Easter Chick Candy Jar
baby food jar, large yellow pompom, 2 yellow feathers, yellow fun foam, 2 googly eyes, yellow jelly beans, and ribbon!

Glue ribbon around the outside edge of the jar lid leaving enough ribbon length for a small bow. Glue the pompom to the top of the lid. Add googly eyes and a beak cut from fun foam. Fill jar with jelly beans and screw on the lid. Glue a feather to each side of the jar for wings. Place jar bottom on the fun foam; trace around the bottom (circle); add two webbed feet to the front of the circle and cut around the circle and feet (one whole piece). Glue "feet" to the bottom of the jar.  For blue chicks - use blue pompoms, feathers, jelly beans;  For pink chicks - use pink pompoms, feathers, jelly beans  and so on....

Bunny Candy Jars
Cut off bottom of styrofoam ball so it will stand. Glue the flat edge on to lid of baby food jar (a glue gun works best for this part). Bend 2 white pipe cleaners for ears. Fill in center with a pink pipe cleaner. Push pipe cleaners into ball for bunny's ears. Glue on googly eyes, pink felt nose, black pipe cleaner for whiskers, bend either a red or pink pipe cleaner for mouth, glue cotton ball to back (for tail). Fill jar with jelly beans, chocolate eggs or other treats.

Baby Chicks
cotton balls,
yellow powdered poster paint
plastic bag
scraps of black and orange construction paper
egg shell halves (you can buy the colored plastic ones at most dept. stores at Easter)
glue

Place the powdered paint in the plastic bag; add the cotton balls and shake.  Glue two cotton balls together.  Glue the cotton balls inside the egg shell half.  Add eyes and a beak cut from the black and orange paper scraps to each cotton ball.  (eyes can be made quickly and easily by using a paper punch!)

Bunny Masks
2 paper plates for each child
pink or black paper (for nose)
cotton balls
pipe cleaners

Cut two long thin ovals for ears out of one paper plate.  Cut a small pink or black triangle for the nose.  With the other plate, cut out the shape two oval eyes (you may wish to do this for younger children to assure that they can see out of the mask!)  Glue or staple the ears onto the plate.  Glue cotton balls onto the plate and ears for a fluffy bunny!  Glue the pink/black triangle onto the face of the bunny for the nose.  Glue on pipe cleaners for whiskers.  Attach **string or wool to each side of the mask with tape or stapler to tie on the mask. 

**Tip:  Check out your local dollar store for children's sunglasses.  I pick them up throughout the year and keep them for making masks....when the kids are finished their masks..I hot glue their mask to a pair of these sunglasses (minus the lenses) and you have a mask that they can easily remove and put on!  No tying - no pinches from the snapping elastic! 

Coloring Eggs
There are many ways to color an egg!  Here are some ideas to help you get your imagination flowing!  Before coloring your eggs see Making a Perfect Boiled Egg

Marbled Eggs:   Apply small pieces of scotch tape on the egg.  Dip in a light color, dry it, place more tape pieces on top...dip it again in a slightly darker color.  Continue these steps until you get the effect you want.  Peel off the tape!

Cracked Easter Eggs: Gently crack a hard boiled egg all over.  Place the cracked eggs in a food coloring/water solution (with vinegar to set color) for about 10 minutes.  Remove eggshells.  You will have a marbled look on the surface of the peeled egg.  (Use non-toxic food coloring - so the eggs are safe to eat)

Crepe Paper Eggs:  Boil water (add vinegar to set color) and add several pieces of crepe paper or streamers to the boiling water.  Place eggs (a few at a time) into the water and leave for about 10 minutes. 

Vegetable Dyed Eggs:  Saffron = yellow dye;  Beet root = fabulous purple;  Onion Skins = mottled brown;  Anything that will stain clothing - will stain an egg!  Simply boil water (add vinegar) with the vegetable of your choice!  Leave hard-boiled egg in water for at least 10 minutes and check!  Experiment with other veggies, fruit, coffee, tea. 

Egg Collage
Glue interesting things to a colored egg:  sequins, buttons, lace, ribbon, rickrack, small pressed flowers, stickers

Mosaic Egg
Empty out a raw egg by blowing. (to do this poke a pin hole in each end).  A child can help but it takes some lungs to get it all out. Then the child can glue tiny torn tissue paper on the shell. To preserve it you can coat it with an art shellac or clear finger nail polish and it will be quite sturdy and beautiful.

Bunny Bowling
5 or 10 2L plastic pop bottles
sand 
white & pink felt 
cotton ball 
permanent black magic marker (or acrylic paint) 
pink pom pom 
glue gun 

Fill the bottles about 1/3 way with sand for weight. Hot glue the lids on.  Decorate front as a face - add felt ears, pom pom nose and draw (or paint) on bunny face.  Add the cotton ball to the back of the bottle for the tail.  Add a ball and go bowling! 

