After what seems like not more than five minutes of the kids being back at school, we have the Easter holidays looming. You might have your annual Easter egg hunt to look forward to. But what else can you do to keep the little darlings entertained when it feels like you ran out of all inspiration months ago?

It’s a tricky one! But ever resourceful, we’ve pulled together a few ideas that might help you to make the most of the Easter break.

Five Easter Holiday Entertainment Ideas for Kids

Natural crafting

Most children love to be creative. And you don’t need a TARDIS-style craft cupboard to oblige them. Especially at this time of year. If you go for a walk in your local park or woodland, there are endless opportunities for natural crafting activities to be found. Select a few flowers – from areas where there are plenty still growing for the bees – and carefully pick a few that you know to be safe, for pressing and making cards. Gather fallen twigs, shape them into picture frames and create temporary pieces of art for others to enjoy, made from leaves, stones, pinecones and other things you find on your travels. Make stickmen, animals, or a nature mobile. Gather interesting leaves to take home and glue into insect or butterfly shapes. You could even gather some bits to make your own bug hotel. If you use your imagination, there are endless opportunities for creativity in nature.

Get creative with leftover treats

No one ever means to, but it is really easy to go overboard with the sweets and chocolate at Easter. So, once the initial gorging has been done, why not use the abundance to your advantage and get creative in the kitchen? Most kids love to bake, and cooking is a really good – and fun – way to develop many core STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) skills. So, with the right recipe, you can help your children to learn while they’re enjoying themselves. If you’re looking for inspiration, Drumchick Squashies Easter Nests are an obvious option. But sometimes, it can be fun to just take a basic cake or biscuit recipe and throw in what you have. Easter egg and Rainbow Drop cookies anyone? Yes, please!

Sow and grow

If you have any outdoor space – even just a little balcony or space for a window box – early April is a great time to get kids growing. Gardening is another activity with enormous STEM potential. It’s fun, it can be exciting (watching those seeds spring to life), and for most children, it provides a welcome excuse to get dirty! If you have the room to grow edibles, then it can be a wonderful opportunity to learn about where food comes from – and may be experiment with eating new fruit and veg. If not, then there’s a lot of joy to be found in flowers.

Exercise

Who needs Joe Wicks when the sun is shining, and the great outdoors looks so inviting? Whether you’re going for a run around your local park, breaking out the swingball, or just playing tag in the garden, sport and exercise are a really good idea if you want to help your kids burn off all that extra sugar energy. And it’s free to do. So, hold those chocolate egg and spoon races. Ride those bikes. Dust off that trampoline. And if you’re feeling creative, you could even invent your own games. Just get outside and get moving!

Make a den

Indoors or out, dens can be enormous fun for children of all ages. Whether it’s draping a blanket over some chair backs, creating a cardboard fort, or fashioning something in the garden out of those giant sticks they insisted on carrying home from your last woodland walk, there is as much fun to be had in the making as in the occupying. For littlies, you’ll obviously need to lend a helping hand in the construction phase. Older children can often manage alone (with a little discreet supervision). Either way, with their very own den set up as an Easter Holiday HQ, your children will have plenty of opportunities for play and impromptu picnics. As well as having their very own ‘secret’ hiding place for any leftover Drumstick chocolate bars, or Easter sweet hampers!

Despite the fact that most children have already had ample time at home this year, the Easter holidays have the potential to be really lovely. The weather is warmer. The days are longer. And there is always a sense of optimism in the air as we leave the cold, grey days of winter behind us. So, go on, get out there and have some fun, and a very happy Easter!