Activity: Coloring Eggs

"Hey Mom, I think this might
actually be fun."

My husband is currently out of the country on business, so I've been busy planning activities and trips around town to keep Bugga and I busy while he's gone. He left early Easter weekend, so we were unable to officially celebrate. Sad face. Perhaps she wasn't old enough for that egg hunt anyway...

However, I still thought we should color some eggs, because I was curious to see what my toddler would think about it all. Well, it was pretty hilarious for starters.

She had a lot of fun piling as many eggs as possible into one bowl at a time, and then only using the next bowl when she ran out of space. And then she'd start again, piling the eggs into the next container, including the ones that were already bathing in a different color. Amazingly, the eggs still came out beautiful (and delicious, as I am in the process of consuming them).


She had a lot of fun with the spoons, but used them more as musical instruments against each other, versus to scoop out any of the eggs. Why would you use a spoon for scooping when you can just reach right in there? And hey look! Your hand is purple! And your legs are multicolored! How cool! Ha.

I think she made an attempt at tasting some of the colored water (apparently the yellow looked tasty?) but didn't do that twice. (Thank you, vinegar taste.)

All in all, this was a ton of fun, and I can't wait to do this each year and see how her creativity evolves.

Want to try it with your toddler? Here are my recommendations:

1. Prepare everything ahead of time before your toddler comes on the scene. I set everything up on the back patio and she watched me from just inside the windows.
2. Oh yeah - you're going to need to do this outside. I supposed you could do it inside, but at this age (~16 months) - don't say I didn't warn you!

   

   My original setup.
   Not recommended! (See #3)

3. Set up the activity with the bowls very close together. Nope, that's not what I did to begin with (see photo). I saw very quickly that once we started with one bowl, Bugga wasn't getting up but instead was just going to stretch as far as she could - which ended up with some cracked eggs and spilled colored water.
4. Use old dishes. This is perfect for the takeout containers that I currently have stashed in a bottom cabinet for Bugga to play with in the kitchen.
5. Don't overwhelm with too many colors. I stuck to 4 basics, and honestly she just took the eggs in and out of each dish, so after awhile, all 4 colors were strikingly similar. Go figure.
6. Premix the colors. I used a tablespoon of vinegar in each dish, along with a LOT of coloring to make the colors sharp. I used the old-school drops as well as some gels, and both worked fine.

   

   "AND I get to use a spoon? YES!"

   
7. Dress your child in clothing you aren't worried about. I stuck Bugga in a dark-colored $10 Carter's outfit, and it didn't stain at all! (Those white dots are painted on so the color didn't adhere whatsoever!)
8. Decide how you feel about spoons. I know this sounds funny. But to me, spoons + toddler = catapult. Bugga was very intrigued that I let her use spoons for this activity, and they really stole the show for awhile there until I pointed other things out. I think if we did this again (at least at this age) I would leave the spoons in the drawer. She has plenty of plastic ones to play with during meals and with her tea set.
   
9. Have fun! AKA, don't expect to have any control over how the eggs get colored, as your toddler is not interested in the LEAST about your creative opinion. Point out the colors, what happens when you mix them, etc. - they won't understand a lot of it, but they will see that it is fun.
10. Don't worry, the rainbow child isn't permanent. We went straight into the bathtub when we were finished, and it probably took two baths until the dye under her fingernails disappeared. But it was worth it!

The finished product! AMAZING!