I have a wisp of a memory from when I was at pre-school in Holland: we marched around the village with Palm Trees like this one. Although I had no idea what was going on or why we were doing this, it was quite exciting. Even though the wind was cold and the palm tree quite heavy! School holidays have started for many so this post is to offer a few suggestions for things to do this Holy Week. Making palm trees is an option and marching around with them in a socially distanced way perfectly acceptable. But maybe try to re-tell the story of Palm Sunday when you do it, so that your children are not left quite as clueless as I was!
Improvise with what you have: greenery tied together, a cross tied on top, eggs, bells or other decorations are optional.
You can also make palm branches by tracing around little hands (green paper, or paint it) and gluing them together, or onto a stick, or pinning them with a clothes peg.
Another option is to make an Easter Tree. Maybe you have some decorative branches in your living room already, or you could gather some on a walk. They can be bare or perhaps have some little blossom on them. These branches are then decorated by hanging colourful eggs from the branches with ribbons. Feel free to cheat and pull out some ready-made ones. If you want to fill some time (and perhaps have slightly older children who will be gentle enough to help), blow the (decorated) eggs out (make an omelette for lunch). If your egg dyes require boiling this will not work! To have them hang, break a match stick or toothpick in half, tie a string around it, and gently put it through the hole. The stick will catch in the top of the egg and you'll be able to hang the egg. Butterflies optional.
Decorating Easter eggs is the other big craft of this week. I came across a rather lovely way of doing it that does not require you to have egg dyes and whatnot in the house already. You'll need onion skins (so start saving them!) and be prepared to sacrifice a pair of pantyhose.
You will need:
pale, uncooked eggs
onion skins
thin thread
vinegar
an old nylon stocking / pantyhose
Wrap the egg in onion skins, layering smaller pieces underneath and finishing with bigger pieces on top. Tie the skins in place and then put the egg inside a piece of nylon stocking. Tie the stocking firmly at both ends so that the onion skins are tight against the egg. You can use thread or those little wire things that come with sandwich bags. Place eggs carefully in a steel saucepan and add enough water to cover the eggs. Add a dash of vinegar and bring to the boil. Boil for 10 minutes. Remove eggs from saucepan and cool under running water. When you unwrap the eggs you will (apparently) find delicate patterns all over them. If you polish them with a little oil these will stand out even more.
Finally, Good Friday is the time to make and enjoy hot cross buns.
BakePlaySmile: https://bakeplaysmile.com/perfect-hot-cross-buns/
Clear instructions, no weird ingredients, more Easter recipes (mostly involving chocolate) at the bottom of the page.
Sally's Baking Addiction: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/hot-cross-buns/
Clear instructions including videos, plus orange glaze for extra sweetness.
Vegan Hot Cross Buns: https://www.lazycatkitchen.com/vegan-hot-cross-buns/
Because that's what I'll be making...
Wishing you a crafty, delicious, and holy Holy Week!
Image by Bruno /Germany from Pixabay (Easter tree)