These are my favorite ideas for sustainable Easter activities! Easter is one of my favorite times of year because it marks the start of warm, beautiful weather for the next several months! As a kid, Easter meant getting dressed up, going to church, and eating amazing food with family. Now that I am an adult practicing eco-parenting with my own children, I want Easter to also mean fun activities that have a lower impact on the environment.
This post is all about 17 of my favorite sustainable Easter activities!
1. Make Your Own Dye
This is one of the sustainable Easter activities I get the most excited about. Instead of buying dye from the store, make your own dye for your Easter eggs this year. Here are some natural ways to achieve Easter egg dye:
Red
- Add two pounds of peeled beets, and 1 gallon (4 quarts) of water, and bring to a boil for 30 minutes. After it cools add 1/4 cup of vinegar and the boiled eggs. Let it sit in the fridge overnight.
Yellow
- Add 1 cup of yellow onion skins, and 1 gallon (4 quarts) of water, and bring to a boil for 30 minutes. After it cools add 1/4 cup of vinegar and the boiled eggs. Let it sit in the fridge overnight.
- or the skin of 6 yellow apples
Orange
- Add 2 cups of fresh turmeric (or 2 tablespoons of turmeric powder), and 1 gallon (4 quarts) of water, and bring to a boil for 30 minutes. After it cools add 1/4 cup of vinegar and the boiled eggs. Let it sit in the fridge overnight.
Blue
- Add two heads of red cabbage, and 1 gallon (4 quarts) of water, and bring to a boil for 30 minutes. After it cools add 1/4 cup of vinegar and the boiled eggs. Let it sit in the fridge overnight.
- or 4 cups of blueberries
Purple
- Let eggs soak in red wine until the desired color is achieved and then remove
2. Search the thrift store for Easter baskets
Instead of buying baskets in-store, visit your local thrift store! Every thrift store I’ve ever visited is filled with baskets of all types, this includes Easter baskets! Before you go out to buy an Easter basket this year, go thrifting first!
3. Repurpose easter eggs for other activities
Even if you still use plastic eggs for Easter egg hunts, make them sustainable by reusing them instead of throwing them away! Here are a few activities for you to reuse those Easter eggs and of course, keep them to reuse for next Easter too!
- Place different items in the eggs and practice sinking or floating in a tub of water
- Add rice to the eggs to make shakers
- Add sand to make mini weights
- Mix and match the eggs to practice color recognition
- Use as bath toys
- Use as sand toys
- Write numbers on eggs to practice math. When the eggs connect have your child add/subtract/multiply/ or divide the numbers
- Write the alphabet on eggs to practice letter recognition or create words
- Use with kinetic sand
4. Make your own chocolate
I love this chocolate-making kit from glee gum! The kit comes with all the instructions to make your own chocolate. This is perfect for kids of all ages because it must be done with the help of a parent. We added fun toppings to our chocolate to make it even more fun. You definitely want to add this as one of your sustainable Easter activities.
5. Make recycled crayons
Don’t throw away those broken crayons! Instead, make recycled crayons! This activity is so much fun and a great way to repurpose those crayons. This is why it’s added to this list of sustainable easter activities. To make the crayons simply remove the paper wrapping around the crayons. Place the crayons in a silicone ice tray mold to bake. Bake at 300 degrees F for 10 minutes. Once the crayons are done, let them cool and you have brand-new crayons!
Check it out in action here!
6. Make eco-friendly “grass” for Easter baskets
Here are some ideas to make eco-friendly grass for Easter baskets instead of plastic grass
- Use a hole puncher and punch out circles in leaves
- Collect flowers and leaves from your neighborhood
- Have your child cut up scrap paper or newspaper
- Allow your child to help you put paper in the shredder and reuse the paper
7. Make homemade popsicles
The weather is warm and the treats are cold! My family loves homemade popsicles. We make the best two-ingredient popsicles in reusable silicone popsicle molds.
- Cut up a carton of strawberries (about 12oz.)
- 2 cups of yogurt (I use vanilla yogurt)
- Optional add honey for extra sweetness ( I typically don’t)
Check it out in action here!
8. Make your own playdough
Have you ever made your own playdough? It’s surprisingly easier than you might think! All you need is cornstarch, baking soda and water.
Here is the recipe:
- 1/2 cup of cornstarch
- 1 cup of baking soda
- 3/4 cup of water
- add some food coloring for extra fun!
- Add all the ingredients to a saucepan and cook on medium, mixing constantly for about 5 minutes. Let the playdough cool and add your food coloring.
If you’re a visual learner, here is a video to help!
My son loves making this and because it is made with more natural ingredients than traditional playdough, it’s nontoxic and safe if my daughter decided to sneak a piece in her mouth when I turn my head!
Add this to your list of sustainable easter activities by creating different colors of play dough and using fun stencils to make shapes and different creations!
9. Try an Easter craft
If you’re looking for some crafts for your sustainable Easter activities, check out these amazing resources for Easter crafts:
- 70 Cute Easter crafts
- 80 Easy Easter crafts
- 40 Easter crafts for kids of all ages
- 60 Easter crafts for adults
10. Go on a scavenger hunt (indoor or outdoor)
Don’t just have an Easter egg hunt, have a scavenger hunt! Scavenger hunts are fun for kids of all ages (adults too!). Regardless of the weather, you can do these sustainable easter activities by taking the activity indoors for an indoor scavenger hunt! Check out these scavenger hunts I have on my Etsy shop! They’re inexpensive and so much for your littles!
11. Enjoy free coloring pages
Another of my favorite sustainable Easter activities is coloring! Be sure to download this free Easter coloring sheet.
Here is my favorite way to make this activity even more fun:
- Cover a table with brown craft paper or paper grocery bags
- Tape the paper or the bags to the table
- Tape the coloring sheets to the paper
- Add markers, colored pencils, crayons, stickers, and paint (if you dare!) to the table
- Allow the kids (regardless of age!) to sit at the table and color. Now that the table is completely covered they can even color on the table!
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