Coloring eggs at Easter time dates back to the middle ages! This time-honored custom often emits cherished memories of when we were kids, coloring eggs with our parents and siblings. For the toddler and preschooler, coloring eggs is not only fun, but can be used as a teaching moment as well!

While coloring and decorating eggs, mom and dad can:

*Reinforce color recognition

*Teach about measuring and fractions

*Review shapes and designs

*Foster the child’s artistic talents

*Practice counting as you teach that a dozen equals 12

*Introduce simple science basics such as color tabs or food coloring dissolving in water, boiling water, steam, and more!

Tips to Making the Perfect Boiled and Colored Easter Eggs:

*Cover eggs with COLD water in a large saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil. Turn off heat and let sit for 30 minutes

*Make your own egg dye! Dissolve a dab of food coloring paste or about 6-8 drops of regular liquid food color into one cup of hot water. Stir in 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar.

*Wear rubber gloves while working

*Cover your work area with newspaper for an easy clean up afterward.

*Use pasta tongs for coloring the eggs

*Use the empty egg carton as the drying rack, or use a paper towel tube cut into sections

*You can use blown eggs instead of hard boiled. To blow an egg, first shake the egg to break the yolk. Use a small nail to make a hole in the top and bottom of egg. Blow gently until egg is empty.

*Make sure eggs are completely dry between color coats. Use paper towel to blot the eggs to finish the process

Dinosaur Eggs

To make these fun eggs, you will need the following:

• *hard boiled eggs
• *6″ square of cheesecloth for each egg
• *rubber bands or twist ties
• *small paint brushes or cotton swabs
• *egg dye in desired shades

1. Wrap a piece of cheesecloth around a dry egg, bundling the edges together and fastening them at the top with a rubber band or twist tie.

2. Dip paint brush into egg dye, then dab this onto the cloth covered eggs.

3. Repeat, painting the eggs with various shades in various places.

4. Overlap some colors for special effects.

5. Allow egg to dry completely before unwrapping. The design will resemble armadillo skin!

Dripped On Eggs

For this fun project, you will need the following:

*hard-boiled eggs

*rubber cement

*egg dye

1. To start, rest the egg in an empty egg carton or section of a paper towel tube set upright. Or, you can wear rubber gloves and hold the egg.

2. Using the applicator brush, dribble gobs of rubber cement over the egg

3. When the cement has dried, dip the egg into a bowl of die. When the desired shade is achieved, remove the egg and let it dry.

4. Peel off the glue and add additional colors if desired!

**Ideas taken from Family Fun and Child Parenting websites.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 19th, 2008 at 5:00 am and is filed under Holidays, A day in the life of being a Mommy!. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.