School broke up for
Easter this last Friday and seeing as my children are 6, 5 and 2, and
constantly fighting, I realised early on in the school year that I have to keep
them super busy in the holidays. As a
result, our school breaks are action-packed.
We plan activities for every day: playdates, crafts, baking, outings
into central London… Chiara asked me to share a few of the things we’ll be
doing over the Easter break.
Hot Cross Buns
In England, Hot Cross
Buns are spiced sweet buns that mark the end of Lent and are usually eaten on
Good Friday. They’re made with raisins or currants and are marked with a cross
on the top which represents the Crucifixion; the spices represent the spices
used to embalm Christ at his burial. I
don’t usually eat them as I’m not a huge fan of raisins in my pastries, but my
son Jude discovered a love of baking this year, and my daughter has come home
the last two weeks singing the ‘Hot Cross Buns’ nursery rhyme every day, so I
have decided to make the most of this and make them during the Easter holidays
this year. We’ll be using this BBC
recipe http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/hotcrossbuns_397 . Hot Cross Buns are best eaten cut in half,
toasted and buttered.
In the last few years
it has become popular to create variations of the traditional recipe, such as
toffee, orange, apple-cinnamon and coffee.
Others use chocolate chips instead of raisins.
Foam Crosses
We’re big fans of
crafts at our house. Foam crosses are so
simple to make! Using art foam (or card, or any other medium, really!) we cut
out a basic cross shape. I then cut smaller
foam pieces in different colours, and stick them to the cross background to
create a mosaic effect. In the past
we’ve made them at the beginning of lent, and have stuck on a mosaic tile each
time I’ve observed the children being helpful, loving, or sacrificing something
they want for someone else, hoping to fill the crosses before the end of Lent.
Signs of Spring
Autumn is a sad time
for my children – they’re heartbroken at the idea of the flowers and the trees
‘dying’. Because of this, the first
signs of spring are super exciting for them! We walk through the park on the way
to school so they can see the blossom trees flowering and the new leaf buds on
the trees. During the Easter holidays
we’ll be going to see other signs of spring and of new life.
Bluebells are the UK’s
best-loved wild flowers, and they flower between mid-April and late May. They completely transform our woodland in
springtime, creating carpets of intense blue.
Half of the world’s bluebells are here in the UK, and the children and I
will be going to Beckenham Place Park, South-east London, to see the spectacular
display there
London’s city farms
are currently welcoming their newest members and we’ll be going along to see
the new lambs, ducklings and chicks too. Surrey Docks Farm is a family
favourite, but Godstone Farm and Christmas Tree farm in Orpington are also
recommended!
For
anyone planning to go and see bluebells, remember that they are protected in
the UK and picking them is highly discouraged.
The Passion
We have not been to The Passion of Jesus in Tragalgar Square
before, but will definitely be going this year.
It’s a Passion play put on by the wonderful Wintershall players every
year. Over 20,000 people travel to
Trafalgar Square in central London every Good Friday to watch the free
90-minute production. They have two performances
on the day – 12 noon and 3:15, and large screens are provided to maximise
visibility, and there are BSL interpreters. Due to its being a realistic
interpretation, they advise parental guidance.
National Gallery
One of our favourite school holiday activities is to go to the National Gallery and take part in their holiday activities. They do a Messy Monday and Talking Tuesday both of which are amazing. They’re aimed at under-8s and the lady who usually runs them, Jacqui Ansell, is wonderful. The sessions focus on one painting from the museum and Jacqui usually starts by telling the story of the painting. There’s soft play, sensory play, crafts, painting, dressing up…
The drop-in sessions they run on Tuesday – Thursday are incredible. I don’t mind admitting that most of my kids’ artwork ends up in the recycling bin after a couple of weeks, but every single thing we have made at the National Gallery sessions is still in the house, and most of it is still on display. Upon arrival you’re given a pack containing sheets of paper, colouring pencils and an information sheet which is a map of the museum with a series of paintings to go and look at and instructions to copy a particular detail from each. At the end of it we make something. In the past we’ve made a mobile, angel wings, a horse sculpture, silhouette puppets… and they’re usually big projects that the children are really proud of. I highly recommend it.
They usually also run apprentice workshops, run by a professional artist. My sister has been to several of them and has enjoyed them all!
The National Gallery website will let you know everything they’ve got going on https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/families
Tall Ships Regatta
The ever-popular Tall
Ships Regatta returns to London this April.
We are lucky enough to live a short 15-minute bicycle ride from
Greenwich, and attend this event every time it takes place.
During the Tall Ships
Festival a fleet of more than 30 ships spends the weekend in the Maritime
Greenwich and Royal Arsenal Woolwich riverfronts. The crews prepare for their 7,000 nautical
mile race to Canada, and those of us on dry land have four days of festivities,
including cruises aboard the ships, beautiful fireworks displays every night
and maritime themed activities in both town centres.
Resurrection Garden
I recently discovered
Resurrection Gardens on Pinterest. It’s
a wonderful way to talk about Christ every day during Holy Week. Every part of it is used to talk about God
and Jesus, going through the Creation story, the Flood, the Nativity, Palm
Sunday, the Last Supper, the Crucifixion, and finally the Resurrection. This is
another one we’ll be trying for the first time this year. A quick Google search will bring up countless
tutorials - there are so many different ways of doing them, depending on the
time and materials at your disposal!
Easter Egg Hunt
For as long as I can
remember we have had an Easter Egg Hunt at my grandparents’ house at the
beginning of Easter. I have wonderful
memories of searching high and low in the garden for the small foil-wrapped
eggs, competing with my cousins to find as many as possible. Now I hide the eggs rather than search for
them but I love watching my children run around the same garden that I searched
in with my younger siblings and cousins.
If the weather allows, the Egg Hunt is preceded by a big family
barbecue, and is usually the first of the year as the weather finally starts to
improve.
I hope some of our
activities serve as inspiration for you and your families. Happy Easter to all!
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