Easter activities for children in Dorset

Gardens, parks, attractions and even houses will be scattered with Easter eggs this March and April as eagle-eyed youngsters go on the hunt for these oval shaped objects, and hope for a surprise and a treat! 

To read about Easter events and activities in Dorset click here... 

 

 

 

Easy to Make: Easter Wreath

Christmas isn’t the only time of year when people dress their doors with decorative wreaths. A recent trend has seen many people sprucing up their front doors with displays of bright colour and spring materials in the shape of an Easter wreath! Creating one is really simple and something the children can add an extra special little touch to. Take a look at Pinterest for some inspiration on materials and design.

 

Easy to Make: Easter Bunny Bunting 

Decorate the walls and window frames with these bright little bunnies. To make: buy a variety of patterned card, place a basic bunny template on top of each piece of card and draw around it. Cut this out and glue on a small ball of cotton wool for a tail. To finish, attach each bunny to a natural piece of string using mini wooden pegs.

 

Easy to Make: Eggy Lambs 

These funky-looking lambs will look a treat perched on a mantelpiece or sideboard. Plus they’re so easy to create – simply roll small pieces of cotton wool into balls and glue these to the surface of the egg. Cover the whole egg with cotton wool, leaving a space at the front where you can add a funny face!

 

Easy to Do: Painting Easter Eggs 

Very young children may wish to use hard-boiled eggs, whilst slightly older-children may use hollowed-out eggs. Cover the smooth glass-like surface of egg with acrylic paint. Using a mixture of soft brushes, coat the egg in a base colour. To add detail, use a fine brush dipped in paint or glitter, or use finely-tipped pens.

 

Easy to Make: Easter Nest Cakes

You’ll need some nests to cradle all those tasty eggs this Easter. So how about making these equally tasty nests:

Ingredients:  Shredded Wheat; Cooking chocolate; Milk Chocolate Mini eggs

Crumble up the Shredded Wheat in a bowl. Then melt the cooking chocolate in a separate bowl placed in a pan of boiling water. Carefully remove the bowl and slowly pour the melted cooking chocolate over the crushed Shredded Wheat. Combine together. Then get the kids to shape the mixture into nests in the cake cases. Finish, by placing 2 or 3 chocolate mini eggs onto the top of the cooled down nests.

 

So, why is Easter on a different date each year?

Have you ever wondered why Easter falls on a different date each year? Well, the reason for this lies with the decisions made by the first council of the Christian church, also known as the Council of Nicaea, in the year 325 AD.

This council used a complex formula to calculate the future dates of Easter.

The council decided that Easter should be celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon that occurs on, or just after, the spring equinox.

The church set a fixed date for the spring equinox as 21 March and established that Easter can take place between 22 March and 25 April. This year, Easter Sunday is on 21 April.

Yet, this year, the full moon and the spring equinox actually occur on Wednesday 20 March. So, shouldn’t Easter be held on Sunday 24 March instead?

Astronomically speaking, yes it should.

However, the ancient calculations did not consider lunar motions for our times. The key point here is that an ecclesiastical full moon does not necessarily happen on the same date as the actual full moon.

In 2019, the first full moon after 21 March occurs on 19 April, so consequently Easter will be celebrated on Sunday 21 April.

 

 

Easter egg hunts with a difference:

The Easter Egg Hunt is usually pretty-high up on the Easter activity list but what are the alternative options to searching for chocolate eggs?

Primary Times has been on its own ‘hunt’ for fun ideas that will get the kids active, listening and counting… Here they are:

 

 

Matching Sound Egg Hunt

Test your child’s auditory processing ability by creating a game that will encourage them to match a sound in an egg case to an image of the item that is making the sound (in the egg case) on a printed sheet of paper.

You can fill the egg cases with items such as coins or pasta shapes or seeds.

Once all the eggs and sounds have been matched, the children can be rewarded with a treat.

 

Make the kids work for their chocolate treats!

Lay on some fun energy-burning Easter egg hunts for the kids.

Simply hide several plastic empty egg cases around the house, garden or local park and fill them with little notes inscribed with a physical activity to complete.

Each egg has a fun mini exercise challenge for the kids. For example, this could be: do ten star jumps; run on the spot for 2 minutes, do a roly-poly.

After all that exertion, the kids will have earnt their chocolate treat!

 

Colour Matching and Maths Egg Hunt Game

This is a simple game where children hunt for coloured eggs.

You may wish to use mini chocolate eggs wrapped in different coloured tin foil and hide them around the garden.

Once all the eggs have been collected they can be separated by colour and counted – and then consumed!

 

The Story of the Easter Egg

The humble egg is the food most synonymous with Easter. It symbolises the start of new life, rebirth and fertility. Many people associate the egg with Christian values at Easter, yet the egg also played a role in lots of pre-Christian festivals celebrated by the Ancient Egyptians, Persians and Romans.

In the Middle Ages when people were unable to eat eggs during Lent they began to decorate and store them for Easter Sunday and the tradition of the egg hunt began.

The first chocolate Easter eggs were made in France and Germany in the early 19th Century, and in 1873 the first British chocolate Easter egg was produced by Fry’s.

