There are some simple pleasures that children through the ages have enjoyed. They have not involved anything to do with modern technology, video games and the like. One such pleasure is painting Easter eggs, not the chocolate kind.
Simple fun
Although some families dye eggs these days there is much more fun in painting them and the sky is the limit when it comes to colour and design. It is certainly easiest to use watercolours especially if you are doing the painting with young children. It is easy to clean up any mess afterwards.
Before you start you will have some preparations to do. That involves buying the art materials you will need and of course the eggs. The best eggs to use are white ones rather than brown. They need to be hard boiled and you do not want them to crack during the time they are boiling in the hot water. Once you have the number you need you have to let them cool down before painting.
You need to think about where you are going to put them to dry once painted. Old egg cartons are ideal. It just leaves you to make sure that the kids are in old clothes and that you have an apron or equivalent on, then you can start.
The Base
The best way to do an egg is to select a uniform base colour. You can paint half and leave it to dry, doing the reverse half later. That way your drying will not damage your work. In the second stage you can think about design; perhaps dots or stripes. If you have real skill you can try something more complicated such as an Easter scene.
There are certainly some effects that can be achieved without using a brush. One of the most popular is a sponge which will leave a pattern that is effectively its own structure on the shell. Alternatively, you can cover parts of the egg that you don’t want painted so the clear shell will contrast with your work.
Jarping
Eggs are for eating in the end of course but you will certainly want to keep them for a short while to admire your work. Some people actually ‘jarp’ them just before eating. It is an Easter egg fight. ‘Jarping’ is a word describing tapping them against each other to try to break the opponent’s egg without breaking your own. It was a practice first mentioned in the 14th century. There are in fact world championships. The competition is held at Peterlee Cricket Club in the North East of England every Easter Sunday. You would be very welcome if you headed there because they are held for a very worthwhile cause, the MacMillan Cancer Support Charity.
