(StatePoint) The onset of spring brings with it more than mild weather, it’s the season for Easter celebrations, spring cleaning and renewal. Remember all those favorite Easter traditions you had as a kid? It’s time to keep them alive with your family and to start new ones.
There are many ways your family can make spring and Easter fun and even educational:
Egg-stra Special Fun
After a long winter, a good old-fashioned Easter egg hunt is a great way to usher in spring, giving children an opportunity to spend time outdoors with friends and family.
Before heading outside, let kids get creative and craft their own unique bags to fill with treasure. Decorate eggs by dyeing them and adding your own special designs. Invite friends and neighbors to join in the fun!
Easter Basket Ideas
You can help avoid those sugar highs by sprinkling in just a few sweet treats and filling kids’ baskets with fun, educational alternatives, instead.
Consider a kid-friendly tablet, such as VTech’s InnoTab 3S and additional fun, age-appropriate software cartridges that allow a child to progressively learn key subjects such as math, reading and science in steady stages. With all their favorite characters from Sofia the First, Doc McStuffins, Jake & the Neverland Pirates and more, they’ll have so much fun they won’t even realize they are learning! Or opt for action toys that can promote motor skill development, like VTech’s new Switch & Go Dinos Turbo and Go! Go! Smart Wheels electronic vehicles.
Learning toys and books can make your kids’ gift baskets even more special and long-lasting. More ideas for Easter basket alternatives can be found at www.VTechKids.com.
Take a Spring Hike
After a long winter most kids have cabin fever, along with their parents! Take advantage of the season to head out for fresh air.
Take a nature hike at a nearby park or even in your own backyard, if your children are too little for longer treks.
Prepare in advance by learning about trees and plants together by reading a library book or surfing age-appropriate sites online. Then have kids identify local greenery along your route. And collect a few rocks or flowers to bring home as keepsakes.
Out With the Old
Make spring cleaning a fun family affair by giving children a bin to fill. Whoever fills the bin with the most stuff or the quickest gets to pick a family treat like eating at their favorite restaurant or a movie.
Teach kids the rewards of giving by donating gently used items to a local charity. One perk of cleaning and donating is it makes room for new things.
And you can breathe new life into old toys by purchasing new accessories for dolls and action figures, or new software for electronic games. For example, a range of educational cartridges are available for VTech’s InnoTab, including such kid-favorites as Monster’s University which includes nine games, an e-book and more.
“Spring is a great time for parents to take a fresh approach to learning, incorporating themes of nature and renewal into children’s toys and activities,” says Dr. Lise Eliot, early childhood development expert who consults for VTech, a leader in age-appropriate and developmental stage-based electronic learning products for kids.
Spring is a season for fresh air and renewal, so renew your family’s minds and spirit along with your home.
