What To Do With The Children Over Easter

National Trust

The National Trust won't be running its usual roster of events over the Easter holidays, but there will be Easter egg hunts taking place at some of the properties it looks after. Details will be announced soon, so keep an eye out. However, there will also be plenty of family friendly activities and ideas on offer for you to try with your family at home. Three activity packs are available, each inspired by springtime animals – the house martin, thick-legged flower beetle and painted lady butterfly. Children can get to know each of the species and be inspired by the great outdoors as they discover interesting facts about these creatures, get creative with crafts or do something beneficial for the natural world.

Visit NationalTrust.org.uk

Bread Ahead

Older children and teens can learn how to make the ultimate hot cross buns from home. During the live workshop – taking place on three different dates during the holidays – bakers will learn how to make hot cross buns – filled with mixed peel, fruits and spices – and carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. The recipes are designed for bakers of all abilities and will be mixed by hand, using domestic kitchen utensils, so there’s no specialist equipment required. Easter workbooks include a complete shopping and equipment list, which will be sent over in advance. The workshop will last approximately 2-2.5 hours.

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Tangled: The Musical

Rapunzel is locked up by her overly protective mother. Her wish to escape into the world outside finally comes true when she meets the good-hearted thief, Flynn. Disney has shared its Disney Cruise Line production of Tangled: The Musical on YouTube. The Broadway-style show is a live-action musical adaptation of the original animated film and features three brand new songs, ‘When She Returns’, ‘Flower of Gold’, and ‘Wanted Man’, as well as new reprises to songs from the film. These songs are from the Academy-Award winning composer Alan Menken and lyricist Glenn Slater who also wrote and composed the original music of Tangled.
 
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Not On The High Street

Not On The High Street has a huge selection of Easter activity sets on offer to help keep children entertained over the holidays. We love the look of Fred & Robin’s personalised, wicker basket – a lovely way for little ones to collect their Easter goodies. Each basket comes with a personalised plaque as well as a decorative wooden rabbit. For those wanting to get hands on, Craft & Crumb’s Easter egg biscuit baking kit comes with everything needed to bake and decorate a batch of Easter egg-shaped biscuits, plus a craft kit to make your own egg hunt in the garden.

Visit NotOnTheHighStreet.com

English Heritage

English Heritage needs adventurers to discover hidden treasure this Easter. Children can get involved with hands-on crafts and activities that will take them on a journey into the past. ‘Easter Adventure Quests’ on offer include making dragons out of clay, crafting a personalised shield, plus videos for making a cardboard sword and improving swordsmanship. Looking for something a little more Easter themed? There’s also a guide to decorating pace eggs with colourful dyes.

Visit EnglishHeritage.org.uk

Biscuiteers

Biscuiteers has put together a selection of Easter activities for families. There’s a DIY Easter Tree kit, filled with everything needed to create a themed tree – including pre-baked eggs, piping bags, icing sugar, ribbon and plenty of sprinkles and decorations. There’s also a printable collection of illustrated egg hunt signs. Simply print off, stick to some cocktail sticks, and get ready to hunt. Finally, the team has supplied its recipe for carrot cake cupcakes, created some DIY bunny bunting and pulled together some fun colouring-in sheets based on its most popular tin designs.

Visit Biscuiteers.com

BFI Spy School

Over the holidays, the BFI is hosting a virtual filmmaking workshop for 8-to-11-year-olds. From Monday 5th to Wednesday 7th April, between 10am-1pm, there’ll be three live online sessions. During the course, young spies have the opportunity to learn about movie magic at home. Students will learn some of the secrets behind some of their favourite espionage adventure films, then work together in groups on Zoom to write and star in their very own James Bond-inspired films. The films will be recorded over Zoom, with just a little bit of help from parents and guardians. Tickets cost £40 per child, and all Zoom sessions will be recorded for safeguarding purposes.

Visit WhatsOn.BFI.org.uk

Wild Things

Suitable for children aged 6-8, Lonely Planet’s Wild Things guidebook will help your children track dragons, create fairy fashion, brew magic potions, build snow unicorns, discover trolls and go on night hunts to capture moon magic. Search forests, meadows, fields, ponds, rivers and the seaside –as well as everyday places like school playgrounds, local parks or among the pots on the patio. Encouraging children to switch their imagination on, use their senses, brush up on magic skills and take a giant leap into the world of the unknown, this is a great resource to liven up walks and outings.

Visit Shop.LonelyPlanet.com