The Magic Egg - A Story-Activity for Easter & Equinox
Spring Equinox and Easter are right around the corner. Whether you celebrate with religious festivals or your own homemade traditions, this is a great time of year to tell stories that mark endings and new beginnings.
In This Episode
We walk you through the steps of how story, real life, and creative activities all support one another - so that you can recreate the experience at home.
You will have the opportunity to listen to the story we’ve recorded, or use it as an example to tell your own.
Scroll down for a materials list and a short video on how to blow-out and decorate eggs, ten how to hang them on an egg tree.
In The Story
King Winter is getting ready to depart. As Lady Spring arrives, the little flowers and blades of grass are so excited that they just can’t keep themselves from peeping out to see her!
Personalizing the seasons and plants can help young children build a relationship with them. The characters can even be represented with a favorite doll or even as a drawing.
As Lady Spring arrives, the chickens in the coop get excited too, then fluffy and proud as the flower fairies decorate each egg a different color. But King Winter isn’t gone just yet! Fortunately, Lady Spring sweeps him out by promising that he can return next year.
After The Story
Get out your Easter eggs and start decorating. Perhaps you can be Lady Spring, and your child is one of the flower fairies. Pay attention and see if the story makes the activity come alive with new richness for your child.
We also encourage you to listen to this story and see which aspects bring excitement and joy to your child. This allows you to pick up on those elements and integrate them into your own homemade stories.
Stories can be like little chicks that hatch from an egg. It’s pure magic when we see it happen. Perhaps you can hatch your own story with your child!
The story can also continue by being drawn into your egg hunt. Perhaps the Easter Rabbit and Lady Spring were so delighted with your beautiful eggs that they wanted to make a fun game for your special little flower fairy.
Materials List For Egg Tree
Eggs
Darning needle (or a nail)
Bowl for egg insides
Water-based paints or egg dyes
Paintbrushes
Newspaper (for messes)
Toothpicks
String
Vase
Willow or tree branch
The Connection Between Story, Play, and Intimacy
Storytelling is a tool for connection. It helps synchronize our emotions, moods, and thoughts. If you have ever watched children play, you will observe that there is almost always an invisible element at work - the story or game that is being acted out.
We call this The Storytelling Loop - you start with something real (like a toy or event), tell a story about it, then end up with a new way of interacting with that real thing.
In this story, both the seasons and the eggs represent the real thing we’re working with. It’s our starting point. The story draws our child’s attention into those real things, and imagination makes it exciting and fun. When we return to the real world - by decorating eggs, drawing a picture, or acting out characters from the story - we bring the creativity we co-created into our very real lives at home.
The connection and intimacy that this builds into the family is often one of the most meaningful events of the day.
We have tried to give you the raw materials to create this seasonal story on your own, but the ultimate goal is to observe the process. Children will spontaneously create stories of their own, or borrow them from movies or books. But we can also give them stories to play with - just like we give them dolls or toys.
Our stories can be epic and seasonal, but they can also be simple and everyday. Once you connect with the storytelling tradition with your own children, you will no longer need ideas from us or anyone. You will recognize that this skill is something that lies deep inside you. It lives in every human on the planet.
Happy Spring!
