Happy Easter, Little Critter - Picture Book & KID KANDY

Happy Easter, Little Critter
By Mercer Mayer
(Scholastic Inc., 1998)

Ah, the good old days. Happy Easter, Little Critter takes me right back to the Easter holidays of my childhood.

Getting up too early? Check.

Easter baskets the same as my three siblings? Check.

Get dressed up for church in a new (and sometimes matching but different color than my sister) Easter outfit? Check.

Try to eat all the candy BEFORE church? Of course.

Decorate eggs? The messier the better.

Hiding and finding eggs? Over and over. We could play that game all day.

Fighting over who got the (prettiest, biggest, coolest - you fill in the blank) eggs?

Happy Easter, Little Critter tells it like it was.

KID KANDY:

Decorate Boiled Eggs

(As always, allow your child to help you as much as possible to capitalize on learning activities.)

1. Boil the eggs. I always add extras, just in case. Cool.

2. Prepare the egg dying kit. I actually read the directions this year. Yes. I know. Vinegar only goes in some of the dyes, not all. And the eggs need to be completely dry and at room temp for the best results.

3. Use crayons to draw designs on eggs - stripes, zigzags, dots, and so on. Add rubber bands, bits of tape, or other sticky items make patterns.

4. Dye the eggs. This year (it really was a learning year for me and I'm 52!) I let my grands use wire whips as egg holders. I love this tip!

5. Dry. Add stickers, washi tape, glitter, or whatever else you want. Dry again.

Time for hide and seek!

You hide the eggs the first time. And then let your children take it from there.

HINT: Count the eggs. Find the same number of eggs that were hidden. Trust me. Don't leave eggs hiding in your yard. Ewww.

Happy Easter, little critters!

The Golden Egg Book - Easter Picture & KID KANDY

The Golden Egg Book
Written by Margaret Wise Brown
Illustrated by Leonard Weisgard
(Scholastic Inc., 1947)

I love the imagination that is used by readers when they read The Golden Egg Book.

In The Golden Egg Book (though I have no idea why it is called The Golden Egg Book when there is, in fact, no golden egg at all in the story), a small bunny discovers a beautiful and interesting egg. He immediately starts trying to figure out what is inside the egg. He tries everything he can think of and eventually falls asleep, exhausted from his efforts.

While the bunny is asleep, the egg hatches. A yellow duckling jumps out. The duckling does the same things the bunny did to try and wake up the bunny (not knowing it was a bunny at all).

The old fashioned illustrations together with the adorable story make The Golden Egg Book one of my holiday favorites.


KID KANDY:

Make Mystery Eggs

~ Purchase plastic eggs (now is the perfect time!)

~ Put different items in each egg

~ Let your child use his or her imagination to guess what could be inside the egg

~ Take turns filling the eggs and guessing

~ Change the game by filling 2 eggs with the same thing and let your child try to match the ones that sound the same

~ Go crazy and brainstorm things that could be inside eggs


Angie Quantrell loves mystery eggs. Her most favorite are real boiled eggs and chocolate eggs. Happy Easter!