Covid 19 coronavirus: 10 Easter lockdown activities for the kids at home

The past couple of weeks have been like no other we have experienced. Everything of convenience that was in our lives last month is not as easily available today. If you have children, you may be struggling to think how you can celebrate Easter without the conveniences we've become accustomed to. Kristin Macfarlane takes us back to basics, looking at Easter activities for kids that are doable with items around the home.

Make an egg pinata:

Blow up a balloon and start to paper mache using ripped up newspaper and glue around it for the start of an egg-shaped pinata, leaving a gap at the top. If you don't have a balloon, use an old ball or something oval-shaped you no longer want that you can cover but also remove from the dry shell. Make the paste using a one-part flour, one-part water mixture. Once you've done all your layers, do one more layer using white computer paper or paper towels, which will make it easier to cover when painting. Once it's painted and dry, fill with anything that suits your household.

Go on an Easter egg hunt:

The Big New Zealand Easter Egg Hunt is encouraging Kiwis to draw, colour or decorate their own Easter egg and leave in a street-facing window of the house so children can find them. It will be like an Easter egg hunt involving the whole community. This can be an added bonus to your own adventure you set up in your own backyard.

View this post on Instagram

This is a message for the kids of New Zealand. I’ve been asked by lots of you whether the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny are an essential service (I even got asked in a press conference today!) I have good news, the are! But because we’re all in isolation at the moment, the Easter Bunny might not make it to every house this year (they probably have to look after their own Bunny family too). So just in case, I’m wondering if you’ll help me create an Easter egg hunt for all the children in your neighbourhood? You can draw your own Easter egg, or you can colour in the one that some of my clever friends helped to make. All you have to do is colour it in or decorate it, and pop it in your window for other kids to find. I'd also love to see your designs. If you email them to primeminister@parliament.govt.nz, or share them on social media using the hashtag #NZEggHunt, I'll pop a few of them here and on Facebook over the Easter weekend. Have fun everyone! P.S you can print a copy of this colouring sheet over on my Facebook page.

A post shared by Jacinda Ardern (@jacindaardern) on Apr 6, 2020 at 1:52am PDT

NeedToKnow3

Easter workout:

For every letter of the alphabet write down a set of workouts or stretches. For example, five star jumps for the letter A, 10 leg raises for the letter B, 20 crunches for C. Make them as active as you want and as age-appropriate as your children or family needs. Write down a whole bunch of Easter-related words on a piece of paper, scrunch them up and put them in a container. Then, let every family member pull out a word and spell out the word in exercises. Each person can work out on their own or, for those extra fit families, do all the words together.

Enjoy an Easter-themed workout. Photo / Getty Images

Create an Easter 2020 time capsule:

Easter 2020 will be part of history in the future so why not create a time capsule and fill it with some of the memorable items from your Easter celebrations, stories and information about how you spent it in lockdown. Hide it away for future generations to discover.

Egg and spoon race:

Let's take it back old school. With just some boiled eggs and some spoons, you have yourself your very own egg and spoon race. If you have older children, or a competitive family, create an obstacle course to race while carrying the egg on the spoon in your hand, or mouth.

Have an Easter parade:

Challenge each family member to create an Easter-themed costume using anything they can find around the house. Hold an Easter parade with everyone wearing their costumes and wear them to dinner together.

Decorate an Easter tree:

Decorate any tree or plant, inside or outside, with items that signify Easter for you and your family. Whether it's bunnies and eggs, arts and crafts, religion, family or even lockdown, decorate your tree with whatever items that relate to your Easter in 2020.

Decorate a tree, plant or arrangement of branches with Easter-related decorations. Photo / Getty Images

Pin the tail on the Easter Bunny:

Work with what you have around the home to draw your bunny on. If you don't have a large sheet of paper, use a cardboard box or a brown paper bag from the supermarket. The tail can also be anything you have at home - let each person choose their own tail so there's no risk of mixing people's attempts. The person who sticks their tail on the most accurate spot is named the winner.

Wind down with an Easter movie:

From Hop, a story about normal rabbit Fred having to do the Easter Bunny's job, and Risen - a film about a non-believer's quest to find out what happened to Jesus after the Resurrection - to Rise of the Guardians, a movie that brings together the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy and Jack Frost to save the world, there are plenty of Easter-related flicks to enjoy.

• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website