Covid 19 coronavirus: 10 Easter lockdown ideas for families

Decorate any tree or plant, inside or outside, with items that signify Easter for you and your family. Photo / 123rf

The past few weeks have been like no other we have experienced. Everything of convenience that was in our lives last month is not as easily available today. If you have children, you may be struggling to think how you can celebrate Easter without the conveniences we've become accustomed to. This Easter, Kristin Macfarlane takes us back to basics, looking at Easter activities for kids that are doable with items around the home.

Make an egg pinata:
Blow up a balloon and start to papier mache using ripped-up newspaper and glue mixture around it for the start of an egg-shaped pinata, leaving a gap at the top. If you don't have a balloon, use an old ball or something oval-shaped around the house you no longer want that you can cover but also remove from the dry shell. If you don't have glue for your papier mache paste, you can use a one-part flour, one-part water mixture. Once you've done all your layers, do one more layer using white computer paper or paper towels. Doing this will make it easier to cover when painting. Once it's painted and dry, fill with anything that suits your household.

Go on an Easter egg hunt:
The Big New Zealand Easter Egg Hunt is encouraging Kiwis to draw, colour or decorate their own Easter egg and leave in the window of your house that faces the street so other children can find them. It will be like an Easter egg hunt involving the whole community. This can be an added bonus to your own adventure you set up in your own backyard.

Make an egg bounce:
What kid doesn't enjoy a science experiment and Easter is the perfect time to make an uncooked egg bounce. Get your children to put an unboiled egg in a container or cup of vinegar, making sure the egg is completely covered and leave it in there for 24 hours. The shell should be completely dissolved by now and should bounce. When testing your egg, drop it at a low height first. Once it bounces, maybe keep increasing the height you drop it at and record the height that it breaks.

Easter workout:
For every letter of the alphabet write down a set of workouts or stretches. For example, five star jumps for the letter A, 10 leg raises for the letter B, 20 crunches for C. Make them as active as you want and as age-appropriate as your children or family needs. Write down a whole bunch of Easter-related words on a piece of paper, scrunch them up and put them in a container. Then, let every family member pull out a word and spell out the word in exercises. Each person can work out on their own, or for those extra fit families, do all the words together.

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Create an Easter 2020 time capsule:
Easter 2020 will be part of history in the future so why not create a time capsule and fill it with some of the memorable items from your Easter celebrations, stories and information about how you spent it in lockdown. Hide it away for future generations to discover.

Egg and spoon race:
Let's take it back old-school. With just some boiled eggs and some spoons, you have yourself your very own egg and spoon race. If you have older children, or a competitive family, create an obstacle course to race while carrying the egg on the spoon in your hand, or mouth.

There are lots of activities you can do this Easter Photo / 123rf

Have an Easter parade:
Challenge each family member to create an Easter-themed costume using anything they can find around the house. Hold an Easter parade with everyone wearing their costumes and wear them to dinner together.

Decorate an Easter tree:
Decorate any tree or plant, inside or outside, with items that signify Easter for you and your family. Whether it's bunnies and eggs, arts and crafts, religion, family or even lockdown, decorate your tree with whatever items relate to your Easter in 2020.

Pin the tail on the Easter Bunny:
Work with what you have around the home to draw your bunny on. If you don't have a large sheet of paper, most of us will have a cardboard box or a brown paper bag from the supermarket to draw your rabbit on. The tail can also be anything you have at home - let each person choose their own tail so there's no risk of mixing people's attempts, with the closest person sticking their tail to the most accurate spot named the winner.

Wind down with an Easter movie:
From Hop - a story about normal rabbit Fred having to do the Easter Bunny's job and Risen - a film about a non-believer's quest to find out what happened to Jesus after the Resurrection, to Rise of the Guardians, a movie that brings together the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy and Jack Frost to save the world, there are plenty of Easter-related flicks to enjoy this Easter.

• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website