Cadbury quickly followed producing a chocolate egg in 1875 and by 1892 produced 19 different types of eggs.

Today, the UK chocolate Easter egg market is worth more than £220 million with sales growing every year. Cadbury’s Crème Egg is the most popular and over 500 million eggs are made every year.

 

Easter Adventures

Easter trails, scavenger hunts, egg and spoon races, bottle-feeding lambs, beach cleans – you name it – there’s plenty of adventures to be had this spring.

Easter Egg Hunts are usually a big hit with youngsters who simply love becoming mini-explorers and what’s more, this fun activity can be affordable.

You have the choice of hosting an egg-citing Easter Egg hunt in your back garden or local park, or alternatively head to a local attraction and enjoy the novelty of the occasion with lots of other families.

During the Easter school holiday, should the weather allow, go outdoors each day for some free fun.

It’s easy to distract children with uncomplicated activities such as spotting and naming clouds, searching for mini-beasts or seashore critters, visiting and perhaps bottle-feeding newborn lambs, watching a spider weaving a web, and following slimy snail trails. It’s all great fun and doesn’t cost a penny!

 

Find out what's going-on this Easter in Dorset here...

 

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Easter explorations at The Donkey Sanctuary

Spring has sprung (finally!) and the sanctuary’s wildlife has woken from its slumber, so follow the Nature Trail around the sanctuary to spot the different animals within their habitats and WIN a tasty Easter treat on completion! Along the way, discover how this wildlife and their habitats help contribute to the health and wellbeing of the donkeys. Plus with talks and tours, scenic walks, engaging exhibits, award-winning gardens, fun hedge maze and, of course, hundreds of adorable donkeys, there’s so much to explore with your own herd, whatever the weather. Open every day from 9am, entry and parking is free. Dogs are welcome on a lead. www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk/sidmouth

 

RockReef is an all-year, all-weather activity attraction located on Bournemouth Pier.

Activities include 28 themed climbing walls; a HighLine aerial obstacle course and Pier Cave experience. Plus two adrenaline activities, the Vertical Slide and Leap of Faith.

Outside is the world’s first pier-to-shore zip wire where you can race your friends over the sea!

Check the website for availability and to book. Open from 10am every day during the Easter Holidays. All online bookings receive FREE pier toll entry www.rockreef.co.uk

 

There’s something for the whole family at Upton Country Park this Easter holidays! Whether you become a farmer for the day, fancy learning more about gardening and sustainable living or simply want to meet our donkeys or chicks, we’re looking forward to having you join in the fun! New for 2020 we have Alpaca Day and an exciting Bush Tucker Trial Day with creepy crawly and jungle-inspired challenges. Our popular Easter Trail is also back, with themed crafts and games around our gentle 1.5k route ending in a chocolate treat!

For more information and to book any of our Easter events, please visit www.uptoncountrypark.com/events

 

 

Easter family fun at Adventure Wonderland

There's loads of family fun to be had at Adventure Wonderland in the Easter holidays, including meeting Peter Rabbit who'll be visiting the park on 15th April. This bunny is sure to be a hopping big hit.

There's outside rides and attractions plus new live show - Rock, Roll and Jam - in the Happydrome Theatre. And every day over the bank holiday weekend there'll be egg and spoon races and Easter egg hunts in the giant hedge maze.

There’s also the vast indoor Aztec adventure play centre, Wild Thing! including the interactive Jungle Zap Zone! And, Shetland world where you pat the pint-sized ponies.

Plus, children visiting Adventure Wonderland can get same day FREE entry to the Aviation Museum opposite.

Book tickets at adventurewonderland.co.uk and follow the park on Facebook @adventurewonderland.

 

 

 

Visit Honeybrook Adventure farm, near Wimborne, for our fun Easter event 4th to 20th April. Take part in our Easter egg hunt competition, try crafts or slime making, have a free Easter photo and see all our animals with their new baby arrivals for ONLY £5.50 per person!

See our advert for full details of what else is included FREE in your child admission. We are open everyday 10am to 5pm with no need to book – just turn up!

 

 

Have fun, make friends, play football. Girls football for 5 – 11 year olds.’ And my contact details too please: ‘justine.mosley@dorsetfa.com – 01202 688277’

 

For the editorial, please can you include:

 

Wildcats Centres are girls only football centres for players aged 5 – 11 years with all abilities welcome! They are a safe place for girls to have fun, make friends and play football. All Wildcats Centres are delivered by FA qualified coaches and supported by Dorset County Football Association. There are centres across Dorset linked with FA affiliated Charter Standard Clubs with new players always welcome to join. To find out about your local centre please contact justine.mosley@dorsetfa.com – 01202 688277.

 

 

Did you know?

  • Easter chocolate sales make up 10% of Britain's annual spending on chocolate.
  • The UK chocolate Easter Egg market is worth in excess of £220 million.
  • If you laid all the Cadbury Creme Eggs made in a year from end to end, it would stretch from Bourneville, Birmingham to Sydney, Australia.
  • Easter is the second most popular time of the year for eating chocolate.
  • J.S. Fry of Bristol produced the first chocolate eggs in 1873.

 

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