Easter is a beautiful time of the year, the seasons are changing and there are lots of opportunities to spend time together as a family and of course eat lots of chocolate eggs. Why not include some calming Easter activities as well, a great opportunity to teach children how to relax their bodies, calm their minds and manage their emotions.
Feeling Excited about Easter?
It’s handy to recognise that it’s pretty normal for kids to get a bit overwhelmed sometimes with big, fun events. Even as adults we can feel stressed out when we have a change in routine, social obligations and may not be eating as healthily as we usually do. So, I’ve written a list of some fun, calming Easter activities that you can enjoy with your children, when they may need to take some time out and relax.
Pin Calming Easter Activities for later
The activities include a mixture on mindfulness, relaxation, creativity, nature and lots of connection with an Easter theme. You can access our Bunny Breaths rhyme printable poster, the Easter egg template and the colouring in / feelings check in sheet all from our free resource library (which has lots of other goodies in too!)
I’d love to here if you try out any of these calming easter activities with your children or students and welcome you to join our Facebook group, Little Well Beings and share how it went or if you are on Instagram give us a tag at @calmahoykids.
Bunny Breaths Rhyme Printable Poster
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11 + Calming Easter Activities
1. Play Crunchy Carrot and Floppy Bunny
Teach children to learn to relax their bodies and pay mindful attention to what it feels like to have tight versus relaxed muscles.
How did we play Crunchy Carrot and Floppy Bunny?
- Firstly we imagined that we were straight, crunchy carrots. Tensing all of our muscles.
- Then we imagined we were soft, fluffy, floppy bunnies and relaxed all of our muscles.
- We made this into a game, similar to musical statues and became crunchy carrots when the music stopped and floppy bunnies when the music was playing.
2. Try Some Bunny Breaths
Bunny Breathing is a fun breathing exercise for kids. They simply breathe in taking 3 short sniffs and then exhale through their noses. To make this activity into a mindful game, use the rhyme poster and ask children to share afterwards if they smelt and smells as they practiced their bunny breaths. You could also combine it with the smelly eggs game further down in the list.
Here is the Bunny Breaths rhyme {Find the printable in our resource library}:
- Little Bunny, Little Bunny. What’s that whiff? Let’s breathe in, sniff, sniff, sniff.
- Little Bunny, Little, Bunny. What did you smell? Little Bunny, Little Bunny please do tell.
If you’d like to introduce Bunny Breaths into your calm corner / kit at home or classroom then take a peek at the Bunny Breaths printable kit, which includes a script, posters, lesson plan and colouring activity.
2. Bring out the Balloons
Balloons are inexpensive and lots of fun. It’s always a hit here at home when we blow up a balloon. Some calming Easter balloon activities that you could try are:
- Making DIY balloon stress balls. Try filling balloons with homemade playdough, its a lovely calming sensory experience. You could then fill an Easter basket or egg carton with them and share them with friends. {See my Instagram post for more details}
- Printing using balloons. Splodge balloons into paint and use them to print egg shapes.
- Decorate balloons as Easter Eggs with markers and hang them up or play Easter Balloon volleyball. The bunnies can’t let the Easter egg touch the floor, encourage some mindful movement and get children to notice their bodies as they play.
3. Create an Easter Crown
Forget the Easter bonnet and opt for an Easter crown. Combine this activity with heading out into nature and collecting some natural crafting resources and you have a lovely, calming Easter activity.
We were inspired by the beautiful nature crowns from Little Pine Learners. {Nature Crowns Blog}
See my Instagram post for more pictures and details.
How did we make our crown?
- We cut out a strip of card (make sure it will fit around your child’s head).
- We then decorated our crowns with all the natural resources we found. This included sand, bark, feathers, leaves and flowers.
- Finally I stapled the ears to the crown and then the crown together and it was ready to be worn with pride!
