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Reading and cooking with kids

An Eggcellent Easter Eggstravaganza!

4/15/2019

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     Easter is almost here and in the vein of getting back to basics we decided to go the natural route this year and use onion skins to dye our eggs. It's surprisingly simple and a lot of fun! My three-year-old was quite thrilled with the entire experience and very pleased with the results.

     So, what do you need for this activity?
  • Onion skins (red work best)
  • Eggs
  • Bits of nature (such as leaves, flowers and so on to create patterns on the eggs)
  • Nylons (to wrap the eggs in)
  • A pot
  • Red wine vinegar
  • Water

     Before getting started we headed outside to collect some bits of nature to use for making patterns on our eggs. My daughter loved searching for different types of leaves and flowers around the yard. We brought our finds inside, placed them onto our just washed still damp eggs and wrapped them in the nylons. Then the eggs went into the pot with the onion skins, two tablespoons of red wine vinegar and water and boiled for 20 minutes! Voila! Beautiful, naturally dyed eggs!
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     While the eggs were simmering in the onion skins, we got out some Easter books and snuggled up for a brief storytime that led to an impromptu egg hunt throughout the house after my daughter decided to hide some plastic eggs we had handy. It was a delightful morning of bonding and memory making!
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*Note: this post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Any purchases made via the links provided go to support our literacy efforts.
     In our humble opinion, no Easter basket is complete without the addition of at least one or two books and, as mentioned above, reading Easter books is a great way to pass the time while you're waiting for your eggs to be done. Below is a list of a dozen of our favorite Easter books to read aloud!
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The Bunny Hop by Sarah Albee
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Llama Llama Easter Egg by Anna Dewdney
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Celebrate Easter by Deborah Heiligman
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Happy Easter, Mouse! by Laura Numeroff
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The Easter Egg by Jan Brett
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Happy Easter, Pout-Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen
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The Littlest Bunny: An Easter Adventure by Lily Jacobs
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Turkey's Eggcellent Easter by Wendi Silvano
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Easter Bugs: A Springtime Pop-up by David A. Carter
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How to Track an Easter Bunny by Sue Fliess
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Happy Easter, Little Critter by Mercer Mayer
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Here Comes the Easter Cat by Deborah Underwood
For even more egg-cellent Easter reads take a look at our previous blog Hop Into Reading This Easter! and our Holiday Books list.
Happy Easter!

-Kate @ BTBL

Author

We are three generations that seek a way to get back to basics. It’s not that we eschew technology, but sometimes simpler is better, especially in raising our children. Mom was a reading teacher, Amanda is an early childhood educator and Kate a children’s literature specialist and former school librarian along with the latest editions, a daughter for Kate (now 3) and a son for Amanda (now 1.) We advocate reading aloud, the simple toys that use imagination and encourage creativity and learning in the kitchen, which can be a fun mess but also teaches life skills. Join us in raising healthy, happy, inquisitive and intelligent children.

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Hop Into Reading This Easter!

3/26/2018

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     Spring is here at last and the Easter season is upon us! Share the gift of reading with your little bunny this holiday by adding a book or two to their Easter basket. There are many books out there to choose from. Below we highlight four of our favorites, but you can find many more on our Holiday Books list!
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​Tiny the Easter Bunny by Eric James
     James’s latest holiday title is quite possibly his most humorous and fun yet! When Tiny the Elephant discovers the Easter Bunny stuck in a log he decides he must help in any way he can. The most obvious way to lend assistance? Take on the role of Easter Bunny himself, of course! You and your little bunny will be entranced by the flow of the rhyming text and whimsical illustrations as Tiny the Elephant learns that being a bunny is not so easy after all. Have even more fun with the story when you read a region specific edition for the area you live in, for example Tiny the Michigan Easter Bunny.

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​That Grand Easter Day! by Jill Roman Lord
     Following the cumulative, building structure of The House That Jack Built and using rhyming text, this title explains the religious origins of the Easter holiday in an understandable. approachable way for young listeners. The repetitive text paired with the bright, detailed illustrations will have the whole family engaged.

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​Peter Cottontail's Easter Egg Hunt by Joseph R. Ritchie
     We picked up a copy of this book at a library used book sale over a year ago and it is still one of my little bunny’s all-time favorites, regardless of the time of year. Peter Cottontail and his staff are preparing all of the eggs, goodies and baskets for the children of Sunnyside. Lift-the-flap elements on every page keep little listeners engaged in the story as they discover opposites, shapes, numbers and hidden treats!

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​The Night Before Easter by Natasha Wing
     Is any holiday complete without reading one of Wing’s The Night Before… books? This take on a classic holiday poem features the Easter Bunny as the bringer of goodies this time around and faithfully follows the rhythm and tone of the original poem, The Night Before Christmas (A Visit from St. Nicholas) by Clement C. Moore.

     For even more fun this Easter, consider making these Easter Bunny Corner Bookmarks from Easy Peasy and Fun! They are just like the Monster Bookmarks that we have shared at Halloween, but done up to look like adorable bunny rabbits.
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Happy reading and crafting!
*Note: This post contains Amazon Affiliate links.
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    Author

    We are mom Sandra and daughters Amanda and Kate, all with backgrounds in literacy and education, who want to share our philosophy of taking the basics of life; books, simple toys that encourage play, imagination and creativity, and using cooking and baking to teach math and real life skills to raise happy, inquisitive children. Join us in exploring the old and the new and sifting through the myriad of research to consider what is best for our children.

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  • Home
  • About Us
    • Back to Basics
    • Contact Us
  • Reading Aloud
    • Research
    • Titles to Consider >
      • Ballet Books
      • Board Books
      • Alphabet Books
      • Number Books
      • Interactive & Sensory Books
      • Manners & Etiquette Books
      • Stories about Books, Reading & Libraries
      • Fables, Folktales & Fairy Tales
      • Nursery Rhymes & Poetry
      • Holiday Books
      • Graduation Books
      • Baking, Cooking, Gardening & Food Related Books
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      • Books Discussed in Our Handbook
    • Workshops
    • Literacy Events & Attractions
  • Bookworm Bakers
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  • Shop
    • Toy Recommendations