Holidays are a great time for fun activities in the classroom. This is why I’ve created several activities that you can use in your classroom for Easter. Easter is a religious holiday, but these activities are secular and can be enjoyed as a group. They focus on bunnies, eggs, and a bit of history. The second and third activities can even be taught at different times in the year with minor adjustments. I hope you enjoy these Easter activity ideas as much as my students!
1. How to Catch the Easter Bunny STEM Activity
I love the “How to Catch” series by Adam Wallace and Andy Elkerton. How to Catch the Easter Bunny is just one of the books from the series that I use in my classroom. It’s a fun book to theme a lesson around as spring break and Easter approach. In this book, the kids spend time creating traps to catch the Easter bunny. They have to use their imagination and knowledge of bunnies to build the perfect trap. The traps get more interesting with each turn of a page.
I like to read this book aloud to the students before introducing the STEM lesson that goes with it. For the lesson, we start with a discussion on the book and the traps within. Then, I introduce them to their challenge – to make a plan for their own trap. We talk about bunnies and the items that might attract them to a trap. Then, I let them use their imagination to plan a trap of their own. This can be done in small groups, with partners, or individually. In my How to Catch the Easter Bunny activity pack, I provide all of the things you’ll need to complete this lesson including trap pieces, recording sheets, and writing activity to round it out. To read more in depth about my How To Catch Activities click HERE.
2. Dissolving Peeps Science Easter Activity for the Classroom
Holidays are the perfect time to have some fun in the classroom with your students and Easter is no exception. For this STEM activity, you’ll need Peep marshmallows and a few different liquids. The focus word for this lesson is dissolve as students will be experimenting with liquids to see which one will dissolve a Peep. I like to use water, orange juice, and soda but you could easily use any liquid as a base.
This STEM activity is the perfect opportunity to talk about the scientific method and how it applies to experiments. You can walk students through the process of writing up a short scientific report to share their findings with others. When doing experiments in the classroom, I always ask the students to make a prediction of their own before we begin. Then, I ask them to explain why they think something certain will happen. It’s always fun to see what they come up with. (If you’d like to recreate this lesson in your own classroom, you can grab my Dissolving Peeps pack with all of the printables already made for you!)
3. Chickens Aren’t the Only Ones Lesson
This next lesson idea is one that you can use any time of year but I like to pair it with Easter since it focuses on eggs and animals. This lesson is themed around the book Chickens Aren’t the Only Ones. This book provides teachers with the perfect opportunity to talk about science while reading. I like to break this book up into mini lessons throughout the week to keep students learning and connecting with the material.
I begin by making a K-W-L chart with my students with their knowledge of oviparous animals (animals that lay eggs). From there, we will read the book and start making connections through discussion questions. We’ll continue to read the book throughout the week practicing new skills as we go. These new skills include main idea, sorting animals, making predictions, and reflecting on what we’ve learned. My Chickens Aren’t the Only Ones activity pack includes a weekly plan and printables to use during the week.
4. Free Easter Nonfiction Passages
Not all of my classroom Easter activities are science related. I also like to bring in a little history with these Easter nonfiction passages. I have created two different nonfiction passages that can be used for skill review or assessment in the week or two leading up to Easter. These passages are secular and give a brief history lesson on the holiday and ask students to identify key text details as they read. The passages can also be used with other Easter activities to bring a touch of history into the holiday lessons. To read more about how I use nonfiction passages in my classroom click HERE.
As a treat for you and your students, I’ve made these Easter passages FREE Click here to snag your copy!
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