What You Need:
- 1 raw egg, washed well and dried
- Thick needle (wool needles work well)
- Small bowl
- Grosgrain or silk ribbon
- Glitter or sequins
- Tempera paint
- Paint brushes
- Hot glue gun
- Large paper clip
What You Do:
- Have your child carefully poke holes in the top and bottom of the egg with the needle. Push the needle in as far as it will go in order to puncture the yolk inside.
- Shake the egg to loosen the yolk.
- Have her place her mouth over one of the holes and blow out the egg's contents into the small bowl. This requires a bit of force; take turns with your child during this step if she has trouble or gets tired. Set the raw egg aside to use for scrambled eggs later.
- Once all the raw egg is removed, rinse the egg inside and out as best you can and dry carefully with a towel. Rinsing the inside might be tricky; try submerging it in a bowl of water and waiting for the egg to fill up, then giving it a good shake.
- Now it's time to decorate. Have her paint the egg in bright colors using the tempera paint, adding just a single color or a pattern of colors. Encourage her to be as creative as she likes!
- Let the paint dry.
- Once the paint is dry, you can decorate the egg with ribbon, glitter, or sequins. Try one of these ideas, or come up with your own:
- Create stripes with the grosgrain ribbon.
- Place small dabs of glue all over the egg and cover with glitter to make glitter polka dots.
- Glue sequins in clusters shaped like hearts or flowers.
- Once you're done decorating, make a hook for hanging the ornament. Straighten out the paper clip, then insert it through the top hole of the egg and out through the bottom hole. Bend the bottom tip of the paper clip to keep it in place, and bend the top end to create a hook for hanging.
The art of decorating blown eggs is an age-old tradition full of history and symbolism, particularly in the Ukraine. Pysanky, derived from a Ukrainian word meaning "to write", is the art of decorating eggs with intricate designs using hot wax and dye. Check out our Pysanky egg activity for more about this traditional art form and to try your hand at making your own Pysanky eggs!