Easter Traditions for Preschool

There are certain activities that I always looked forward to doing with my students when certain holidays rolled around.  Easter is no exception, and there are three activities that I made sure to include on my lesson plans every single year:

1. Dying Easter Eggs – even when I taught toddlers I loved to share this with my students. I know that it can be a colossal mess, but my classroom has always been the safe place to make messes.  At home it’s hard to fully experience this messy activity so I love to give my students this opportunity.  Dying eggs the traditional way – vinegar and little dye tablets – also offers so many learning experiences.  First, you’ve got the smell of the vinegar, and watching the dye tablets dissolve and turn the vinegar and water mixture colors.  Then you’ve got practicing being gentle as you slowly put the egg into the dye, so the egg doesn’t break and the dye doesn’t splash.  Then of course, you can’t forget waiting patiently while the egg soaks up the dye – or while someone else’s egg soaks in the color that you really want to use!
2. Easter Egg hunt – to be honest, this is just as entertaining for the teacher to watch as it is for the children to participate in.  It is amazing to me how difficult an egg hunt can be for a group of very young children. They can walk by the same egg 5 times before they notice it, and it doesn’t have to be well hidden, they just get so caught up in the hunt that they can’t wee what is right in front of their face.  It’s also a great opportunity to encourage children to help each other and to practice being fair. The best thing about the Easter Egg Hunt is that preschoolers can literally do it over and over and over again.  Once they’ve found all of the eggs they will want you to hide them again so they can start all over. Once they get tired of hunting for the eggs, they’ll want to hide them so you can do the hunting.  This activity is a great way to spend a beautiful afternoon outside!
3. Peep Smores – Yep, you read that right, every year I make smores in the microwave using Peeps instead of regular marshmallows.  These are the perfect snack for preschool because you can make them in the microwave. If you’ve never put a Peep in the microwave then you’re in for a fun new experience.  This is one thing that I remember doing with my Dad at home every Easter morning, and I love being able to share that with my students.  It helps that most preschoolers are familiar with smores, so they love the idea of adding the sugary peep – although one year I did have a little guy who thought his Peep chick was a real chick and he refused to eat his smore after we melted the marshmallow Peep.