With these two projects for filling Easter baskets, you don’t even need real eggs! Instead, enlist your kids to use rocks and balloons—and their creativity.
Eggs Rock
- Thoroughly wash an assortment of rocks.
- Dry rocks overnight.
- Paint rocks with a base coat of acrylic paints.
- Add decorative details using different colors of paint and an assortment of tools such as toothpicks dipped in paint to make tiny dots, cotton swabs to make bigger dots, and fine point brushes to make stripes. You can even use paint pens to add names to your “eggs.”
Yarn Eggs
- Mix equal parts glue and water in a disposable, shallow container. One-eighth cup of each will do two eggs.
- Cut cotton yarn into three foot long lengths, about 10 for each egg. Use various colors or try it with multicolored yarn.
- Blow up a balloon to a 3 to 4" diameter and cover work area with newspaper.
- Place a 12" piece of waxed paper on top of the newspaper. You’ll need to set the balloon on it as you work.
- Dip lengths of string, one at a time, into the glue mixture, making sure to hold onto one end of the string.
- Wrap dipped strings around balloon, randomly overlapping and tucking loose ends under. Continue adding layers until the balloon is evenly covered.
- Hang yarn covered balloons to dry overnight using a clothespin on the balloon’s tied end. Make sure to protect the area below the hanging balloon with newspaper; it will drip.
- Once string is completely dry, carefully poke a hole in the balloon, and pull the balloon away from the string as the balloon deflates.
Kris Bordessa writes regularly about family activities. Her latest project is Attainable Sustainable: Reviving the Lost Art of Self-Sufficiency.