One of our favourite books to read leading up to Easter is The Story of the Easter Robin
In the story, a little girl, Tressa, is concerned for the welfare of a momma robin who has made a nest on the windowsill outside her Grandmother’s house. Grandma reassures her that the robin will be fine, for God has given her good instincts and knowledge.
Throughout the story they watch as the robin prepares the nest and cares for the eggs – then Gran tells Tressa the story of the Easter robin and how it got it’s red breast. Though it’s a legend, it is a pretty neat symbol of remembering Christ’s sacrifice for us.
As Gran is telling the story to Tressa, they are making Easter robins to hang from the tree on Easter Sunday. So we decided we would do the same as our Book and a Big Idea for Spring!
Easter Robins
- eggs
- blue food colouring
- parchment, construction or freezer paper
- tape
- paper towels and a tray to dry the eggs on
Start by washing the eggs and poking a small hole in the end of each egg. Blow the insides of the egg out (make sure that there isn’t any shell or membrane blocking the hole – we used a toothpick to make sure it was clear).
This is the time-consuming part and requires patience! If you blow or squeeze too hard you will burst the egg (we had a couple of casualties along the way).
Prepare the food colouring in water and dip the rinsed and dried eggs until you get the shade you want.
Dry the eggs on a paper towel-lined tray.
Cut the paper into strips and fold accordion style to make the wings and tail. Cut a beak out of construction paper. Attach using tape. The kids wanted to draw on eyes and they looked great when they finished! We will hang these from the tree in the front yard over Easter weekend.
Our second big idea was to make nests for a treat. I can’t believe I have never made these yet in my 9 years of being a mom – but everyone was so excited for it, the wait was worth it :0)
Chocolate Easter Egg Nests
- chow mein noodles, pretzel sticks or corn flakes
- chocolate chips (semi-sweet is probably best, milk chocolate was REALLY sweet!)
- candy Easter eggs
- cupcake liners
- muffin pan
- waxed / parchment / freezer paper
Melt the chocolate in the microwave or double boiler.
Stir in chow mein noodles, pretzel sticks or corn flakes until well coated. I didn’t measure, we just kept adding until we had it well covered.
Press into cupcake liners in a muffin pan – press up the sides of the liners to make a nest shape.
For the chow mein noodles or pretzel sticks, just place on waxed/parchment/freezer paper in a rough nest shape.
Let set and fill with candy Easter eggs.
Check out some more great Book and Big Idea for Easter and Spring at the iHomeschool Network!
