What do you do with all that Easter Candy?

Looking for something different to do with all the Easter candy? The kids have fun looking thru their baskets and choosing favorite pieces of candy, but then what? Make Easter a special day with your kids and let the candy be a springboard for the day. Encourage them to have a little fun and decorate the dinner table.

Make an centerpiece for the dinner table. Have the kids use the candy from their baskets to make a little vignette or scene of a house in the springtime, a meadow, barnyard, etc.

They can make up a story about how the mommy bunny was looking after all her little peeps – and she found an unusual egg. Too big for the peeps to have laid! The kids will make up wonderful stories and scale is no issue. Using the candy in a centerpiece you can also encourage the kids to share the candy with others as a dessert.

If you mix in more toys with the candy, or if you are cutting back on the candy, this can make Easter morning an event to remember.  They can show off their treasure for family and friends.  Use cocktail glasses, or saucers, to make individual place settings.  They don’t need to be identical, let them create something unique for each person.  Layer grass, candy eggs and a small stuffed or toy animal in a fancy glass.  Not comfortable letting them play with your nice glasses?  Use the saucers from china coffee cups, you can even add a place card so everyone knows were to sit.

This is one of those times when it is okay to play with your food – take things out of the bags and spend an hour with the kids. Maybe you can use this time to have an indoor Easter egg hunt? Once the table is set, have someone hide small candies around the table for the younger kids to find. (Try under spoons or place mats, inside empty serving dishes, or rolled up in napkins.) Remind them to count how many are hidden, so you know when everything has been found. Someone has to set the table before they can hide things, so that can be part of the fun.

Let the Easter basket be just the start of a fun day with the kids. Use the candy as a starting point to talk, share and get the kids involved with others.