This one goes in the books as a "must do again"! We had a lot of fun, especially for something that got thrown together last-minute.
For this year's party (which was actually more of a hang out), I bought the following:
25 clear plastic party cups (5 ounces)
1,000 toothpicks (I thought it said 100 - oops!)
100 vinyl non-powdered gloves
5 dozen eggs
1 gallon of vinegar (this was entirely too much!)
2 boxes of regular, assorted food dye
1 box of Neon food dye (We need at least 2 boxes)
1 party size bag chips
4.5 dozen cookies
plastic tarp/sheeting
plastic tablecloth
shaving cream
crayons
gemstone stickers
I found a chart for a lot of different colors you could make with food dye plus water & vinegar. I printed that out and one of the teens happily took charge of counting out the 20 or more drops of dye for each color. These produced wonderfully vibrant colors on the eggs.
I showed the youth how to draw on the eggs with crayon which would leave that part without dye. White crayons make it look like there was nothing there. Colored crayons left their color behind.
The gemstone stickers worked well to give a polka dot effect to the eggs. If you put them on before dyeing, dyed the egg, then removed the stickers once they were dried, you got a white spotted egg. You could also, given enough patience, dye the egg, dry it, put the stickers on and then dye a darker color for a two-toned egg polka dotted egg! I also attempted to use twine on the egg. It didn't w
We used regular spoons to dip the eggs and pull them out. We also used the spoons to indicate whether there was already an egg in the cup since you couldn't always tell. A spoon in the cup meant the cup was "occupied."
My only major change in this portion would be to label each color. The cups don't always show what color will come out on the egg. I thought I was dyeing a red egg. It came out bubblegum pink. A pretty surprise!
We also did shaving cream eggs. It's a fun technique where you put a layer of shaving cream into a glass dish, add drops of Neon food dye, then swirl with toothpicks. You roll the eggs in the mixture, let it dry for at least 5 minutes, and you get a "tie-dyed" looking egg!
The youth loved this! Most of the eggs ended up getting this treatment. The only issue is that you can't eat the ones dyed in the shaving cream. The shells are porous enough that chemicals from the shaving cream can leach through onto the egg itself.
Next time, I'll buy Cool Whip instead of shaving cream. I'd recommend at least 3 of the biggest tubs you can find. By using Cool Whip instead of shaving cream, the eggs remain edible. Also, because it was so popular, I want to add more glass containers so the youth can have more artistic freedom (and less waiting)! Side note: glass containers work best because they won't pick up the food dye.
The tarp and tablecloth made for quick clean up and guaranteed there would be no stains on the table top. I put the tarp on the floor, under the table, and the tablecloth went on like normal.
Other changes I would make would be to remember music! There were times the youth were so focused on their eggs that it was dead silent in the room. I'd also make it more of a party by asking each youth to bring something to eat, although the cookies and chips were fine.
A major change would be the number of eggs. Next time, I would do 10 or 15 dozen. Two families brought in about 2 dozen extra (total) and we just had enough for the 7 youth there.
One youth dyed three eggs and then sat down for the remainder of the time we were there. So, for those who are there for the fellowship, and not necessarily the eggs, I'd like to find some other activities for them.
Finally, this was a fun hangout, but I'd like to incorporate more theology. Why dye Easter eggs? What do eggs have to do with Easter? (That's for another post, though)
What questions do you have about this get-together? Would you add anything?
For this year's party (which was actually more of a hang out), I bought the following:
25 clear plastic party cups (5 ounces)
1,000 toothpicks (I thought it said 100 - oops!)
100 vinyl non-powdered gloves
5 dozen eggs
1 gallon of vinegar (this was entirely too much!)
2 boxes of regular, assorted food dye
1 box of Neon food dye (We need at least 2 boxes)
1 party size bag chips
4.5 dozen cookies
plastic tarp/sheeting
plastic tablecloth
shaving cream
crayons
gemstone stickers
I found a chart for a lot of different colors you could make with food dye plus water & vinegar. I printed that out and one of the teens happily took charge of counting out the 20 or more drops of dye for each color. These produced wonderfully vibrant colors on the eggs.
The gemstone stickers worked well to give a polka dot effect to the eggs. If you put them on before dyeing, dyed the egg, then removed the stickers once they were dried, you got a white spotted egg. You could also, given enough patience, dye the egg, dry it, put the stickers on and then dye a darker color for a two-toned egg polka dotted egg! I also attempted to use twine on the egg. It didn't w
We used regular spoons to dip the eggs and pull them out. We also used the spoons to indicate whether there was already an egg in the cup since you couldn't always tell. A spoon in the cup meant the cup was "occupied."
My only major change in this portion would be to label each color. The cups don't always show what color will come out on the egg. I thought I was dyeing a red egg. It came out bubblegum pink. A pretty surprise!
We also did shaving cream eggs. It's a fun technique where you put a layer of shaving cream into a glass dish, add drops of Neon food dye, then swirl with toothpicks. You roll the eggs in the mixture, let it dry for at least 5 minutes, and you get a "tie-dyed" looking egg!
The youth loved this! Most of the eggs ended up getting this treatment. The only issue is that you can't eat the ones dyed in the shaving cream. The shells are porous enough that chemicals from the shaving cream can leach through onto the egg itself.
The tarp and tablecloth made for quick clean up and guaranteed there would be no stains on the table top. I put the tarp on the floor, under the table, and the tablecloth went on like normal.Other changes I would make would be to remember music! There were times the youth were so focused on their eggs that it was dead silent in the room. I'd also make it more of a party by asking each youth to bring something to eat, although the cookies and chips were fine.
A major change would be the number of eggs. Next time, I would do 10 or 15 dozen. Two families brought in about 2 dozen extra (total) and we just had enough for the 7 youth there.
One youth dyed three eggs and then sat down for the remainder of the time we were there. So, for those who are there for the fellowship, and not necessarily the eggs, I'd like to find some other activities for them.
Finally, this was a fun hangout, but I'd like to incorporate more theology. Why dye Easter eggs? What do eggs have to do with Easter? (That's for another post, though)
What questions do you have about this get-together? Would you add anything?
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