Easter Fun for Your Little One
Babies may not be old enough to eat real candy, but Easter is filled with enough eye candy to keep them engaged and delighted. Here are eight (sugar-free) ways to have fun with your baby this Easter.
Shake the Egg
A package of brightly colored plastic eggs can turn into a world of discovery for your baby. Let Baby watch you put objects such as pennies, dried beans, cotton balls, rice and Goldfish crackers into different eggs. Then gently shake each egg to show Baby the different sounds. Let Baby shake the eggs and make some Easter music, too — just make sure he doesn’t grab any of the objects inside the eggs (they’re choking hazards!).
Paint with Edible Colors
Cut out egg shapes using big pieces of construction paper. Then whip up some edible paint — just in case Baby decides to sample her color palette. To create edible paint, make some instant vanilla pudding and separate it into five or six different cups (or jam jars). Add drops of food coloring to each of the jars, creating whatever colors you like. Baby can smear the paint onto her egg using a brush, or her fingers.
Hunt for Eggs — On a Smaller Scale
It’s never too early for your baby’s first Easter egg hunt. If Baby is crawling or starting to cruise, set up a miniature egg hunt in your house. Put plastic eggs in places where their bright colors will catch your baby’s eye — on the couch, in the middle of the living room floor, in his playpen — then let him find them. If Baby isn’t as mobile yet, play a game of Plastic Egg Peekaboo: let him watch you put an egg under his favorite blanket, then pull off the blanket with a happy “peekaboo!”
Fill the Easter Basket — Again and Again
Get a soft felt basket and, instead of candy, fill it with baby-friendly items: stuffed bunnies, stuffed chicks, teething rings, plastic eggs. Let Baby explore the basket by dumping it out. Encourage her to put the items back in again, a good exercise for her developing motor skills.
Sort It Out
Take three different colored bowls and match them with eggs of the corresponding color. Show Baby that the blue eggs go in the blue bowl; the yellow eggs go in the yellow bowl; and the red eggs go in the red bowl.
Tune Into Storytime
Books are appropriate for any time and any occasion — and, with so many great Easter-themed kids’ books out there, Easter is no exception. Lift-the-flap books can help encourage your baby to practice her pincer grasp, and classics such as Pat the Bunny can help build a solid reading foundation. It’s never too early to start making books a habit.
Put on a Puppet Show
This puppet show relies heavily on you as musician, actor, and producer. No pressure, though, your audience will love you. Make up Easter-themed lyrics to songs that Baby is becoming familiar with — “Twinkle, Twinkle,” “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” “The Wheels on the Bus” — and use your fingers to make bunny ears.
Make Easter Greetings
This project is a win-win — you’ll help baby discover her family members, and you’ll win kudos for sending handmade cards to your extended family. Cut out family photos of various sizes and shapes. With Baby, affix them to Easter cards with a glue stick, pointing to the photos and repeating the names of all family members a few times.
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