We don’t celebrate Easter in the traditional sense but I do have fond memories of dying eggs (and eating Peeps) as a child and decided I wanted to share the experience of the eggs with my children.
One of our favorite Spring books is Millie’s Chickens and at the end there is information about how to care for chickens and different ways to cook eggs. Today, of course we hard boiled them. We read the story and talked about the different ways eggs can be prepared then we got to work with ours!
We experimented with some natural dyes with things we had on hand (frozen blueberries, turmeric, and coffee). Ultimately we ended up diving into the good old fashioned dye and some glitter to achieve some brighter colors.
I don’t like eggs (I know, I know, unbelievable…) but my youngest loved cracking right in and eating the eggs while we worked. In fact, she took to smashing them on the ground just so she could eat them, I think. Maybe it was just fun to smash them!
We had a wonderful time enjoying the spring weather and experiencing this tradition in our own way. Maybe tomorrow I’ll get some Peeps!
To read more about Millie or get your own copy of the book click here.
If chickens and eggs are really your thing check out this Board game- Count Your Chickens. It’s a wonderful game that calls for collaboration rather than competition.
To make your own natural dyes you can simply simmer the ingredient of choice for about 30 minutes. Add a few tablespoons of vinegar and let your eggs soak away! The longer you leave them in, he richer the color!
Happy Spring!
Very nice, SJ! I bet the kids would love to have their own chicken coop, or at least be able to enjoy one at their grandparents’ house…