Games + Activities

As promised here is a new (secret!) blog midway through my two week Easter holiday. Of course, it’s Easter themed! This game was inspired by Ewan and Florence’s love of watching other people opening things (like eggs) on You Tube. I thought, “how can I re-create this for them and mix in a bit of learning?” Here’s what I came up with…

Crack the Egg

You will need…

1. playdoh
2. tin foil
3. bits of paper with whatever you want them to learn written on x 4
4. a chocolate treat (it’s Easter after all 😉)
5. egg cup or egg box (optional)
6. spoon

How to play…

1. wrap the bits of paper with whatever you want them to learn (letters of their name, numbers, spellings etc.) in bits of foil
2. wrap those bits of foil plus the chocolate treat inside 5 individual bits of playdoh, shaped into eggs
3. Wrap each playdoh egg in foil
4. Leave for them to find (golden rule) in egg cups or boxes, alongside the spoon.
5. Let them ‘crack’ then unwrap each one and discover what’s inside!

As they reveal the letter or number chat with them about what it is. It might spell out something, or be the answer to a sum, or the first letter of their name. For Florence who is three next month, I wrote numbers she’s not confident with. For Ewan who is nearly 5 I wrote tricky words from school - he’s quite good at them but is stuck on ‘was’ so I popped that in, along with the others he knows well. If you’ve got a little one who might enjoy this but isn’t up to numbers and letters just yet, simply pop tiny toys inside.

This might not seem like a game to develop writing skills but it really is because all that fiddly work opening the foil and bits of playdoh and paper are brilliant exercises to strengthen the hand muscles needed for writing (fine motor skills as they are known to some folk!)

And as usual this is fantastic for speech and language as there’s so much to talk about. What could be inside? What colour playdoh is it? What’s the best way to crack it open?

Afterwards leave it for them to re-make their own for you or each other. Encourage them to pop a surprise toy in there for you or write their own anagram.

Now some of you, like me, are halfway through your Easter holidays. You’ve probably already had lots of fun, and also shouted quite a bit and shoved chocolate in your face at the speed of light so the kids don’t clock it (please tell me that isn’t just me?!) So I hope this little activity might give you five minutes of free fun as the week rolls on and distract them long enough to snaffle a creme egg at the very least! Keep going folks and Happy Easter!