Kids driving you crazy?! 
It’s Easter, which means not only school holidays (woohoo!), but a double whammy with loads of chocolate to boot! Hooray! Ok… maybe not hooray… Maybe things are a little chaotic in your household, or car??
The usual parental concern over the school holidays is how to deal with their kids’ behaviour 24/7 (without school to break the madness), and if you’re travelling with kids during the holidays, there’s the added dimension of having all the kids in a confined space for maximum tension and great acoustics….
Isn’t it sad that such concerns are common around school holidays? Wouldn’t it be nice to just enjoy our kids company and not dread special occasions for fear of the repercussions for days after?
Despite common belief, it’s not usually the sugar that creates the hyperactive kidlets, but the additives that are the culprit – especially colourings and preservatives (although an excess of sugar is not good for their little bodies either – more on that another day :-)).
So I thought I’d kick off our festive weekend with a little reminder that you can have that calm happy household over Easter with a few simple steps…. and a focus on additive free eating of course!
How to have a Happy Easter without a touch of the blues:
1. Educate the Bunny
Have a chat to the Easter Bunny about expanding his range of products to include organic, additive free goodness. There is a rather impressive range of Easter goodies now available in all shapes and sizes to help bring the Easter cheer without the after effects of additives and colouring. Some of our family favourites include the Organic Times Easter chocolate collection and some of the delights available at the Junee Licorice and Chocolate Factory.
2. Think outside the square (or oval)
So the kiddies want the egg shaped treats but the organic options are few and far between or outside the budget?
Perhaps instead of the large oval eggs, try searching for organic, additive free chocolate bars or blocks in the supermarket or your local health food store. It may be a different shape, but it’s still chocolate.
For those prepared and organized, a few chocolate moulds in the shape of an easter egg and voila! You’ve made your own. Another option – which can be found in most supermarkets – organic chocolate coated licorice (milk, white and dark chocolate). Wrapped in coloured foil is kind of resembles the shape of a (slightly squished) egg….
3. Brown is good
Easter is one of those particularly colourful occasions and unfortunately a lot of those colours end up as unnatural additives in the kids treats. With food colourings being one of the top contributors to food sensitivities and child behaviour issues, it may be best to try and avoid such things at Easter.
How? Stick to the plain chocolate varieties of eggs and treats – no fillings, no hard coloured sugar shell, just good old brown chocolate. The darker the better – there’s usually less nasties in dark chocolate compared to milk or white.
Still want colour? How about organic or additive free jellybeans (thanks to the kids movie Hop they’re now associated with Easter bunny droppings…), or other lollies (see my list at the end of this blog for some suggestions). Or, you could try the next tip for some non-food options to bring in the colour…
4. Get crafty
Put simply, the more occupied you keep the kids, the less likely they’ll be eating chocolate. So get crafty!
- Colour real eggs with natural dyes (such as beetroot juice, fruit juice eg: blueberries, carrot juice, or natural food colourings available at most health food stores or organic suppliers).
- Download Easter pictures off the net and get colouring or painting.
- Grab some glue and scissors and cut out coloured paper, old junk mail or old magazines to make collages.
- Play active Easter games in the back yard – egg and spoon races, kick the footy (large egg shaped thing – be creative!), egg hunts with your beautiful naturally dyed eggs, etc etc.
The only limit here is your imagination and ability to google more ideas 🙂
On a road trip for the holidays and spending a lot of time in the car? Search the net for car and road trip games – there’s a gazillion of them for all ages. Our favourites are the good old “I spy”, spelling games, maths games (adding up kms between towns for example), how many animals/foods/places/etc start with the letter “t”, reading a book, singing songs, rhyming games etc.
5. Cook up a storm
Especially good if it’s rainy and you’re stuck indoors. Try making your own Fruit hot cross buns. Guaranteed they’ll taste a thousand times better than store bought additive laden ones! Just click on the link above to download the recipe.
Stuck for what to buy at such short notice? Yes, I’ve left the mark rather late… but in future, if you’re looking for great Easter products or suppliers, check out some of the following. I’m not actually paid by the great folks at any of these places, but they’ve helped keep my household happy and calm over Easter for years now, so I felt the need to share. And let’s face it, chocolate is not just for Easter!
Organic Times Easter Eggs and Bunnies (and a whole lot more goodies!)
Junee Licorice and Chocolate Factory, in Junee NSW and also have a store online athttps://www.greengroveorganics.com.au/our-shop
Biome
Banjo the Carob Bunny Easter Egg
Plamil Organic Dairy Free Rice Milk Eggs
Bonvita Rice Milk Chocolate Eggs
Surf Sweets Jelly Beans and Gummy Bears
Yummy Earth lollies and lollipops (vitamin c pops)
Most of these additive free options are available online, at local health food stores, some major supermarket chains (in the health food aisle) and other organic food suppliers.
So there you have it – several options to have an awesome Easter holiday without the blues….
What are you up to for Easter? Does 
the Easter Bunny deliver additive free chocolate to your family or will you be witnessing some after effects?! Are you making any delicious homemade Easter treats? Feel free to share on facebook and add your comments below!
We’re off for a spot of camping with a brief stop over at the Bluesfest in Byron Bay as a special treat. So whilst we have our Easter with a touch of the blues (in the form of fabulous music), be sure to keep an eye out for my blogs to see how we’re managing to have an additive free Easter holiday with kids whilst on the road and camping! Happy Easter everyone!
Loren x
The Food Werewolf
PS If you’re also road tripping over the Easter holidays and happen to spot my awesome new The Food Werewolf car magnets, let me know on facebook – I’d love to hear from you!
