3 Toddler Friendly Easter Crafts

It’s time for Easter crafts! Last year I shared how we substituted cool whip for shaving cream to make marbled Easter eggs. If you haven’t dyed eggs yet this year, I highly recommend giving it a try. We haven’t gotten around to trying the “whipped topping” again this year, but it is on the to-do list. And this time I think I’m going to test it out with some gel food colors to see if we can get some more vibrant eggs than last year.

In the meantime, here are three more fun crafts for your littles as they wait for everyone’s favorite bunny to hop by. These are all toddler friendly (with supervision, of course) activities, but they are also great for older kids as well. They can each be adapted to be a more complex depending on the age range you are working with.

Tissue Paper Rabbit

First things first. You do not need to use a rabbit shape for this craft. I was able to pick up this wooden rabbit cut out at Target, but there are plenty of options at various craft stores. Whether it’s a rabbit, chick, cross or egg, it really doesn’t matter. Pick something your little will enjoy and that you will want to display.

The first step was a thin layer of paint. For this project, I let my son pick the first color then I provided the two complementary colors. He asked for pink so I offered him orange and yellow or blue and purple to go with his pink. He picked orange and yellow. I poured a little of each color in three separate bowls then added some water so that it would spread easily and really soak into the unfinished wood.

Despite all the extra water, the paint dried pretty quickly and we were onto the tissue paper. I picked up pre-cut tissue paper squares at the Dollar Tree. You can also find them at most craft stores. It’s much cheaper to cut it up yourself, but then you are stuck cutting it yourself. I opted to not this time. I picked out the matching colors (pink, red, orange and yellow) and put them in a bowl. We brushed on a thin layer of Mod Podge then layered on some tissue paper. We added a few more layers of Mod Podge on top of the tissue paper so it could be layered.

As you add tissue paper, you can experiment with folding, crumpling or laying the tissue flat to add more texture. Or you can just layer it all flat.

After the paint and Mod Podge have completely dried, I like to spray a clear gloss sealer. This helps protect the finished piece and can make the colors look a bit more vibrant.

Watercolor Eggs

This year I picked up some white cardboard eggs at Walmart. We were hosting an egg hunt at a local park and bringing hard boiled eggs to sit out in the sun felt like a bad idea. For the egg hunt, we also skipped the paint and stuck to stamps and stickers. We still ended up with a bit of a mess, so before you opt for the “clean” craft with stamps, think twice.

Before we started, I set up three eggs in a plastic egg tray (another Dollar Tree find). I primed the watercolors by adding a couple drops of water to each. I also set up two cups. One cup (and paper towel) for rinsing colors off brushes and one for adding fresh water to the paints. A little much, but we end up with fewer muddled paint colors this way.

As you paint, you will want to shift and roll the eggs. This way you can paint all around it and it won’t end up sitting in a pain puddle. While the paint was drying, I also moved the eggs from one spot to another so they would dry better. I found leaving them sitting in one place just ended up with a puddle and a soggy-bottom egg.

This was a very fun and easy way to decorate eggs. Nothing that can stain clothes and no cups of dye to spill. My son had a lot of fun experimenting and mixing colors. We ended up with some beautiful color combinations. If you have older kids, consider using acrylic paints, glue and glitter, markers or watercolor pencils. These will all work wonderfully and give you a whole variety of egg designs.

Egg Carton Caterpillars

Okay, technically not an Easter craft. But it is a fun spring craft and it will use up some of those egg cartons from all the eggs you dyed.

Start by cutting the bottom of the carton down the middle. Trim off bits of carton until it will rest flat on the table.

One you have a level caterpillar, it’s time to paint. We used basic washable kids paint for these. They soaked into the cardboard carton pretty quickly and, in most places, dried before there could be too much of a mess.

After you’ve finished painting, poke two holes in one end of the caterpillar. From the underside of the caterpillar, push the ends of the pipe cleaner through the holes. Pro tip: consider poking these holes in the cardboard BEFORE painting. I did not and it wasn’t a big problem. I just ended up with a little extra paint to clean off my fingers.

After you pull both ends of the pipe cleaner through, you can give them a quick roll around your finger to make them curl on the ends. You can also paint faces, add google eyes and any other decorations or stickers you might like. Depending on the age of your kids and their attention span, you can also have them thread more pipe cleaners along the length of the carton to give your caterpillars some legs.

Once you are done and the caterpillars are dry, be sure to let them out to play in the yard and enjoy the beautiful spring weather.

Unless you are still covered in snow. In which case, I’m sorry. Try putting your caterpillar on an indoor plant and just keep telling yourself Punxsutawney Phil will eventually get what’s coming to him. And if you haven’t already heard, there is a warrant out for his arrest, so that day may be coming sooner rather than later.

Hopefully these Easter crafts will brighten your day while you wait for the Easter bunny and for Spring to sprung.

What are your favorite Easter crafts?

Share it in the comments. I’d love to hear how you prepare for and celebrate Easter with your family. Especially if it involves some fun Easter crafts!