Springtime has arrived for the Northern hemisphere, here on planet Earth. The flowers are blooming and it is almost Easter! You may have your own Easter family traditions, things you may decorate your house with, food that you buy or bake at this time of year and probably, no matter where you are in the world, there will be the appearance of eggs – savoury or sweet! The Easter bunny may even make an appearance with the promise of basket fulls of eggs for good children on Easter day.
Most people have a basic understanding that the egg is a symbol of new life and happy beginnings, but it may come as a surprise to know that the symbol of the egg goes back to ancient times. In fact, most cultures around the world have their own myths about creation emerging from an egg. Just to mention a few; ancient Egyptian, Hindu, Greek, Oceanic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian and Nordic mythology all have mention of creation being formed in a sort of cosmic egg.
In Pagan Britain before Christianity took over, ritual egg eating and exchanges during the celebration of the Springtime equinox were traditional. After which, symbolic eggs in Christianity were widespread. The egg symbolising Jesus’ tomb, the cracked egg symbolising rebirth and resurrection. In Eastern European countries annual egg dying was done. By the end of the 19th century Russia glamourized the event with the regal and breathtakingly beautiful Fabergé eggs that began to circulate as extravagant gifts that contained wonderful surprises inside. The 19th century also saw the emergence of our beloved and persistent tradition of the chocolate egg, with John Cadbury producing the first dark chocolate egg in 1875.
So, with those who have gone before us and whose stories live on, we will be celebrating Easter and Spring by creating our own type of egg. Not with chocolate, not with gold or diamonds but with egg shells and seeds for new life to create our own little egg heads who will grow the most astonishing head of hair!
What you will need:
- Egg shells
- Egg carton/egg holders/one egg cup would even do
- Cotton wool
- Seeds – cress or chia work well
- Googly eyes with sticky back
(Glue if googly eyes don’t have sticky backs) - Drop of water
- Pen
Instructions:
- Crack your egg(s) at the top and pour out the insides into a bowl. Discard the top bit of the egg shell and keep the main bottom part. Do the same with however many you are doing.
Tip: Keep the insides and make something yummy with them! - Rinse them out with water and gently put in your egg holder, whichever variation you have decided to use.
- If your googly eyes come with sticky backs, take the sticky back off and place the eyes on your eggs. If they do not come with sticky backs, put a dab of glue on the back of them and gently press on to the egg and hold for a few moments until it holds.
- Dip one piece of cotton wool in the water and place inside each egg shell.
- Now scatter seeds in each one. The more you scatter the more hair that will grow.
- With your pen, draw on some smiley mouths, noses and eyebrows to make your Egg Head facial features.
- Place on a windowsill and let them grow over the next week.
In a couple of days you should start to see the seeds ‘hatching’ and by day 4 you may even see some leaves. By the end of week 1-1.5 you should have a whole set of egg hair!
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