4. Squish Easter Playdough
Use our easy playdough recipe and make some calming Easter themed playdough. We used yellow and added lemon essential oil for a calming, energizing smell. Then try making a bunny rabbit, Easter egg or baby chick. Add lots of fun crafty bits, like pipe cleaners, googly eyes, feathers and cotton balls and let kids get imaginative with their creations.
5. Make an Easter Fairy Garden
Fairy garden’s are a lovely way for children to use their imaginations, be creative and collect and use natural resources. This activity kept my little boy so busy and he really enjoyed showing his garden off to his Dad later that day.
How did we make a our Easter fairy garden?
- We found a tray to build our garden in, you could use a box or anything else that would work.
- Then we went in the garden and found lots of resources.
- We bought some mushrooms, chicks and a rabbit for the dollar shop.
- We made some green playdough.
- Then we got creative and told stories.
6. Read an Easter Themed Book
Storytime is the perfect time to cozy on in and relax together. Find books with an Easter theme and take some time to chill out. Here is a list of some lovely Easter books, we really love Peter Rabbit and the Good Egg in this house!
- Peter Rabbit by Beatrix potter
- The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams
- We’re going on an Egg Hunt by Laura Hughes
- The Great Eggscape by Jory John
- The Good Egg by John Jory
7. Calmly Colour In
When you colour in you can find a deep sense of calm, both for adults and children. Make some time to relax and colour together. Design an Easter egg or find a local colouring competition. {You could also print off our free Easter colouring in / feelings check in sheet}
8. and Eggs-press How You Are Feeling
Check in and talk about how you are feeling. When we talk about our feelings we get to know ourselves and help others to understand us too. Easter is a great opportunity to share something that you may be feeling thankful for too. Use our Easter colouring sheet and egg feelings check in as a way to get your kids to take some time to relax and eggs-press how they are feeling this Easter. {Easter Check in and Colour Sheet}
9. Make a Lavender Easter Sock Bunny
Create a comforting, cozy sock bunny. You could then use your sock bunny as a breathing buddy, placing them on your children’s bellies and asking them to watch as the bunny slowly moves up and down.
How did we make our sock bunnies?
- Firstly we found a nice stretchy pair of socks.
- Then filled the sock with rice and lavender and used an elastic band to secure the top.
- We then used a ribbon around the neck to create the head / body divide.
- Leaving some sock empty, you then have material that you can trim into the shape of ears.
- We added eyes and nose with a sharpie.
- And finally I glued some pom poms on as tails.
11. Play Smelly Eggs
Practice your Bunny Breaths and then have some fun with this mindful senses game. Simply fill plastic eggs with different smelly things, eg lemon, lavender, mint, spices and get your kids to guess what the smells are. My boy really loved this game, he was so excited to guess the smells.
How did we play Smelly Eggs?
- Use a pack of plastic eggs, these are great for this game as they have a little smelling hole and you can’t see what you are smelling.
- Take turns guessing the smell and then crack open the egg and reveal what’s inside.
- Afterwards we turned the ingredients into a magical smelly potions and experimented with mixing the smells.
12. Play Shaky Eggs
In this activity you fill plastic Easter eggs with different items, then you take turns to shake the eggs and practice your mindful listening skills to guess what might be inside. This activity allows children to slow down and focus their attention in the present moment. Everyone can get involved, taking turns to change the items inside the eggs.
How did we play shaky eggs?
- Buy a pack of plastic hollow Easter eggs
- Fill with things from nature, around the house or even from the kitchen cupboard. You could use stones, rice, coins, seeds, pasta, marbles, lego etc. Find a nice range of sounds.
- Take turns guessing whats inside. You could even draw what you think is inside to exercise the imagination.
Slow down and Enjoy Easter with Your Kids
Easter is another time of the year when we get the opportunity to create special memories with our children. So, slow down with these calming Easter activities and enjoy the time with your family.
Would you like to try out more calming activities with your kids?
Check out our fun, colourful breathing activity kits for kids. They are a great addition to a calm corner or kit whether that’s at home or in the classroom.
I hope you have a calm, creative and connected Easter.
Take Care
Emma x
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