FUN ACTIVITIES TO DO WITH CHILDREN AT THE Easter

season

make a fabergé egg Do your kids love to do creative crafts? Would you like to learn how to make one-of-a-kind decorated eggs that last forever?

You and your family can create your own Fabergé-inspired works of art from real eggs. It’s easy and fun,

and the results are beautiful.

In this article I’ll show you how to use authentic Fabergé eggs as the artistic inspiration to decorate your own Fabergé-style egg.

First I’ll show you how to hollow out a real egg so your work of art will last forever.

Materials To hollow your eggs:

• Eggs (one egg for each person)

• Large safety pins

• 2 plastic bowls

• A small cup of water

Preparation time:

30 minutes to gather supplies and hollow the eggs

Activity time: 30 minutes to decorate the eggs

To paint & decorate your eggs: • Bamboo cooking skewers • Small rubber bands • Acrylic or tempera paint (any water-based opaque paint for kids) • Paint brushes • Craft glue • Permanent markers • Glitter • Beads • Ribbon • Scissors • Glitter Glue • Paper plates for mixing paint • Paper towels • Small cardboard roll

hollow your eggs 1. How to hollow your eggs

• First you need to empty out the egg white and yolk inside of each egg. This will leave you with an empty eggshell to decorate.

• By hollowing the eggs, you’ll be able to save your eggs forever and not have to worry about your egg being perishable.

• Gather your supplies needed to hollow the eggs.

Now that your eggs are empty, gently rinse them out, dry them off, and prepare them for decorating.

Prepare your decoration 2. Prepare your eggs

• Gather your empty eggs and bamboo skewers. The bamboo skewers are a great way to hold your delicate egg and easily decorate all sides.

• Since your egg has two holes (one on each end), insert the pointed end of a skewer into the bottom hole of the egg and guide it through the top hole as well. If the top hole is small enough, the egg will sit nicely on the top of the skewer and not slide down.

• If the holes in your egg are too large for the skewer and the egg slips down, you can use this simple trick:

• Wrap a small rubber band tightly on the skewer about 1/3 of the way down.Insert the skewer into the bottom of the egg and the egg will sit on the rubber band. Add another rubber band above the egg and slide down to secure the egg.

Look for inspiration 3. Find a fabergé egg that inspires you You can choose an authentic Fabergé egg to inspire you or create a unique design of your own.

Create an egg along with your child to share this creative activity as a family. I’ve chose these two eggs for my inspiration. You can do the same. Ask your son or daughter if he/she likes it. It’s essential to have his/her approval, after all, you’re a team!

Decorate your egg 4. Paint & decorate your egg

Gather your painting and decorating supplies.

First, choose a color to use as your base color and mix your paint.

While the paint is still wet, lightly sprinkle glitter into your paint to create a shimmering egg.

Decorate your egg

Let the painted egg dry thoroughly.

Using your ribbon, beads and glitter glue, apply your decorations to your egg.

When using craft glue to apply your ribbon, it’s best to let the glue dry a little so it’s very tacky before you apply the ribbon. This will help the ribbon adhere to the egg.

Let it dry 5. Let your eggs dry

Have fun embellishing your eggs!

Allow your eggs to dry by placing your skewers in a small vase.

personalize your egg

6. Create a personalized egg

You can use what you’ve learned to create your very own personalized egg.

Create a stand

7. Create a stand to hold your egg Now it’s time to create a stand to display your egg and keep it from rolling around! You can use an everyday cardboard tube from paper towels or toilet tissue to create an egg stand. Cut the paper tube open and cut a strip an inch wide from the top of the roll. Slide the two ends together to make the tube small enough for your egg to sit on top of and not fall inside. Once you have the right size, staple the ends together. Decorate your egg stand any way you’d like. We simply wrapped our stand with ribbon and secured it with a staple.

See you in next games!