By Kate Hodges
29th March 2018
EVENT Egg Bound
There are Easter events taking place all over the country; join Egg Hunts at a National Trust or National Trust for Scotland venue near you. Or perhaps you’d like to go for a Big Day out with Peter Rabbit at Kew, help Dusty Duck track down his giant yellow ducks at WWT centres across the UK, or hunt for dragon eggs at an English Heritage property near you. Alternatively, join in the Easter Fair activities and browse the farmers’ market at the Horniman Museum in London (their Colour: The Rainbow Revealed exhibition is lovely too).
DO, MAKE, LEARN Spring Forward
It’s a big celebratory Easter, Oestre or Passover weekend – the perfect opportunity for family time. We have some ideas for celebrations (none of which are linked to any particular religion) here, and crafts here. Our favourite Easter activity is egg rolling. Every Easter Sunday, we go to the top of a big hill and roll our decorated eggs. We used to dye our eggs with onion skins, but this has been replaced with a tradition of rendering famous people who have died that year in ovoid form. Take a few packets of salt in our back pockets and feast on the remains of the eggs, but remember to crush every bit of eggshell so witches can’t use them as boats. We have some great natural egg-dying ideas here.
EVENT Piano Magic
Edinburgh Science Festival is go! This year’s venues include a amphitheatre built from discarded pianos that will host art and science events. There’s a dazzling line-up – make a pinhole camera with a six month exposure, explore a family-friendly, low-carbon ‘village’ that teaches about an eco-friendly future, join electronic music workshops, or find out about Dr Bunhead’s Easter Egg of Doom! Various prices
RECIPE Vegan Bakes
It’s looking like a wet, drizzly weekend. Why not hole up in the kitchen and do some cooking? We’ve been searching for vegan takes on Easter recipes. These hot cross buns are warm and spicy and will fill your house with delicious smells. A traditional simnel cake represents the apostles – try this dairy, egg and gluten free version. If you’re celebrating Passover, these dessert recipes are not only vegan, but delicious too, and what Easter weekend would be complete without some chocolate eggs? Jamie Oliver’s vegan versions are fun for everyone to help make.
EVENT, DO and LEARN Fool’s Gold
Our kids are obsessed with playing pranks, so we’re expecting the full salt-in-a-cup-of-tea, bucket-over-the-door treatment this Saturday morning, on April Fool’s Day. We’re probably not doing you any favours, but The Beano has a great archive of tricks. There’s a good compilation of gentle pranks to pull on your children here, but we’d recommend reading through these wise thoughts on whether it’s a good idea or not to fool your child first. However the morning pans out, why not take your family’s enthusiasm for the day to explore the event’s history? This funny, interesting list of classic hoaxes, could be used as a starting point for a discussion about truth and trust in the media, and ‘fake news’.
