Ostara

Spring Equinox: March 20




bunny biscuits ostara egg dye pear bunny bunny rolls Fluffy rabbit Fingerplay

Older children can research to find out what creatures lay eggs. Have them make large paper eggs. Have them cut the top of the egg off and reattach with a metal brad. Then the can make a creature they have found and glue it to the paper egg so that it looks like it is coming out of the egg when they open the top. They can decorate the egg according to the creature they chose.
Older children can write a story about finding a mysterious egg. Younger children can tell you the story and you can write it down for them.
Plastic eggs can be used for all sorts of games. You can write math problems on the outside of the shell on a pieces of tape (so you can change the math problems.) Then write the answers on a piece of paper and put into the egg. The child can do the math problem and check the answers by "cracking" open the eggs. You can also write fortunes inside the eggs, hide them, and let the children find them. Or you can make a treasure hunt with the clues written inside the plastic eggs.
Make a flower pot bunny. Turn a small flower pot upside down. Let the child paint the pot like a bunny head. Then make bunny ears out of felt. Poke the "bunny ears" out through the drainage hole in the pot and glue or tape the ears on the inside of the pot. (acrylic paint works best with this project.)
Hard boil eggs. Color with crayons, and dip into egg dye.
Cut out an egg shape out of a large piece of paper. Let your child paint it with watercolors.
Let your child experiment with adding white paint to green, yellow, and red. Then the child can paint with the Spring colors he/she made.
Have your child sprinkle grass seed into a paper cup filled with dirt. Let your child water it carefully and place in a sunny window.
Older children can watch "Dragon Heart." Younger children can watch "Pete's Dragon."
Bunny Biscuits
Make biscuits with your favorite recipe (even out of a can if you want.)
Cut into circle shaped biscuits.
Two biscuits make a bunny head. 1 makes the face. Cut the other one in half and flip each half over.
Stick to top face on a cookie sheet and bake according to directions.
Tell your children the story of the Goddess Eoster. She was thought to take the form of a white bunny and hop all through the countryside bringing eggs. She was the Goddess of fertility, which you may want to explain as being the one who helped people have new babies, grow crops, and new animals to be born.
Read "The Runnaway Bunny" by Margaret Wise Brown.
Have an egg relay race. Divide the family or group of children into teams. Give each person a spoon. Give each team a hard boiled egg. Make a starting line and a got to line. Say, "On your mark, get set, go!" Then each person in the front of the line holds out their spoon with the egg on it and goes as fast and carefully as they can to the "go to line" and back. They pass off the egg to the next person. The first team to have everyone go to the line and back with the egg wins.
Have an Egg Hunt. I like to hide plastic eggs with jellybeans inside, because animals (such as kitties,) won't bother them, and they won't spoil.
Make a white paper bag bunny. Find a white paper lunch bag. Cut ear shapes out of the top of the bag. Have the children decorate it to look like a bunny. Stuff it with newspaper. Staple or glue it shut. Or, they can leave it open and fill it with goodies instead.
Make bunny head bands. Take a strip of paper. Wrap it around your child's head and forehead. Staple it into a circle that fits. Have them draw, color, and cut out bunny ears. Tape or staple them to the head band. Then they can hop around.
Cut out a large egg shape out of paper. Have your child paint on it with watercolor paints. Let dry. Have them color over the entire egg really hard with a purple crayon. Give them toothpicks and let them scratch a design into the purple crayon. The watercolors will show through where ever they scratch.
Make a white paper plate bunny. Fold a paper plate in half. Staple it that way. Add a cotton ball tail on one end. Add paper ears on the other. Draw a face on the end with the ears.
Make a baby chick in an egg. Get two yellow pom poms. Cut one egg portion from an egg carton. Glue the pom poms, one on top of the other, into the egg carton piece. Cut a very small diamond shape out of orande paper. Fold in half. Glue onto the top pom pom for a beak. Glue on googly eyes.
Ostara Egg Shell Mosaics
Save all the egg shells from your Ostara eggs.
Put them in a strong plastic or paper bag.
Smash them by rolling a rolling pin over the bag.
Your child can glue down the colorful eggshells in any mosaic patten that they wish on sturdy paper or cardboard.
Homemade Ostara Egg Dye
1 Tablespoon Vinegar
You need these ingredients for EACH color you want for your eggs.
1/4 teaspoon food coloring
3/4 cup hot water
1 Tablespoon hot water
Mix theses ingrdients all together in a bowl for each color that you want. Leave the egg in until it reaches the desired shade.
You can also add one of the follwing ingredients to water and a bit of vinegar in a saucepan and heat to make your own colors: Onion skins, Blueberries, beets.
To make interesting designs on your Ostara eggs, try putting rubber bands on the eggs before dying. Use rubber bands of varying widths. Remove rubber bands after the dye is dry. You can even recolor egg after the bands are removed.
You can use masking tape or stickers on the egg before you dye it. Then remove tape after it is completely dry.
You can make tye-dye eggs. Take a 6 inch square of cotton cloth. Wet slightly and roll the egg in the cloth. Secure in place with a rubber band on each end of the egg so it looks like a piece of hard candy. Use a medicine dropper to put drops of dye on the cloth-covered egg. Use several different colors. Unwrap
Pear Bunny
Put a canned pear half on a lettuce leaf on a plate.
Use almonds for the ears.
Make a tail out of a marshmallow.
Make eyes out of raisins.
Bunny Rolls
1 head of lettuce
1 1/2 cups cottage cheese
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup mayonnaise
Wash and remove large lettuce leaves. Let (or pat) dry. Mix remaining ingredients. Spread on lettuce leaf. Roll up and eat.
Fluffy Rabbit Finger Play
See the Fluffy rabbit as it hops,
(Hold hands at sides of head for ears.)
One ear up while the other one flops.
(Bend down one hand.)
She's a gentle bunny with a twitchy nose,
(Wiggle nose.)
She's all furry from her ears to her toes.
(Wiggle rabbit ear, then toes.)

Click here for an Egg coloring page.