Today I felt incredibly nostalgic as I set up egg coloring for my two kids, remembering the many years I did this with my family... well, until Olivia grabbed that pink cup filled with dyed water and then grabbed an egg and splashed it into the dark blue water. All spare moments to feel nostalgic vaporized as I went into survival mode trying to help both of them be a part without turning into dyed rainbows by the end of it, haha!
And after about two seconds of being involved, you tell them to wait. A very long time. Sitting right next to highly disastrous materials.
So, I tried to think ahead of more toddler friendly ways to color eggs to make this an enjoyable experience for all of us!
Snacks for the Wait Time
I did this activity at 10:00 am, which is when they usually snack anyway. To make it all feel more fun and festive, I bought a box of Annie's Fruity Bunnies and Blossoms and set it out on little plates. We put in our eggs, did our other egg coloring activities, and while we were waiting for that last little bit of color to soak in, they munched away on this cereal!
Pastel Eggs in Ziploc Bags
As long as the Ziploc stays sealed, this is a mess free way for toddlers to be hands on and watch the eggs soak in color! They also turn out really pretty with faint, marbled pastel colors.
I used plastic white eggs so I wouldn't have to worry about my hardboiled eggs cracking. Put each egg into a Ziploc bag, add a splash of vinegar and a splash of water (measurements don't have to be exact), and a few drops of food coloring. Keep adding more food coloring if you want the colors to be more vibrant.
Then hand the little baggie to your toddler and let them have fun squishing and shaking the bag to coat the egg with color!
Speckled Eggs Using Rice
This one was definitely the crowd favorite! Grab a small Tupperware container, add a scoop of rice, and put in a few drops of food coloring. Add the egg and make sure the lid is completely sealed. Hand the container to your toddler and watch them giggle as they shake the egg and the rice.
*Note: If the food coloring goes directly on the egg and stays there for more than a second or two, it will leave a big splotch and you won't get the speckled look. Put the dye on the rice, add your egg, and then quickly start shaking it to avoid that problem.
Here's a quick pic taken out of the video I took of my two shaking up their eggs! They loved it! As soon as my husband was done with work, Aaron proudly told him about the rice eggs he made.
The best part of this activity is that you can reuse the rice!
Green dyed rice can be used as "grass" in a rice sensory bin. Throw in some eggs for an Easter egg hunt bin!
Blue dyed rice can be used as "water." Throw in some fishies or pretend to make some soup!
If you do multiple colors, you can add it all together to make rainbow rice!
I hope you're able to color eggs in whatever way you choose this week! Enjoy these sweet moments with your little ones!
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