Fun activities and games to play with your kids over the Easter holidays.

Egg painting
Note: For toddlers and younger children – hard boil the eggs first.
Then you can fill a water spray bottle with poster paint and let toddlers spray it all over the eggs – the end effect will be brilliant.

Alternatively, get older kids to use wax crayons to put a design onto the egg, then soak the eggs in water and food colouring. The colouring will dye everything on the egg, bar the designs made with the crayon.

If you have teenagers who'd like an artistic challenge, start with a raw eggs. Make a pinprick at one end of the egg shell and a very slightly larger hole at the other end – have them blow slowly through the pinprick to get all the egg out. After this they can use a variety of techniques to paint the eggs, including sponging, or use a cotton bud, dipped in a variety of food colouring bottles to make a spotty design.

Easter bonnets
There are any number of craft kits around for this activity, but the best fun comes from making do with whatever is in the house. So grab an old sun hat, some coloured tissue, and any flowers or greenery from the garden that will resist a bit of scrunching and let them create their own works of art. Look out for those tiny yellow chicks in toy shops or supermarkets to add for a particularly Easter flavour.

Egg hunts
This is a great opportunity to get the kids outdoors over Easter. First, secrete tiny chocolate easter eggs wrapped in foil, all through your garden or home. Give each child a basket and send them off in opposite directions, so they all have an equal chance of finding the eggs.