By Barbie L.
Don’t let the fancy-looking storebought Easter Egg kits fool you into thinking you need special ingredients to dye eggs: all you need is food coloring and vinegar. You can find basic egg-dying instructions on McCormick’s website here, and if you want to go beyond the basics with kit-free egg dying here are some more fun ideas.
FIZZY EGGS
Fizzy eggs are first on the list because this is, hands down, the most fun way for kids to dye Easter eggs. Paint with baking soda-based paint, squirt with vinegar (which helps the dye bind to the eggshell), watch it fizz, and repeat. Set it up as a sensory bin, and it may keep your kid entertained for hours. Detailed instructions can be found on Toddler Approved.
DINOSAUR EGGS
As an adult, my egg salad looked pretty unappetizing when I made it with these eggs, but kids think they’re awesome. Crack a boiled egg all over then soak it in food coloring + water overnight, and it will look like a dinosaur egg when you peel it in the morning! Full intructions on The Joys of Boys.
MARBLED EGGS
Some people make marbled eggs with shaving cream, but since my family eats our Easter eggs after we decorate them I prefer to use whipped cream. Dollop or spray whipped cream into muffin tin compartments, add some drops off food coloring, swirl with a knife to get a marbled look, then role an egg in each compartment and let it sit. Vinegar helps dye bind to the the egg’s shell, so for best results soak your eggs in vinegar first. If kids don’t mind getting their hands messy this is super fun. You can find a detailed tutorial on The Suburban Soapbox.
TYE DYE EGGS
Tie-dying Easter eggs with paper towels is another way to let kids get creative with combining colors on eggs. Soak eggs in vinegar to prep the shell for the dye, wrap in a paper towel, and drip with food coloring. Once it dries you’ll have a beautifully colorful egg! Full details on One Little Project.
NATURAL DYES
Did you know you can make your own egg dyes from foods? Amaze your kids with red cabbage, tumeric, and beet-based dyes. In our experience the beet-based dye (red/pink) was a little finnicky, but it is truly amazing how well the red cabbage (blue) and tumeric (yellow) dyes turned out. Another natual way to get red/brown is to use onion skins, as described in the next section. For some extra fun wrap rubber bands around your eggs to make stripes. These do take much longer than techniques using food coloring, but the results are worth it. You can find a detailed tutorial (including details on how to get secondary colors) on Hilah Cooking.
LEAF PRINTS
Even as an adult, this egg dying technique wowed me. It’s so simple and had such stunning results. Place herb leaves (or other edible leaves) on eggs and wrap with sheer stockings to secure the leaves in place. Then, boil the eggs with onion skins to dye them reddish brown. My favorite eggs were made using the tops of strawberries as the leaves look like a flower. You can find a detailed tutorial on A Tasty Adventure. If you want a quicker dying process, you can also do this using normal dyes, as described here on Plantshed.