Easter is a fun but busy time. Rolled into spring break, excitement runs high, and to-do lists run long. Disruptions to normal schedules can make the days feel a little chaotic—even without the sugar load of jelly beans, chocolate bunnies, and marshmallow Peeps!
A few easy, low-prep learning activities that fit into real family and classroom routines can go a long way to calming the chaos. On the go or while taking a break, they also help kids master essentials.
We have crafted a list of short, engaging, skill-building activities to do at home over the holiday, during that last manic week before spring break, or the settle-back-down week just after. Designed for preschool and early elementary learners, the emphasis is on simplicity, flexibility, and fun.
Easter-themed math & reading fun for vacays or staycays
According to Travel Pulse, “Airline passenger numbers are expected to reach an all-time high over the two-month spring break period” this year. Citing a forecast from Airlines for America (A4A), “United States airlines expect to carry 2.8 million passengers per day during March and April 2026.” Of course, that number includes college spring-breakers, but plenty of families will be heading toward fun in the sun and/or visits with distant family members.
Whether by plane, train, or car, travel means wait times and confined times. Not to mention, weather sometimes turns destination plans into “now what?” decisions. Time to break out some themed learning fun!
For starters, to celebrate the holiday, School Zone has created a special bundle of easy-to-pack Easter-themed Little Busy Books: Easter Activities, Easter Puzzles, Easter Surprises, Easter Coloring. Together or individually, they build early reading, math, problem-solving, and fine motor skills. Each one also comes with a page of adorable Easter-themed reward stickers, adding extra motivation and excitement. Read on for more great ideas.
Easy Easter Activities That Build Literacy
Below are some literacy-focused Easter activities for kids that support early reading skills and make great Easter activities for families. Get everyone on board!
• Easter rhyming/matching games: Create cards with pictures or words that rhyme and have children match them up. Or download these “half-egg” cards from Twinkl. They describe it as “A fun game to practice hearing and identifying rhyming pairs. Challenge children to match halves of the Easter eggs together to create a rhyming pair. Perfect for some Easter phonics fun!” Hearing and using rhyme, rhythm and repetition helps develop early literacy skills. It also expands vocabulary and teaches kids to recognize sound patterns and how language works.
• Easter word searches: These can be found online to play or download and print out. Additionally, you could probably find word search books for school-aged kids in your local shops (they may not be Easter-themed), and they are easy to tuck into a tote bag or backpack when travelling. Anywhere Teacher, School Zone’s online learning program featuring numerous wordsearches including “Wordsearch: Spring Is in the Air.” Word searches (or wordsearches) are a great way to encourage reading skills and letter recognition and can be used alongside phonics teaching. They also sharpen concentration and overall visual discernment. You could also use an Easter word search as a game, giving prizes to the first to complete the search, or put kids into groups to encourage teamwork.
• Easter shopping list: An Easter shopping list is a wonderful way for children to practice both writing and critical thinking skills by making a list of all the things they may wish to help you buy in preparation for Easter celebrations. It could be a grocery list for an Easter dinner or a wish list for an Easter basket. While you’re at it, maybe provide some magazines, Easter recipes, or books for them to leaf through to generate more ideas for their lists. Search “printable Easter grocery list” for ready-made options or have them create theirs from scratch!
• Easter stories: Grab a book like “How to Catch the Easter Bunny” that gets kids smiling and problem-solving as the Easter Bunny himself describes different traps and how he would escape them. Or check out Anywhere Teacher’s Mix & Match Springtime Stories. Kids can create giggly blends to make unique friends and stories, or flip the top, middle, and bottom sections of the picture and partial story to make nine different matches. This activity helps with visual memory and pattern recognition, and kids also stretch their creativity, imagination, and wordplay skills. Awesome animations and sound effects add to the fun. One overall takeaway? “I can understand that words are meant to be read and mean something.”
Easter Math Activities Made Simple
• Easter Measuring and Addition & Subtraction: Alison Smith, writing for Teacher Starter, compiled some adorable Easter math (called “maths” in the UK) activities for the classroom. They include “Measuring with Bunny Footprints” and taking addition and subtraction to the next level by giving it an Easter chick twist. If you don’t have any chicks available, this could be done with mini plastic eggs or any Easter objects you have. A post to the Kids Activities blog presents Easter math fun that actually uses up leftover Easter candy! What preschooler, kindergartner, or first grader won’t love adding jelly beans to math lessons?!
