Easter Egg Fun!

Egg dyeing is a fun and educational Easter tradition to start with your little one. Follow these tips and instructions for making homemade and easy designs that your kids will love. PLUS: Learn how to make eco-friendly dye from vegetables!

Age recommendations:

For 1-year-olds:
While they shouldn’t do the actual dyeing of the egg, they can help paint or add stickers. They can also do little things, such as being in charge of handing you the already hard-boiled egg to put in the dye. Be sure to walk them through each step, so they can learn and feel involved in the process.

For 2+:
Older tots can put the eggs in the dye and help with all other decorations. Do not let them handle hot water or the actual act of hard-boiling the gg.

Now, the basics…

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How to hard-boil an egg:

-Put eggs in a pot.
-Add cold water and salt and bring to a boil.
-Keep eggs in the boiling water for 5-7 minutes.
-Remove eggs from pot and place in bowl of ice or refrigerate until cool to the touch.

How to dye an egg:

(NOTE: You can also purchase ready-made easter egg dye )

What you’ll need:

-Vinegar (plain white)
-Small bowls, cups or empty margarine containers
-Water
-Food color drops (available at grocery store. Or use our chart below for all-natural food dye)

Directions:

-Fill containers 1/2 to 2/3 full of water. 

-Add 1 tsp of vinegar for every 1 cup of water. 

-Add drops of food color until you’re happy with the hue. 

-Put hard boiled eggs in the cups (You can use a Tbsp to put them in and take them out)

-Let dry. 

NOTE: Coverwork surface with newspaper so the dye doesn’t stain the table.  If it does get on furniture, wipe it off immediately.

How to make natural food dye…

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Color	Items To Dye With
Blue	Canned Blueberries Red Cabbage Leaves (boiled) Purple Grape Juice
Brown or Beige	Strong Coffee Instant Coffee Black Walnut Shells (boiled) Black Tea
Brown Gold	Dill Seeds
Brown Orange	Chili Powder
Green	Spinach Leaves (boiled) Liquid Chlorophyll
Greenish Yellow	Yellow Delicious Apple Peels (boiled)
Grey	Purple or red grape juice or beet juice
Lavender	Small Quantity of Purple Grape Juice Violet Blossoms plus 2 tsp Lemon Juice Red Zinger Tea
Orange	Yellow Onion Skins (boiled) Carrots Paprika
Pink	Beets Cranberries or Juice Raspberries Red Grape Juice Juice from Pickled Beets
Red	Lots of Red Onions Skins (boiled) Pomegranate juice Canned Cherries (with syrup) Raspberries
Violet or Purple	Violet Blossoms Hibiscus tea Small Quantity of Red Onions Skins (boiled) Red Wine
Yellow	Orange or Lemon Peels (boiled) Carrot Tops (boiled) Chamomile Tea Celery Seed (boiled) Green tea Ground Cumin (boiled) Ground Turmeric (boiled) or Saffron

Now, for Easy and fun design options…

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Marbelized Eggs:

What you’ll need:

-Hard-boiled eggs
-Dye (homemade or store bought)
-Vinegar
-Cooking oil (such as vegetable oil)
-Containers for the dye mixture (mugs will work)
-Paper towels
-A few spoons

Directions:

-In each container combine one tablespoon of each of the following: oil, vinegar, and your choice of food coloring.

-Add enough water to make the liquid deep enough to cover an egg.

-Swirl the liquid with a spoon, and quickly lower and raise an egg into it.

-Pat dry with a paper towel, and repeat with a second color.

-Swirl into a third color, if desired. Some white areas can be left on the egg.

-Gently pat dry the completed egg, leaving a bit of the oil to give the egg a varnished look.

Fingerprinted Eggs:

What You’ll Need:

-Hard boiled eggs
-Tempra paint
-Dye (homemade or store bought)

Directions:

-Dye eggs a light base color (such as yellow or pink). 
 
-Dip fingers in tempra paint and fingerprint on the eggs. 
 
Painting Options:

-You can make a fingerprint bunny (thumbprint head with two pinky print ears) or just cover the egg with fingerprint “jellybeans.”

-A heart can also be fingerprinted by putting on one print and then slightly overlapping a second print.

-A flower can be fingerprinted by printing a swirl of 6 pinkie prints in a circle for the flower and printing a heart below the flower (leaves).  The use a paint brush or the tip of your finger to draw a thin stem connecting the two.

Thanks to Kaboose , What’s Cooking America, and DLTK’s Holiday Crafts

 

 

 

Learn how to design awesome Easter eggs with your toddler this holiday.