Last Updated on February 22, 2024 by Sheryl Cooper
Inside: Toddlers and preschoolers love this spin art Easter egg activity. Grab your salad spinner to create colorful eggs and hang as a decoration!
I’ve always loved plastic eggs hanging in the trees of our neighborhoods during the Easter season.
Every year I say I will do the same, but never have.
So this year I thought about hanging some in the tree outside our classroom window.
When I searched Amazon, I found some plain white plastic eggs and the lightbulb went off.
We could decorate our own hanging eggs!
I ended up hanging them inside our classroom window to protect them from the rainy weather, but they are very visible to all that stroll or drive by.
A vibrant and cheerful classroom decoration!
Awhile back, while killing time going through Instagram, I stopped scrolling when I came to a photo of wooden eggs in a salad spinner, with paint.
Woah.
Now, if you have been following me for awhile, you might recall that using a salad spinner at the art table is nothing new.
We’ve made rainbows, spiders, Christmas trees and more!
However, they’ve all been done with paper.
I’d never thought to put an actual object in the salad spinner!
So when I saw that Meredith from Homegrown Friends had painted wooden eggs in her salad spinner, I was intrigued.
I mean, just look at this photo!
Then I found the white plastic hanging eggs on Amazon and imagined using them with the spin art process.
How fun would they be hanging in our classroom?
Easy Spin Art Easter Egg Activity
What you will need:
- White hanging plastic Easter eggs
- Tempera paint (I used fluorescent paint for a more vibrant look)
- Salad spinner (this one is my favorite because you can see through it)
Preparation:
Before the children arrived that morning, I wrote their names on the tops of the eggs with a permanent marker and had the salad spinner and paint ready to go.
How many children participate in this activity depends on the amount of salad spinners you own.
At this time we only have two salad spinners, so the children took turns spinning their eggs during free-choice centers time.
The Spin Art Easter Egg Activity
Place the plastic egg in the basket of the salad spinner.
Squeeze paint on top of the egg.
We applied one color at a time, spinning the egg in between colors.
If this is your children’s first time using a salad spinner, show them how it works.
There are different styles of salad spinners out there.
Some have a push button, some have a lever that slides, some have a handle that moves up and down.
There are even models that have a handle that turns.
While it’s fun to have a variety of spinners, my favorite is the push button style.
If it comes with a brake to stop the spinning, even better.
Our model has a small button to push that stops the spinning motion.
(And the children LOVE to make the spinner move fast, then pressing on the brake.)
I also prefer salad spinners that have clear lids and sides so that the children can watch the colors mix.
When finished:
Make sure the spinning motion has stopped and remove the lid.
Not only is the egg splashed with different colors, but the salad spinner’s basket has a nice design, too!
Remove the egg from the basket of the spinner and hang to dry.
We actually found some coat hooks to hang ours, placing a sheet of paper below to catch any drips.
(Our paint never did drip, however. But it’s always good to be on the safe side just in case!)
When completely dry, hang!
I displayed ours from a tension rod that fits snuggly in the window.
I love how vibrant they turned out. These hanging Easter eggs look so festive in our classroom window!
On the last day of school before Easter I will remove the eggs from the rod and let the children take them home as a keepsake ornament.
We will definitely do this again next year!
More Easter Activities
Learning with Plastic Easter Eggs
Fun Easter Ideas for Toddlers and Preschoolers
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I use to use the salad spinner with the handle that your turn until I ran across the pump one. The kids loved that and it was so much easier for them to use while still helping those large muscles, not to mention easy clean-up! I love using the salad spinner.
It’s definitely one of our favorites! Our children overall prefer the pump one as well.