| You can
have all the pleasure and surprise of a Spring Celebration and Easter
Egg Hunt without using eggs. Most of the supplies listed here can
be found at any large craft store. Some are stocked only around
Easter. By checking yearly you can gather an assortment of Easter
decorations to be used again and again.
Ideas for Replacing
Hen Eggs
Craft stores offer a variety
of "eggs" such as plastic, paper mache, wood, even glass. For young
children and a fun party, use plastic eggs and colorful stickers appropriate
for Easter. Card shops, fabric shops, even supermarkets, carry fake
eggs and Easter decorations. Children can put stickers on these eggs,
which can be hidden as is, or small trinkets or other treats can be
placed inside.
More artistic eggs
can be created using paper mache, wooden or glass eggs. Most wooden
and paper mache eggs are brown so you may want to paint them with
a coat of white paint. (Tempera or craft store paint works fine.)
After painting the eggs white, they can be further decorated with
paints. There are all kinds of paint ranging from poster paints
to t-shirt paints, which puff up when used. Fabric scraps, fake
stones, and glitter can be glued on, and colorful pictures can be
cut out and pasted on the eggs. Children as young as 2 enjoy painting,
gluing, and pasting on glitter.
As you look around
the craft shop notice all the different "eggs" you can display,
"hunt," and give as gifts. Parents can choose to save 1 or 2 eggs
their children decorate each year. You can't do that with hens'
eggs.
Easter cookies
& cakes
Children love to take
part in making Easter cookies and cake. Craft shops have lots of
cookie cutters and cake molds. Once cooled, cakes and cookies can
be decorated with powdered sugar or icing. To make a powdered sugar
icing, follow the easy directions below.
1 box confectioners
sugar
1 stick of softened
margarine
1 tablespoon flavoring
of choice
3 or more tablespoons
of soy or rice milk or fruit juice
Put all ingredients
in a bowl and mix with an electric mixer till smooth. More liquid
makes a thinner icing that can be poured on cookies to produce a
hard glaze when dry. Food coloring may be added to create different
colors. Thick icing can be piped onto cake and cookies to make decorations.
Craft shops have an assortment of cake decorating equipment for
creating designs. Different shakeable colored sugars and edible
decorations can also be found in craft shops and grocery stores.
Dried fruits and nondairy candies & chocolate chips can also
be used. To ensure things stick, decorate cookies and cakes while
the icing is wet.
These are just a few ideas for modernizing Easter and Spring celebrations
while retaining all the fun of tradition. If the finding of eggs
used to be identified with the finding of riches, today's eggs are
laid by a medicated hen in a wire cage without sunlight or fresh
air. Very young children are capable of great compassion. Starting
early helps them to live happy lives without harming animals.
-By Renee Wheeler
for United Poultry Concerns.
Renee Wheeler is a celebrated cook and the mother
of two healthy vegan children, who have never eaten a product derived
from an animal. Vegan children are much less likely to suffer from
respiratory ailments--sore throats, colds, laryngitis, earaches--that
plague children raised on dairy products.
For delicious egg-free cookie & cake recipes,
send check or money order to United Poultry Concerns for Replacing
Eggs ($3.50) and Instead of Chicken, Instead of Turkey:
A Poultryless "Poultry" Potpourri ($11.95).
United Poultry Concerns is a nonprofit organization that promotes
the compassionate and respectful treatment of domestic fowl. http://www.upc-online.org
United Poultry Concerns, Inc.
PO Box 150
Machipongo, VA 23405-0150
757-678-7875
FAX: 757-678-5070
www.upc-online.org
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