Oh, the ever-versatile crepe paper! We’ve made flowers and butterflies with it. We’ve painted with it. And we’ve made collage and 3D art with it. But did you know you can color eggs with it, too?
You will need: hard-boiled eggs, crayons, a bowl of water and an assortment of crepe paper.
Have the children choose an egg and color it with one or more crayons.
Next wrap the egg with a piece of crepe paper.
Dip the wrapped egg in the water. Make sure all of the crepe paper is wet. It doesn’t matter if the water is colored from previous eggs. The colored water won’t affect the color of new egg.
Gently pat and press the crepe paper all over the egg. Don’t rush to take the crepe paper off the egg immediately. The children could practice counting slowly and clearly to ten, twenty or thirty. You might even practice counting backwards with them!
If you have students who are sensitive to getting their hands dirty, you could provide them with plastic gloves for this step. The dye will not completely wash off the children’s hands right away. Some children can become upset and not understand that the stain is temporary. Other children can be delighted by the color on their hands. One boy announced to everyone that he was becoming the Hulk!
The children can experiment, too. What happens if two colors of crepe paper are used on the egg?
Put the eggs back in the egg cartons to dry. You can write the children’s names or initials on the egg carton to help you remember who made each egg.
If you would like to add a special outdoor learning element to this experience, invite the children to make nests for their eggs. If you are lucky enough to have some old nests, they can serve as inspiration.
Help the children find and collect small sticks, moss, grasses and leaves. We refrain from using plastic as much as possible so we gave each child a small paper bag to hold their nest.
I hope you and your students enjoy colouring eggs and making nests as much as we did. Wishing everyone a wonderful, sunny Spring outdoors!
