Animated Easter

Egg-stra Magic Egg Coloring

Supplies:
2 dozen eggs.
Red, yellow, blue food coloring, lots of paper towel or craft paper.
White vinegar.
Mixing bowls, tongs or soup spoons.
For hollow egg yolks: microwave.
For boiled eggs: stovetop, large saucepan.

Prepare your eggs
There are 2 ways to prepare the eggs – we always preferred the hollow eggs (they seem more like ornaments) but you may want to use hard-boiled for younger kids (no pointy implements, less breakage)

1: Hollow Eggs
Using a push-pin, gently make a small hole in either end of the egg. Hold the egg over a bowl. Hold the wider end up to your mouth, and blow! The insides will come out of the "pointy" end of the egg. Use the same bowl for the whole class, and at the end make microwaveable scrambled eggs with a taste for everyone!

2: Hard-Boiled Eggs
Place eggs in a large saucepan and bring water to a boil. Reduce to simmer and boil eggs for 9 minutes. Remove from the stove and run entire saucepan under cold water til the water cools. The eggs should be cool to the touch.

Design your eggs

Decoration: use color crayons. The wax will resist the dye and keep the design.

Magic messages: use a white crayon on a white egg to make an "invisible" design that will be revealed once the egg is dyed!

Dye your eggs

In the large bowls place:
40 drops of food coloring + 1 teaspoon vinegar.
Have 1one bowl each for red, yellow, and blue.

Have lots of paper towels or craft paper to rest the eggs on.

Place the eggs very gently into the dyes. Tongs or soup spoons are great for this to avoid dropping the eggs into the bowl. Remove and place on paper towel.

Finish your creations!

Once all egg bases are dyed, the class could use their paintbrushes in the dye bowls to paint details and finish their creations. Get more crayons and art supplies and go wild! Glue and yarn can make nice touches. A felt coaster glued to the bottom of the egg will make a nice stand for hollow eggs. The class could even design gift tags and decide top whom they will give their egg.

Egg-speriment!

The Science of Colors: This arts activity is a great place to teach about colors. If you have 6 bowls, have the students mix the primary food coloring colors (red, yellow, blue) to make green, purple, and orange. Alternately, dip one half of the egg into one color, dry it, and turn it over for the next color – leave an overlapping area for your secondary color to appear! You can also discuss how leaving eggs in the dye for longer makes the color darker, and encourage experimentation with dipping times.

You can also discuss how different compounds react: the wax resists the dye, but the dye penetrates the egg shell. Keep one egg and place in a glass of pure white vinegar. At the end of the week have the students remove it. Does it feel rubbery? What effect did the vinegar have on the egg shell?