How to Hollow Out Eggshells for Easter Decorations

Looking for something fun to do with the Grandkids this Easter holiday? If it's too wet to get out and about this Easter, why not make Easter eggs for that all-important Easter egg hunt? It’s so easy to hollow out eggs and super fun for the kids to decorate in their favourite colours.

Getting kids to do arts and crafts is a great way to keep their minds active and keep them busy during the Easter holidays.

This activity requires:

• Large eggs (as many as you like)
• A screwdriver or awl
• Dish soap
• A towel to dry the eggs
• A bowl to catch the eggs
• An egg carton to hold your finished creation
• Acrylic or poster paint
• Paintbrushes

Step 1 – Cleaning

Wash and dry the eggs to alleviate any risk of germs or salmonella poisoning.

Step 2 – Making the hole

Carefully tap one end of the egg to make a hole the diameter of the screwdriver. Turn the egg over and do the same to the other end. Make sure to use the screwdriver to scramble up the egg on the inside. The yolk won’t go through the hole unless you do this.

Step 3 – Hollowing

Wipe the surface of the shell clean with a towel. Bring the smaller end of the egg to your mouth, and blow until all the egg has come out of the shell.

Step 4 – Cleaning, again.

Wash the eggshell out. Allow water to run through the middle, shake and blow out any access water. Don’t forget to dry them.

Step 5 – Decoration

Use acrylic or poster paint to decorate your eggshells with an Easter theme, this type of paint will stick better to eggshells. Leave to dry.

Now your eggs are ready to hide in the Easter egg hunt!

Facts you may not know about Easter Eggs?

Decorating eggs comes from a Ukrainian tradition. The ornate eggs were called pysankas, which were made by using wax and dyes. In Britain King Edward I of England made the practice of coloured eggs more famous. He ordered 450 eggs to be coloured for Easter gifts in 1290.

The Easter Bunny didn't always lay eggs. The fluffy bunny stems from the Anglo-Saxon festival of Eastre which featured a spring goddess who used the rabbit to represent fertility. It wasn't until Germans settled in Pennsylvania in the 1700s that the tradition of a bunny that lays eggs came to the states.

During medieval times, a very different game was played with eggs. In church the priest would throw a hard-boiled egg to one of the choir boys, he would continue to toss it to his peers, and whoever was holding the egg when the clock struck 12 was the winner and got to keep it.