them, Chinese take-out baskets work very well, but if you can't, use large disposable plastic cups. For safety's sake, you can replace the wire handle with half-inch grosgrain ribbon. Punch two holes at the top of the plastic cups and add ribbon handles. A bit of paper grass, an egg, and maybe a piece of candy or two and you will have lovely little baskets. You can embellish them with stickers to make them even more festive. When the kids have completed their projects, they can deliver the baskets to the neighbors, family friends, or relatives to brighten their days as well.
  
  
• Hide and Hunt the Eggs
  Whether confined to the backyard or in a local park, an Easter egg hunt is a long-time tradition. To create the perfect hunt, don't worry about making the eggs difficult to find. That only results in finding rotten eggs in July. Just make sure the brightly-colored prizes are spaced as far apart as possible to allow each child the opportunity to collect them in their baskets. If there is a large age disparity among the hunters, either allocate an area specifically for the youngest or just give them a head start so the oldest kids don't get them all.
  
  
• Enjoy an Easter Snack
  Shell a few hard-boiled eggs and soak them in the egg dyes. The whites will absorb the colors beautifully. You can serve them with crackers, pickles, or olives. Make deviled eggs and add chopped vegetables or bacon bits for a tasty treat. Egg salad sandwiches are another healthy option. 

Looking for the perfect venue for your Easter gathering? You'll find Mansfield and Ashland homes for sale offer plenty of opportunities. Contact us when you're ready for your own hunt!