Impossible? Can Easter really be fun without traditional chocolate eggs? For many kids, it’s the sweet treats that make Easter fun what it is, but if you want to minimise their consumption, or avoid it altogether, for whatever reason, there are ways to take the focus away from all that yummy, delicious and hard-to-resist chocolate!
A Fun Distraction Or Two
If there’s one thing your kids love more than chocolate, it’s spending time with their folks. Time spent together as a family is an increasingly rare commodity these days, and you can use Easter as an occasion where everyone gets together to share some fun.
Take a trip down memory lane as you look for ideas for family activities. Easter Egg hunts, where eggs are replaced with small gifts or even hand-made vouchers for future family outings, are lots of fun, and can be held inside or outside depending on the weather. If you do go ahead with an Easter Egg hunt, you.
Painting hard boiled eggs is another old-fashioned favourite, an art and craft activity for everyone. While a family movie night is another way to spend quality time for each other; Easter-themed movies for the family might include Hop, Here Comes Peter Cottontail: The Movie, or Baby Huey’s Great Easter Adventure.
Christmas is a time when everyone gets together to decorate the tree, and the house, and there’s no reason why you can’t do the same at Easter. Asking the kids to make their own decorations is another way to move their attention away from chocolate and to something much more productive and creative.
The Real Meaning Of Easter
Even if you are not religious, you will still recognise that Easter is probably the most important Christian festival. By explaining to your children why Easter is so important to so many people around the world, you can show them that chocolate eggs are not the reason for Easter’s huge significance! By changing their thinking, you just might reduce their demand for chocolate at this time of year.
Easter Gifts
Instead of feeding them up on chocolate eggs, treat them to a special Easter gift. Unwrapping a present is always a thrill for a child, and there’s a growing trend to give a gift at Easter instead of chocolate eggs. Such a gift will be appreciated as much as chocolate, and will certainly last longer!
Healthy Easter Treats
Your desire to steer clear of chocolate this Easter may have to do with dietary and health reasons. That doesn’t mean you can’t give your kids a Easter treat! The Easter bunny loves carrots, so a healthy, low fat or even gluten free carrot cake is a great idea. Or, low fat hot cross buns, filled with fruit. Even Greek Easter biscuits can be made with more wholesome ingredients.
The internet had hundreds of healthy variations on these much loved Easter treats, and the baking process is another way to enjoy family time together. Young helpers in the kitchen will love to be involved, and they’ll feel a real sense of achievement as the baked delights are removed from the oven. However, it might be a little more difficult to persuade them to help you with the cleaning up!
If your kids think chocolate is the only food you eat at Easter, it could be time to have a sit down Easter family dinner. Fish is a traditional dish at Easter time, making it a healthy choice for a main meal, and when its served with a variety of salads and vegetable dishes, and finished with a fresh fruit dessert, you can introduce your children to a healthy new world of Easter cuisine!
If All Else Fails
You may feel a little mean-spirited denying chocolate to your kids. It is a treat after all, but it doesn’t have to be a ridiculously MASSIVE treat. Wean them off those huge Easter eggs and replace them with smaller eggs. To help your kids make this adjustment, you can always go back to the good old Easter egg hunt and hide a few small eggs at various places through the house. Finding a small egg will give them just the same thrill as discovering a big one!
