60 Fun Without Food Easter Ideas

It's that time of year again.  I'm not sure which holiday is more difficult-Christmas, Halloween, or Easter when it comes to special dietary needs.  Coming up with Easter basket and tradition alternatives can be difficult.  Easter was a pretty exciting day in my family growing up.  The Easter Bunny would leave trails of jelly beans all over the house leading to where our Easter baskets were hidden.  Our baskets were filled with candy and gifts of jewelry, music, and a few other miscellaneous items.  I received a gift from my parents too.  Most often it was a new item to play with outside.

After eating candy all morning and our annual Easter egg hunt with Dad, we'd get ready and head to my aunt's house for a HUGE buffet of meats, summer salads, fruit salads, veggies and desserts.  There was always so much food.  Sometimes we'd have another Easter egg hunt there.  The eggs would be the ones we'd decorated a few days before.

There were a few variations in the holiday tradition, but the eggs, candy, and food were always present.  Last year was our first Easter celebration since the kids' diagnoses.  Click here to see the post from last year.  This year we're changing things up a bit. And honestly, there are still many things to plan, BUT since Easter is only a month away, it's time for Fun Without Food's Easter Ideas!

Decorating Easter Eggs

Adam's egg and adhesive allergies are life threatening, so the tradition of decorating Easter eggs is a tough one for us.  I've worked hard to come up with some alternatives.  Here are some I really like.  Some activities are not appropriate for younger children, others will bore older children.  Click on links for instructions.

1.  A Herd of (Plastic) Eggimals
2.  Ballpoint Eggs
3.  Papier-Mache Eggs (This project does require wheat flour, although I suppose you could use a different flour)
4.  Foam Sticker Eggs (Oriental Trading has a lot of foam egg craft options)
5.  Magic Color Scratch Eggs
6.  Paint Your Own Ceramic Eggs (Ceramic Eggs can be replaced with wooden eggs.)
7.  Stained Glass Easter Egg
8.  Easter Egg Scissors Skills Project
9.  Cotton Ball Easter Bunny Egg
10.  Yarn Balloon Egg
11.  Pop Up Eggs
12.  For really young children print out template for Easter Egg Scissors Skills Project and just have children color or paint the egg, and/or add stickers.

If you have other ideas PLEASE share!

Easter Egg Fillers

The Easter Egg Hunt is one of the most favorite events of the day around here.  Before special dietary needs were introduce to the family, we stuffed plastic eggs with candy.  Now we use non food Easter Egg Fillers.  Here are some ideas that we've used and plan to use in the future.  Some require a larger plastic egg.

1.  Lego or Lego Duplo Pieces
2.  Finger Puppets
3.  Miniature Dinosaur and Animal Figurines
4.  Magnets
5.  Beads
6.  Matchbox or Hot Wheels Cars
7.  Jewelry
8.  Hair Barrettes & Bows
9.  Barbie Accessories
10.  Mr. Potato Head Pieces
12.  Crayons
13. Stickers
14.  Miniature Play Do containers
15.  Stamps
16.  Scrapbooking Accessories
17.  Chalk
18.  Fisher Price Little People or Imaginex Accessories
19.  Mini Paint Containers
20.  Cash or Coins
21.  Playmobile or Action Figure Accessories
22.  Puzzle Pieces
23.  Seeds
24.  Shoelaces or socks

Obviously Oriental Trading, along with many other stores have plenty of little toys that fit in plastic Easter eggs, BUT I'm one to prefer toys or items that the kids will actually use for a long time and won't break within 24 hours.  We color code the eggs for each child so they will know which ones are their eggs.

What do you put in your Easter Eggs?  PLEASE share any other ideas that you have!

Other Way of Celebrating

There are many websites about Easter Craft Ideas, so I don't want to go into much detail about that, but besides crafts, Easter Eggs, Easter Egg Hunts, Easter baskets, and FOOD, how do you celebrate the holiday?  How do you have fun without food?  Do you celebrate the religious aspect of the holiday?  How so?

Since having children Easter is a two part celebration in our home.  The day before Easter our family celebrates the secular part of the holiday.  We call it the Day of the Easter Bunny.  Then on Sunday, we devote the day to the religious aspect of the holiday.  I've always directed the choir in my congregation, up until this year.  My 2 1/2 year old has also been a baby up until this year.  Unfortunately because of safety risks, we're having to stay home from religious services.  This is really upsetting to me, but I'm working hard to find other ways to make the day special.

Some Fun Without Food Secular Celebration Ideas include:
1. (Non Food) Easter Egg Hunt
2.  Relay Races and Games
3.  Planting a tree of flowers
4.  Learn how to weave a basket
5.  Visit a farm where there are new baby animals
6.  Nature walk or hike
7.  Signs of Spring Scavenger Hunt
8.  Easter Crafts
9.  Make & Send Easter Cards to Family & Friends
10.  Go shopping for spring and summer wardrobes
11.  Visit the Easter Bunny at your local Mall
12.  Deliver flowers to friends and neighbors

Some Fun Without Food Religious Celebration Ideas include:
1.  Attend religious services (Make sure they are safe for those with special dietary needs!)
2. Attend or participate in a performance of an Easter Oratorio
3.  Read scripture passages about the life of Jesus Christ, His miracles, and/or events leading up to and after His Crucifixion.
4.  Watch a movie about the life of Jesus Christ, His Crucifixion, and/or His Resurrection.
5.  Write in a journal
6.  Religious Easter Crafts
7.  Visit a sacred place or religious historical site
8.  Write letters of gratitude to loved ones
9.  Listen to and/or sing hymns of praise and/or other sacred music
10.  Pray
11.  Create and play trivia games about the religious events surrounding the Easter holiday.
12.  Serve those in need.

What are some fun without food secular and/or religious celebration ideas that your family has?

We hope you have a very fun, safe, and happy Easter holiday!