The 2014 Easter Puzzle under way. That's organic sparkling apple cider and organic peaches for breakfast with a side of organic candy.
When my kids were little, they all had multiple food sensitivities including dairy, soy, and corn. One of them was also very sensitive to artificial food colorings and flavorings. As a result, we avoided these items with the kids.That made finding candy for holidays like Easter and Halloween challenging. In addition, we just didn't want to fill our kids up with sugar laden junk food. Cheap plastic toys that were made in China were not appealing to me, either. As a result, we looked for something different to put in our kids’ eggs at Easter. The first year the older two were into the Easter festivities (at approaching age 3, past the oral fixation stage), we stuffed a penny in each egg, and they were thrilled. But as they aged, this didn't seem to be the right thing to do.
One year the Easter Bunny must have been struck by lightning, or at the very least, she was feeling kind of crazed by being homebound. As a result, the Easter Bunny designed a treasure hunt with clues in the eggs. The kids followed the clues to find their hidden gift from the Bunny. They loved it. As the years progressed, the puzzles became harder and harder. Last year the puzzle was a multi-fold challenge that took the kids 2.5 hours to solve. It was a crossword puzzle with the individual clues stuck in the eggs. The clues were about Greek, Roman and Egyptian gods, something my kids are familiar with thanks to the works of Rick Riordan and others. In addition, the number parts of the clues were math problems adding a second layer of difficulty to the puzzle. After they finally finished it, my daughter asked in exasperation, “Can’t we just do a jigsaw puzzle again next year?”
One year the Easter Bunny must have been struck by lightning, or at the very least, she was feeling kind of crazed by being homebound. As a result, the Easter Bunny designed a treasure hunt with clues in the eggs. The kids followed the clues to find their hidden gift from the Bunny. They loved it. As the years progressed, the puzzles became harder and harder. Last year the puzzle was a multi-fold challenge that took the kids 2.5 hours to solve. It was a crossword puzzle with the individual clues stuck in the eggs. The clues were about Greek, Roman and Egyptian gods, something my kids are familiar with thanks to the works of Rick Riordan and others. In addition, the number parts of the clues were math problems adding a second layer of difficulty to the puzzle. After they finally finished it, my daughter asked in exasperation, “Can’t we just do a jigsaw puzzle again next year?”
The 2015 double-sided jigsaw puzzle along with all natural and organic candy.
In one previous year, I had created a clue photo in Photoshop and had a company create a custom jigsaw puzzle out of it. I then stuffed puzzle pieces in the eggs for the kids to find and assemble. This year, as I was searching the internet for the best deal in puzzle makers, I found one that makes custom double-sided puzzles. That was too tempting for the Easter Bunny to resist. On one side of the puzzle, there are riddles that describe the hiding places of their Easter gifts. (Each is getting a book of trivia this year.) On the other side is a picture of them from last Easter. The kids had a great deal of fun putting it together.
One of the things I always make sure to do is create a puzzle that is collaborative. There's no competition, and if the kids don't work together, they can't solve the puzzle. When my twins were only a few weeks old and I was spending most of the day trapped under a twin nursing pillow, I read the book Siblings Without Rivalry: How to Help Your Children Live Together So You Can Live Too by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish. The book was life-changing for me. It clarified for me how my parents had done so many things to pit my brother and me against each other. I knew I wanted something very different for my children. Hence, my ex and I have always worked to make sure our kids see our family as a unified team, not a competition, from birth onward. As you can see from the picture above, once the kids pull their clues out of the Easter egg, they put them into a combined bowl and solve them together, each filling out a copy of the puzzle. Crossword puzzles can be easier when you have three brains to use instead of just one!
We also started a tradition when the kids were little that I wrote their names in paint pen on the majority of the eggs. That way each can only pick up 1/3 of the eggs since they can't take eggs without their name on it. It means they end up helping siblings find eggs that they've missed, too. I've since seen a suggestion to use one egg color for each kid; that sounds like an easier solution than the one I'd worked out! It keeps Easter from being a bitter competition about who can collect the most eggs, though it certainly doesn't cut down on the chaos and fun around here!
Easter is a lot of fun for my kids and me. We continue to celebrate despite the fact they are ages 12, 14 and 14 this year. The puzzles are a firmly entrenched tradition for us, one that I half expect my children to want me to continue into their adult years. I suggested a few years ago that we might stop, and my children were horrified at the idea. I’m actually glad. I have to admit I look forward to it, too.
© 2015 Elizabeth Galen, Ph.D., Green Heart Guidance, LLC
One of the things I always make sure to do is create a puzzle that is collaborative. There's no competition, and if the kids don't work together, they can't solve the puzzle. When my twins were only a few weeks old and I was spending most of the day trapped under a twin nursing pillow, I read the book Siblings Without Rivalry: How to Help Your Children Live Together So You Can Live Too by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish. The book was life-changing for me. It clarified for me how my parents had done so many things to pit my brother and me against each other. I knew I wanted something very different for my children. Hence, my ex and I have always worked to make sure our kids see our family as a unified team, not a competition, from birth onward. As you can see from the picture above, once the kids pull their clues out of the Easter egg, they put them into a combined bowl and solve them together, each filling out a copy of the puzzle. Crossword puzzles can be easier when you have three brains to use instead of just one!
We also started a tradition when the kids were little that I wrote their names in paint pen on the majority of the eggs. That way each can only pick up 1/3 of the eggs since they can't take eggs without their name on it. It means they end up helping siblings find eggs that they've missed, too. I've since seen a suggestion to use one egg color for each kid; that sounds like an easier solution than the one I'd worked out! It keeps Easter from being a bitter competition about who can collect the most eggs, though it certainly doesn't cut down on the chaos and fun around here!
Easter is a lot of fun for my kids and me. We continue to celebrate despite the fact they are ages 12, 14 and 14 this year. The puzzles are a firmly entrenched tradition for us, one that I half expect my children to want me to continue into their adult years. I suggested a few years ago that we might stop, and my children were horrified at the idea. I’m actually glad. I have to admit I look forward to it, too.
© 2015 Elizabeth Galen, Ph.D., Green Heart Guidance, LLC
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