When my friend Niki shared her family's recipe for making Giant Easter Eggs, I knew we had to try them!  Thank you to Niki for letting us share your family tradition with everyone!!!  It's so much fun!

I had quite the adventure learning how to make these eggs.  I initially wanted to make them colored and have S decorate them with a white paint pen, but the colors would not cooperate!  Liquid watercolors worked the best, but I could only get very light pastels unless I used such a significant amount that it wasn't worth it.  Food coloring looked great initially, but as the eggs dried, they became horribly blotchy.  So the best way to make these eggs is plain.  And then you can decorate them however you please.  S wanted a whole array of acrylic paints to choose from in decorating her egg.

Making these eggs is definitely a grown-up job as they can be a little finicky.  The end product is SO cool though, I ultimately think they are worth a bit of patience and careful handling.  To make your own Giant Easter Eggs you'll need balloons, Plaster of Paris (which you can get by the bucket at a craft store or home improvement store), and Squeezy Bottles.  We found that acrylic paints did the best job for decorating the finished eggs.  We tried making regular sized balloon eggs, and they were really cool, but fairly delicate.  I found that the smaller 5 inch balloons produced stronger eggs that were a bit easier for kid hands to handle, so that's what we went with.

For 5" balloons, mix 1/2 cup plaster of paris with sliiiightly less than 1/2 cup of water (double the recipe for a standard sized balloon).  You want your plaster mix to be thick, but not so thick that it doesn't squeeze out of your Squeezy Bottle .  If it's too watery, it will take forever to set inside the balloon and I am just not that patient, ha!  I used a funnel from the Dollar Tree to add the Plaster of Paris and water directly into the squeezy bottle and mixed it there, but you could mix it in a cup or other container and pour it into your squeezy bottle.

Once your squeezy bottle is full of mixed Plaster, blow up your balloon.  With the balloon pinched shut in one hand and the squeezy bottle in another, quickly insert the squeezy bottle into the balloon opening and pinch the balloon shut around the neck of the squeezy bottle.  Squeeze all of the plaster into the bottle, then quickly pop the squeezy bottle out and tie off your balloon.  Now shake your balloon to coat all the sides with the plaster mix.  If you've made thick enough plaster, it should start setting within a minute.  If your plaster is watery, you may be shaking and/or rolling the balloon for some time.  You will feel the sides of the balloon begin to firm up - and once you do, it's time to set your balloon down to dry overnight.  I set ours carefully in a bowl.  If you place them like an egg (fat half down), it will make a flatter spot so the finished egg will actually sit.

Leave your balloon to set for several hours, then caaaareeeefulllly use a pair of scissors to cut the balloon off.  The egg will still be wet and very breakable at this point.  So be cautious.  Once the balloon is off, let your egg dry for at least 24 hours.  During this time it will harden and be much less fragile (though if you drop it, it will still break).  It will also dry out enough that you can paint.  If you paint before the 24 hours are up, the moisture leaching out from the inside of the egg may make the paint run.

And voila!  You will have your very own Giant Easter Eggs!

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All activities here are activities I feel are safe for my own children.  As your child's parents/guardians, you will need to decide what you feel is safe for your family.  I always encourage contacting your child's pediatrician for guidance if you are not sure about the safety/age appropriateness of an activity. All activities on this blog are intended to be performed with adult supervision.  Appropriate and reasonable caution should be used when activities call for the use of materials that could potentially be harmful, such as scissors, or items that could present a choking risk (small items), or a drowning risk (water activities), and with introducing a new food/ingredient to a child (allergies).  Observe caution and safety at all times.  The author and blog disclaim liability for any damage, mishap, or injury that may occur from engaging in any of these activities on this blog.