Easter Activities For The Infants Classroom
Easter can be a fun time in the classroom. There are many ways you can build excitement with your students prior to the Easter break, but as busy, time-poor teachers, we need quick and easy activities to prepare. So that’s where I come in. Read below for ideas to use in your classroom
Things to collect:
Easter stickers to give as rewards
Egg cups
Watercress seeds
Easter templates
Chocolate eggs of all sizes
Craft materials
Easter-related texts
Writing
Decorate and write a message on an Easter card for your mum and dad – will need a card template to copy on cardboard
Write a narrative from the point of view of the Easter Bunny
Write a procedure ‘How to Decorate an Easter Egg’
Complete an acrostic poem using the letters of Easter
As a class, make a list of all Easter vocabulary words you can think of to add to the word wall
Read
Share Easter theme-related books e.g How To Catch The Easter Bunny by Adam Wallace, The Easter Bunny’s Helpers by Anne Mangan, Yoga Bunny by Brian Russo, and Everybunny Dance by Ellie Sandall
Co-Operative Games
Easter Trivia – can be played individually, in partners, or in teams. Consider twenty questions related to Easter to ask the children.
Easter Bunny Says similar to Simon Says – no materials needed
Colouring competition - copy an Easter scene drawing for students to colour
Follow directions to draw an Easter Bunny/Easter Scene
Pin The Tail on the Bunny – will need a bunny cut out and some cotton ball tails with masking tape attached
Craft
Make a Chicken – will need a template
Do a directed drawing of a Bunny – plenty of examples on Youtube to watch
Make and decorate an Easter Bunny headband – will need a cardboard band and craft materials
Decorate a Bunny – will need a bunny cut out in any colour and white cotton balls and white paint. Children use cotton balls to paint their cut-outs white and then add a colourful cotton ball tail
Creating
Have the class contribute to a Happy Easter sign for the classroom – cardboard and crayons, random craft pieces
Make Easter Baskets – you will need a template and copy it on cardboard. Students can place the basket on their desk at the end of the day and after school, the teacher can fill them with Easter eggs. Option to make bunny footprints on the floor using powder to surprise the children in the morning
Make Egg Heads – Draw a face on the outside of an egg carton/cup. Fill it with cotton wool. Sprinkle watercress seeds over the top. Water it each day. Watch the hair grow. Give the children to take home
Playdough Eggs – will need playdough – encourage children to make eggs out of playdough. Use paddle pop sticks to decorate their eggs. They could also make bunnies out of the dough
Easter Cooking
Iced biscuits – 1 packet of arrowroot biscuits, 2 ½ cups of icing sugar, ½ cup water, food colouring, something to decorate with - jelly beans, hundreds and thousands, smarties, choc chips
Decorative Easter Eggs – need to collect eggshells well in advance. Piece a hole in the top and another slightly bigger in the bottom and blow through the top to remove the egg yolk. ½ cup boiling water, 2 teaspoons vinegar, ½ teaspoon food colouring. Mix together then dip eggs in for a few minutes. Use a crayon to draw shapes and decorations onto the egg then place it back into the dye for a further few minutes. Children will need to be gentle.
Eat carrots as a treat
Outside
Hold an Egg and Spoon Race in teams or against another class – you will need soup ladles and medium-sized chocolate eggs
Have an Easter Egg Hunt – means you will have to buy some chocolate eggs. Could also be done inside the classroom
Play Bunny, Bunny, Rabbit which is a take on Duck, Duck, Goose – no preparation needed
Compete in partners to do an Egg Toss – You will need large chocolate eggs. Rules – Line the class up in pairs. Facing each other. Partners throw the egg once at each other. If they catch it, they take a step back, so everyone stays all in a line. They then throw it back. If they catch it, the pair stay in and take a step further away. If someone drops or misses it they are eliminated from the game. The game continues until there is only one pair left in
Easter Egg Roll – again will need to buy some eggs if you want to play this game - who can roll it the furthest?
Easter Egg Roll with noses – have the children roll the chocolate eggs using only their noses. You can use hard-boiled or plastic eggs too
Teach your students the actions to ‘The Chicken Dance’ – either use a CD or song on YouTube
Watch
Movies - Such as Hop, Peter Rabbit, Rise of the Guardians, or The Dog Who Saved Easter
Songs
Little Bunny Foo Foo
Hot Cross Buns
Little Peter Rabbit
Here Comes Peter Cottontail
Do you have any activities, experiences, ideas to add to the list? Feel free to join the conversation and leave a comment below.