• Easter Roll and Color: Children roll the dice, add the numbers together, and then color in the answer. This can be done as a solo activity or in groups (each player picks a color, the winner is the one with the most color eggs at the end). It can be done using online worksheets like this one from Twinkl, or quickly draw something up if you have time. The activity seamlessly combines creativity with skill development, including fine motor control, color recognition, and basic math.
• Shape Sorting: Shape-sorting Easter math activities help young learners develop sorting, classification, and geometric skills through hands-on play. These activities include sorting plastic eggs by color or shape, matching 2D shape cutouts to themed baskets, and, for younger children, using shape sorter toys. This task is better suited for a busy classroom, as it requires a little extra preparation than most of the other activities mentioned. A variety of simple worksheets can be found online; just search: shape sorting worksheets.
NOTE: Hidden picture activities sharpen visual discernment skills important for math and reading and also help develop focus and concentration. Here is a free Easter Hidden Pictures worksheet from School Zone.
Easter Arts and Craft Activities for the Classroom or at Home
Imagination and creativity are part of learning, and most kids love to make things. Below are a few ideas:
• Easter cards: This is a quick and simple activity. You can make cards from scratch or color in pre-printed designs. It’s a budget-friendly activity that allows for the use of recycled materials. This activity helps to develop fine motor skills, imagination, and writing skills.
• Easter Egg Garland: Cut egg shapes from cardstock, let kids decorate with stickers or crayons, and string them together. Use these to decorate the classroom or your home! This activity strengthens fine motor skills through cutting, decorating, and threading while encouraging creativity. This activity can utilize household materials like recycled paper, cardboard, or yarn, making it an affordable, sustainable option.
• Easter egg carton craft: This is a cost-effective, sustainable, and easy activity that helps to boost creativity, fine motor skills, and precision. What a great way to repurpose those empty egg cartons after dyeing Easter eggs! It can take many forms, using the egg cartons to make bunnies, flowers, carrots, or just decorating the egg carton to hold their eggs. It is whatever you have time for and how creative you want to be. Here is one how-to video from Day with DIY.
Easter-time Learning with Anywhere Teacher
AnywhereTeacher.com. mentioned earlier, is an award-winning, subscription-based online educational program for ages 2-8 from School Zone. With 3,000+ games, videos, books, songs, and worksheets, kids can practice essential reading and math skills online anywhere, anytime! It also includes activities for building social-emotional skills, as well as science and social studies activities that older kids and the whole family can enjoy.
It can be a great resource for busy parents during the Easter holiday/spring break season or busy teachers at the end of the school year when kids are getting antsy. Home subscriptions enable multiple siblings of different ages and skill paths to use it on different devices, using different avatars and profiles. Parents can easily monitor progress and adjust for subjects or skills that need extra work. A classroom account accommodates up to 25 students with customized profiles teachers can curate to each child’s needs.
Anywhere Teacher includes themed activities for all four seasons!
Learning that fits the Easter season
We know how hectic life gets—especially around holidays—and the activities above are realistic and time-efficient. They involve minimal materials and quick set-up, and most of the materials they do require can be found around the house. Think of them as low-prep kids’ Easter activities for busy adults in mind.
We’ve focused on Easter activities for school and home (or either/both!) and those that provide independent and/or small-group options. We’ve also included one-session activities and those that have mileage across multiple days. There are lots of downloadable resources online, or use Anywhere Teacher for on-the-go learning.
As you plan and pull together Easter and spring break learning activities, remember:
• Easter learning can be meaningful and manageable
• Seasonal activities keep kids engaged and learning
• A combination of traditional Easter activities and novel ones can be valuable
• Fun, flexibility, and skill-building need balancing
• Activities that best fit your schedule are good ways to get started
For more ideas now and throughout the year, explore School Zone’s many educational resources including DIY activities, Fact Snacks, and Freebies for Parents and Teachers. And be sure to check out that special Easter Little Busy Books bundle sale on the website to find perfect Easter basket stuffers at a great price.