Wrapped Easter Eggs
Wrap the egg with some rubber bands before dipping into the egg dye for a neat effect.
When still wet, place some colored tissue paper on the egg in different places and allow to dry. The tissue paper falls off once the egg is dry, and the dye from the tissue paper stays on.
 
 

Ears So Funny

Here is a bunny with ears so funny. (Right fist with two fingers raised & bent)
And here is his home in the ground. (Cup left hand)
When a sound he hears, he pricks up his ears, (Straighten fingers)
And jumps to his home in the ground. (Right two fingers dive into cupped left hand)

Five Little Rabbits

Five little rabbits under a log, (hold up fingers of one hand)
This one said, "Shh! I hear a dog!" (point to first finger)
This one said, "I see a man!" (point to second finger)
This one said, "Run while you can!" (point to third finger)
This one said, "I'm not afraid!" (point to fourth finger)
This one said, "Let's hide in the shade!" (point to thumb)
A man and his dog went hurrying by, (thumb and fingers of other hand hurry by)
And you should have seen those rabbits fly!  (move fingers quickly away)

Easter Bunny
   All stand up to start.

Easter bunny's ears are floppy.  (Place hands by ears and flop)
Easter bunny's feet are hoppy.  (Feet hop)
His fur is soft, (stroke arm)
And nose is fluffy, (touch nose)
Tail is short and powder puffy. (wiggle hands behind back)

Ten Fluffy Chickens

Five eggs,  (hold up five fingers)
And five eggs, (hold up other five fingers)
That makes ten.
Sitting on top is the Mother Hen. (Lock fingers together, knuckles up)
Crackle, crackle, crackle, what do I see? (Clap hands)
Ten fluffy chickens as yellow as can be. (Hold up ten fingers)

Little Rabbit

I saw a little rabbit go hop, hop, hop. (hold up two fingers and go hop, hop, hop)
I saw his long ears go flop, flop, flop. (place hands above head and flop at wrists)
I saw his little nose go twink, twink, twink. (wiggle nose)
I said, "Little Rabbit, won't you stay?" (Make beckoning motion)
But he just looked at me and hopped way.  (Make two fingers hop away)

How Would You Like a Rabbit?
   (Use a puppet or stuffed rabbit for the kids to pat)

How would you like a rabbit?
A great big chocolate rabbit?
A rabbit full of jelly beans
All sugary and sweet?

I'd rather have a real one
A kind of furry-feel one.
I'd give him lots of lettuce greens
And carrots for a treat.

Peter Cottontail

Here comes Peter Cottontail,
Hopping down the bunny trail,
Hippity-hoppity, Easter's on its way.
Bringing all the girls and boys,
Baskets full of Easter joys,
Things to make their Easter bright and gay.
He's got jelly beans for Tommy,
Colored eggs for sister Sue.
There's an orchid for your Mother,
And an Easter bonnet too.
Oh, here comes Peter Cottontail,
Hopping down the bunny trail,
Hippity-hoppity, Happy Easter Day.

Hop!!

Creeping, creeping, creeping(walk two fingers down the other arm)
Comes a little cat.
But, bunny with his long ears (Pointer and middle fingers up for ears)
Hops! Like that! (ears hop down the arm)

Lippity Lop

Lippity lop, lippity lop 
Here comes a bunny hippity hop 
With ears so tall and tail so small 
Lippity, lippity lop 
He sits up straight and wriggles his nose 
At every sound he hears 
Then scampers away as fast as he can 
And suddenly disappears 
Oh , Lippety lop, lippety lop 
Here comes a bunny hippity hop 
With ears so tall and tail so small 
Lippity, lippity lop. 

Little Peter Rabbit 
   (sung to: John Brown's Baby) 

Little Peter Rabbit had a flea upon his ear
Flea upon his ear, Flea upon his ear
So he flipped it and he flopped it and it flew away. 
Little (child's name)  had a flea upon her toe 
Flea upon her toe, Flea upon her toe.
So she flipped it and she flopped it and it flew away. 
(Continue using every child's name in the group.)

Making a Perfect Boiled Egg
To make hard boiled eggs with yellow and fluffy yokes, start with cold water.  Bring to a rapid boil, remove from the heat and allow to steep for about 15-20 minutes.  Allow to cool completely before coloring or decorating.

Are your eggs fresh?  Here's a test!  Place a raw egg in a glass of cold water. 

• If it lays on the bottom, its fresh. 
• If it lays on the bottom, but the small end is up, it's still okay.
• If it is floating somewhere in the middle, its okay, but not very fresh.
• If it floats, throw it away.....it's rotten.

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for the wonderful graphics for this page.

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