The Easter holidays are a great time of year to do some mindful activities with your family. This year, why not infuse some mindfulness into your Easter activities? These mindful Easter activities will not only engage your children’s creativity, but also help them cultivate a sense of presence and gratitude. Let’s dive into these 13 ideas for a fulfilled family Easter celebration.
1. Nature Walk and Egg Hunt
Start your Easter morning with a mindful nature walk. Encourage kids to notice the sights, sounds, and smells of Spring. Then, organise an egg hunt in your back garden or a nearby park. As they search for eggs, remind them to stay present and appreciate each moment.
2. Gratitude Egg Decorating
Instead of simply painting eggs, incorporate gratitude into the activity. Have kids write something they’re grateful for on each egg before decorating them. This helps cultivate a sense of appreciation and mindfulness.
3. Make Your Own Stress Ball/Egg
Stress balls are readily available in the shops these days, but it’s great to make your own at home and really feel all the textures. Get a balloon and put a funnel in it. Then fill it with flour using the funnel and tie it up. Try filling more balloons with various alternative fillings and get the kids to notice the difference in textures. Using balloons means they are more egg shaped than round when made, which is perfect for Easter. By the end of this, you will have a great collection of stress eggs!
4. Easter Story Meditation
Gather the family for a quiet moment of reflection. Share the Easter story or any other story that embodies themes of renewal and hope. Then, guide the kids through a short meditation to reflect on the message of the story and its relevance to their lives. There are lots of guided meditations on YouTube if you aren’t comfortable in guiding them through a meditation themselves.
5. Planting Seeds
Teach kids about the cycle of growth and renewal by planting seeds together. Whether it’s flowers, herbs, or vegetables, this activity fosters mindfulness as they connect with the earth and nurture new life. See activity number 9 before starting this task as you might want to combine the two!
Try doing the planting at the beginning of the school holidays, and pay attention to any changes to the seeds/plants throughout the Easter break. You could even get them to take some photographs or draw the changes they notice.
6. Mindful Crafting
Set up a crafting station with materials like paper, glue, and scissors. Encourage the kids to create Easter cards or decorations mindfully, paying attention to each step of the process. This can be a calming and meditative activity for children of all ages. It’s easy to get carried away when doing things, and before you know it, you’ve finished the task and didn’t really take in the process. By slowing down, we can all enjoy things much more and savour the moment.
7. Gratitude Scavenger Hunt
Create a list of items for a gratitude scavenger hunt related to Easter themes or Springtime. As they search for each item, encourage the kids to reflect on why they’re grateful for it. This activity promotes mindfulness and appreciation for the world around them. This is something that really helps children reflect on what they have. Gratitude activities are always a big win in our house!
8. Easter Yoga
Engage in some Easter-themed yoga poses with your kids. Encourage them to embody the spirit of bunnies, chicks, flowers, and other symbols of Easter as they move through the poses mindfully. This activity promotes physical activity while fostering mindfulness and creativity. Here is a great Easter Yoga video on YouTube by Cosmic Yoga. I’m not affiliated with Cosmic Yoga – I am just recommending their videos because my son loves them so I know how engaging they can be for the kids.
9. Eggshell Gardening
Instead of discarding eggshells, repurpose them for a mindful gardening activity. Fill cleaned eggshells with soil and plant tiny seeds inside. As they watch the seeds sprout and grow, kids can learn about patience and the beauty of new beginnings.
10. Mindful Baking
Bake Easter treats together as a family, focusing on each step of the baking process mindfully. Encourage kids to use their senses to fully experience the textures, smells, and tastes of the ingredients. This activity promotes mindfulness and is a great bonding opportunity for families. It can also mean you get very tasty treats at the end of it!
11. Nature Mandala Art
Take a mindful walk outdoors and collect natural materials like flowers, leaves, and pebbles. Then, use these materials to create a nature mandala as a family. This activity encourages kids to appreciate the beauty of nature and express their creativity mindfully.
12. Easter Candle Lighting
Light candles together as a symbol of hope and renewal. Encourage each family member to share a hope or intention for the coming season as they light their candle. This isn’t the kind of thing a lot of people are used to doing, so it might feel a bit silly to begin with, but go with it! Share your intention with confidence so your children follow with the same confidence. This simple ritual helps not only set those intentions in your head, but it can also help you to connect as a family.
13. Mindful Easter Colouring
Sitting down for some colouring is a great way to calm the kids down. Something that may be much needed if they have eaten a lot of chocolate!
What is the difference between mindful colouring and just colouring? With mindful colouring, you are paying much more attention to what you are doing. You choose your colours carefully, and really immerse yourself in the experience noticing everything as you go. If you take this principle into life in general, it can enrich your experience of life. You will find yourself noticing things you have not noticed before.
Summary
These mindful Easter activities offer great opportunities for families to connect, reflect, and celebrate the season with intention. By incorporating mindfulness into your Easter traditions, you can create lasting memories while nurturing your children’s well-being and gratitude.
If you are interested in learning more about mindful parenting, I have a blog post called ‘Back to Basics – How to be a Mindful Parent’ which you can read here.
