It's Easter time again, and a lovely opportunity to spend some well deserved family time. This week our friends at Fred Safety have shared their top tips on how to make the most of your Easter weekend!
Enjoy Easter Together
Here are some ideas that the whole family can enjoy…
- Make Easter nests by melting chocolate and mixing it with rice crisps, cornflakes or torn up shredded wheat. When they are cool, top with mini fluffy chickens, paper flowers or a small hollow egg wrapped in foil. It is best to avoid hard miniature eggs for little ones, read on to find out why.
- Paint eggs with your little ones. Poke a hole in both ends of the egg and blow the egg whites and yokes into a bowl (it is easier if you poke a skewer all the way into the egg to break the yoke before blowing) then cover those and keep them in the fridge to use in your cooking. Wash the egg shells under a running tap and then dry. Now your little ones can decorate & string together to make bunting.
- Make an Easter tree with some twigs that you can collect from your garden or during a family walk. Arrange them in a large vase and then decorate with the children’s painted eggs or make some decorations out of any craft bits you have at home. Alternatively, we have seen some families sharing pictures of their Christmas trees decorated for Easter on social media, which is a lovely idea to brighten up your home.
- Create Easter garlands by cutting out egg shapes, decorating and stringing up around the house. Or if you have tissue paper then you could make pompoms to string up - simply fold the tissue paper into a concertina shape, tie a string in the middle and then carefully peel out each layer of paper and fluff to make a fun pompom shape.
- If you have friends and family that you won’t be able to see this Easter then you can paint or colour some Easter themed pictures to send them in the post. They will love receiving your little ones' beautiful artwork and it will give you and the children something to do to pass the time so it is a win/win!
- Go on a walk together and look for clues that the Easter bunny has been, like broken twigs that he might have trodden on or marks in the ground that could be his footprints.
- Create an Easter hunt in your garden if you have one or around the house or flat if you don’t. You can leave little clues and make a map for them to follow, it will be really exciting for the children and help to make the day feel special.
- Put a plain paper tablecloth on the table or just use pieces of paper as an alternative table cloth and put colouring pens in the middle so the children can decorate the table while you relax and enjoy a longer lunch together as a family.
What is the Easter egg test?
Easter eggs are all part of the fun of Easter but when you’ve got little ones, it is really important to make sure that they don’t become a choking hazard. Small solid eggs can be very hazardous for babies and young children because they can become lodged in their windpipe and the hard coating means that they won’t melt and loosen on their own.
Thankfully, there is such a large variety of eggs on offer that you can easily avoid these more hazardous choices and opt for the slightly larger, hollow eggs in colourful foil instead. Or you might choose some fun bunny shaped chocolates or similar for your egg hunt instead. When it comes to large eggs, simply crush them up into small pieces that your little one can eat easily or leave them as larger pieces for your little one to hold and bite off chunks.
If you are not sure what size to choose for Easter eggs then Fred Safety have designed a choke tester which comes as part of their Fred Home Safety Starter Kit. It helps you to identify items that pose a choke risk to babies and young children - simply insert them into the choke tester and if they fit snugly inside then they could be a choke hazard.
You can get the whole family involved in checking for choking hazards with the Fred choke tester, older children will love going around the house and testing toys like lego inside. It is a great way of teaching older siblings about keeping baby safe in your home and keeping their toys tidied away out of reach of the little one.
The Easter egg test isn’t about stopping you and your family from having fun this Easter, it’s about making sure the whole family is safe and free to enjoy the celebrations. So please remember to check what the Easter bunny has brought before giving eggs to little ones this year. We hope you and your family have a wonderful, Easter break.
Do you own a first aid kit?
Every family home needs a first aid kit - and Mini First Aid have 2 to choose from!
If you need a first aid kit for your change bag, to store on your buggy or in your rucksack for a family day out, we'd recommend our compact Mini First Aid kit.
If you need one for the home or for your car, you can't go wrong with our Family First Aid kit - our larger kit has all your first aid essentials as well as a thermometer, instant cold pack and foil blankets.
Bearing in mind we'd recommend a kit for the house AND for when you're out and about, make sure you're ready for a first aid emergency anywhere by stocking up on both!
