This activity is a great way to engage children in a fun, everyday, activity and get them talking about their feelings in a natural and safe setting. I love to share this activity with parents for Easter time fun and have received much positive feedback about turning an everyday activity into a more fun and memorable experience for the entire family.
Recommended Age: 3 and up
Needed Materials: Hard boiled eggs, cups or small bowls with water, Easter Egg food coloring set (purchased at any local retail store,) and vinegar. One Piece of paper and one colored marker to match each color of die.
Set up time: 15 minutes. Prepare your hard boiled eggs by boiling and cooling to room temperature. Prepare your color by following the directions on the package. While you eggs are boiling and your color is dissolving, take a piece of paper and using each colored marker draw a feeling face to match the feelings Happy, Sad, Mad, Scared and Worried. I typically match yellow with happy, therefore, I draw a picture of a happy face using the yellow marker; blue with sad; red with mad; green with scared and purple with worried. You should have one feeling face drawn in one color that then corresponds with the five colors of die you have for the Easter eggs. You may mix and match colors and feelings as you like. I typically use happy, sad and mad with younger children (age 2-5) and then add more feelings as they master these basic feelings. I use this piece of paper as my “Feelings grid” so children know which color represents each feeling.
Instructions: Each person takes a turn coloring an Easter egg and as they are doing so, they share a time they have felt the feeling happy, mad, sad, scared, etc. ( ie. if they color an egg red, they then share a time they felt mad.) I model this for the child by talking about my own feelings or by identifying feelings I have seen other children experience. Oftentimes, children feel more removed from the experience if you talk about other people’s feelings rather than their own. Therefore, as the adult models this, the child will often do the same and have a deeper and often richer experience with the activity. As parents, it is important to help your child learn to identify and express their feelings in positive ways. They need to know at a young age that it is OK to talk about and express feelings. The younger they begin this, the more likely they are to continue to use feelings words in the vocabulary and everyday to express themselves. This often helps young children reduce tantrums and fits when they become frustrated. Good luck and remember to have lots of fun!
