The Easter Bunny has come and gone, but fake grass, plastic eggs, and lots of candies are here to stay. Want to make the most of your Easter baskets? See some fun ideas below on how to repurpose some items in fun, interesting, and educational ways.
Sensory Bin
Use your leftover easter grass to make a sensory bin! Place grass in an open container and hide items/toys of various sizes in the grass. Have your child use their hands to search for the items, relying on their sense of touch. To make this activity more challenging, have your child close their eyes or wear a blindfold and try to guess what each item is based on touch.
Fine Motor Eggs
Use an empty cardboard egg carton to work on fine motor skills! Use tweezers to pick up pom poms or small toys and place them into the egg carton. This helps work on fine motor skills and hand strengthening, which are important for handwriting and self-care skills such as zipping zippers and buttoning buttons.
Egg Surprise
Repurpose plastic eggs by placing small pieces of food inside (both new and preferred foods) and have fun opening and exploring each food with all senses (i.e. smell, touch, taste, vision). This can be a fun way to introduce new foods and expose kids to different textures.
Scavenger Hunt
Hide letters or numbers around your home/yard and have your child use their easter basket to collect them. Once they have found all the items, you can practice writing or making the letters/numbers with playdough or arranging small candies. This can help kids work on visual motor skills needed to recognize letters, visual tracking skills needed to locate items in a busy environment, and fine motor skills needed to manipulate small objects or improve handwriting skills.
Egg Race
Have an egg race using a spoon and plastic or hard boiled egg. Have the child walk across the yard or down the hall balancing the egg on the spoon. Make the activity more challenging by adding in obstacles to avoid or giving your child directions on how they have to move their body (i.e. hop like a bunny!). This helps work on motor planning and coordination needed to keep the egg from falling off the spoon.