As soon as the weather begins to warm up and the leaves start returning to the trees, children start looking for the Easter Bunny and his basket of brightly colored eggs, as well as lots of tasty chocolate treats. Of course, that also means it’s time to start planning your Easter parties for kids of all ages.

One way to enjoy any Easter party is to allow your guests a chance to truly express themselves with decorated eggs. Here are a few ideas you might want to try this spring.

Easter Egg Idea #1: Traditional Coloring

For decades, Easter egg preparation started in the family kitchen. After the long wait for those hard boiled eggs to cool so the dye would stay put, everyone gathered around small cups of colored liquid (almost always part vinegar) and dipped the eggs into the colors.  The question is how do you get the color? One way is to purchase pre-made packs at local stores. You’ll find plenty to choose from and one packet will dye several dozen eggs easily.

Another idea is to use food coloring. Most food coloring comes in four basic colors, but these can be mixed to create an entire rainbow of shades. In fact, part of the fun is creating the colors by blending the food coloring. Of course, you can also use natural dyes, such as frozen raspberries or spinach leaves boiled in water and mixed with vinegar.

Easter Egg Idea #2: Getting Creative

Another way to color Easter eggs is by allowing your guests to use them as canvases for their own artwork. Purchase watercolor paints (like children use in grade school) and brushes then let your guests loose with an egg and their imagination. You may be surprised at just how wonderful those finished eggs look.

If you’re having a large party, why not give away prizes for the most colorful, most artistic, or even most unusual egg.

You can also choose not to use real eggs at all. Some craft stores sell Styrofoam eggs that can be painted without jeopardizing those tasty hard boiled eggs.

Easter Egg Idea #3: Going to the Dogs

If you’re children are too old for an Easter egg hunt, that doesn’t mean you have to give up the tradition. Why not let your pet dog hunt out those eggs for a change? Purchase plastic eggs at the store and fill them up with smelly but tasty pet treats then hide them around your yard. Have one person go around the yard with your dog as he or she tracks down the hidden eggs. You’ll definitely want to have your camera ready!

No matter how you want to celebrate with Easter eggs, you should always start with a perfectly themed invitation to your festivities. In this case, these colorful egg-ceptional invitations would be the perfect choice.