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almamater
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| Posted: March 27 2005 at 11:31am | IP Logged
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Does anyone have a *fun* time dyeing eggs with their children? If so, how do you do it? LOL! Every year I just dread doing it, because we end up with too much chaos, spills, tears, etc.
We have done it using natural dyes (coffee, onions, cabbage, etc), mixing our own food coloring, and just add water/vinegar ready colored tubs. For egg success, I find I have to allow just one child in the kitchen at a time---which is efficient and successful, but not really *fun*.
BTW, I once read the recollections of someone who said that as a child her family would head out for a nature hike every Good Friday and collect items for dyeing eggs. They kept an album in which they glued a sample of the nature object along with a re-creation of the color it created on the egg. The would document the success or failure of each element in the album. I thought that was a really interesting undertaking and must have been a really interesting mom.
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Karen T
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| Posted: March 27 2005 at 10:08pm | IP Logged
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almamater wrote:
Does anyone have a *fun* time dyeing eggs with their children? If so, how do you do it? LOL! Every year I just dread doing it, because we end up with too much chaos, spills, tears, etc.
For egg success, I find I have to allow just one child in the kitchen at a time---which is efficient and successful, but not really *fun*.
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We've done eggs for several years, nothing adventurous like natural dyes or collecting items from Nature Hikes, LOL, but just plain old vinegar/water, dye tabs, etc. My kids are 11, 5 and 3.5 right now and they have fun doing it. I keep an old plastic table cloth for things like this (and the tie-dyeing Tshirts we do yearly) that covers my kitchen table. I use lots of little bowls for the dyes, so at least some of the colors stay true after someone puts a wet green egg into the yellow dye! Most of them just get dyed solid color or in stripes b/c it's easiest to hold them that way. Some we write on with crayons first for a 'resist' effect. Nothing too fancy here!
I keep lots of paper towels out as well as wet white washcloths (which we use for wiping sticky hands at the table, etc. for the preschoolers), spread the kids around the table so they aren't hitting elbows, and haven't really had any big spills. It probably helps that my floor is brown vinyl tiles (ugh! eventually we'll get around to replacing). Pets are kept out of the kitchen while we dye, so there's no tripping over them, etc.
I used to avoid doing the eggs b/c no one ate them much, but my 5 and 11 yos love them now, and sometimes I just make lots of deviled eggs afterward, which we all love.
karen T
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teachingmom
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| Posted: March 27 2005 at 11:06pm | IP Logged
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Karen T wrote:
We've done eggs for several years . . . . I keep an old plastic table cloth for things like this . . . . I use lots of little bowls for the dyes . . . . Most of them just get dyed solid color or in stripes b/c it's easiest to hold them that way. Some we write on with crayons first for a 'resist' effect. Nothing too fancy here!
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Ditto what Karen said! This is the first year that I used a plastic tablecloth. (I've always spread newspapers around the table in the past.) I think the plastic tablecloth and some good smocks and aprons for everyone were the keys to my being able to relax and have a good time this year. It does get better as the kids get a bit older too.
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~Irene (Mom to 6 girls, ages 7-19)
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MaryM
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| Posted: March 28 2005 at 3:24am | IP Logged
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I LOVE dying eggs and was so glad when I had children so I had an excuse to dye them again. We cover the table with newspaper as well to keep any spills in check and it makes for quick clean up. Our biggest problem that would lead to tears is not having enough eggs so we end up hardboiling enough for everyone to have "enough" (hopefully 8-12 each) although this year only two wanted to do them so they each got 1 1/2 dozen. I put out all extra materials (crayons, stickers, tissue paper) we will use around the table so everyone has access and I do some eggs to give them ideas. We don't currently have a toddler around and I know that the younger they are the harder it is to do eggs without challenges. Toddlers if they are involved need one-on-one so maybe dad, grandma, teen helper could be involved to help make that go smoother.
Just some thoughts.
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Mary M. in Denver
Our Domestic Church
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almamater
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| Posted: March 29 2005 at 8:08am | IP Logged
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Thank you for the suggestions! I really do want to enjoy this activity. I will try the plastic table cloth next year...
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~jennifer in tx
mommy of ds(11),dd(8),dd(6), dd(3),& ds (6/08)
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JennGM
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| Posted: March 29 2005 at 11:58am | IP Logged
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The egg dyeing is only a minor part of our Easter egg decorating. We spend a lot of time on the Crayons, coloring designs and Easter symbols, with a contest on who wins the most beautiful egg for the "Alleluia egg". Then the dyeing is all done in turns with the kids. So the table is covered with towels, crayons, books with symbols ideas and the kitchen has newspaper, cookie racks and the cups lined up. Each mom (my sisters and their children all do this together at my mother's house) takes a child at a time to dye their decorated eggs...aprons on, paper towels nearby. It's always been an enjoyable experience...since the focus isn't always on the dyeing, it's easier to keep the kids under control!
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to  & ds1  '03 & ds2  '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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4Real Forums : Domestic Church
Topic: Easter egg dyeing
