Let's share Easter things here!

_Elsa_

Welcome to Cotton Candy Clouds! Where players come to share their happiness when playing Candy Crush Soda Saga.

Since we are all in lockdown and Easter just won't be the same this year, how about we post all Easter things here. You can do some Easter jokes, riddles, inspirational quotes, etc. Whatever you want to post will be great!

I can start it off my with Easter story that I posted in the Friends community yesterday.

Tiffi thinks about Easter

You can also view a video of Inspirational Easter quotes that is posted on YouTube here.

So please share whatever you can because I need a few good laughs with this lockdown hanging over us now.

_Elsa_

Tagging

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_Elsa_

Ways for the family to celebrate Easter during lockdown

• Organise an Easter egg hunt - You can still organise an Easter egg hunt at home. Get the children making egg-shaped clues that you can fill in and hide around the house and garden. What will the weather be like for the Easter egg hunting this weekend? Be a bit more creative with hiding places if you’re a bit limited in garden space - how about in the cutlery drawer or behind a pillow? The whole family can get involved and the best bit about organising your own one is you can choose the chocolate, and don't have to share it with anyone. You could also make a treasure map for the children to follow.

• Look after an egg - A great way of getting younger children into a routine and, at the same time, they are learning without realising it. Hard boil an egg, get them to decorate it using paint and pens and choose a name. And the eggs, if they make it that far, can be replaced with a chocolate one on Easter Sunday.

• Get out and about on the farm - Easter and Spring is a busy time on the farm. And thanks to modern technology you can learn more about what happens at this time of the year from your home. The lambing season has finished for 2020 at the St Fagans National Museum of History in Cardiff. They have welcomed more than 300 lambs into the world this year and they have some videos of the highs and lows that they have experienced along the way.  Farms are great places for learning, and thanks to the LEAF Virtual Farm Walk you can go from field to field exploring the British countryside.

• Get crafty! - There are lots of craft idea around Easter. There are also plenty of things they can make from everyday items, such as castles with the turrets made of old kitchen and toilet roll tubes. Or make stained glass Easter-themed window decorations using black paper, tissue paper and glue. Former primary school teacher Catherine Lynch from PlanBee says: "Cut out the shape you would like to display. Your children could make eggs, rabbits, chicks, religious crosses, flowers or anything that takes their fancy. "Place strips of black paper across the design: we found that this made sticking the tissue paper easier.  "Rip or cut tissue paper and stick it inside your design. Wait for it to dry and display it in the window. It will cheer the neighbours at this difficult time!"

• Keep the children learning - Easter worksheets can be education while being fun and interesting at the same time. Activity Village online has got lots of worksheets that you can download or print off to continue keeping the children entertained. Find some of the worksheets here. If you just type Easter worksheets into search you can get lots of examples for children of different ages.  There are a wide range of activities, including tracing pages, colouring in, maths and handwriting worksheets.

• Host a quiz night - Get the family together for a quiz night, which could be on topics ranging from music to sport, Disney to how much you know about Wales. You can get the whole family involved using FaceTime or Zoom, or other online apps -such as Kahoot! The children could run it themselves and come up with the questions and play the part of the quizmaster.

• Bake an Easter cake - While they can’t take part in home economics at school at the moment, if they enjoy baking then you could get them to make a dessert for the family. If not, they could just help out with cooking dinner and learn some new skills and in the future do it for themselves. Get them to research the recipe online, write it down and then you can help them follow the instructions.

• Create an obstacle course - This one is weather dependant, but it is a great way to keep the family active and can be made with things around the house such as plant pots, tennis balls and books which can be balanced on the head. See who can complete the course in the quickest time, or do it as a relay, and if you have enough space inside you could create an indoor one too. Get a timer set up and work out everyone's time.

• Pencil and paper games A great way to entertain the kids for free and have fun as a family. You could play games such as Consequences, where each person writes a section of a story then folds the paper over and passes it to the next person and this continues until it has gone the whole way round and each player then reads out their random, and often very funny, story. Another game sees you list a range of categories, such as school subject, boy’s name and girl’s name, then pick a letter of the alphabet and see how many categories you can complete starting with that letter in two minutes. Or you could play What or Who Am I? using sticky padded paper.

• Have space to learn - If your children love space, then this is perfect to devote some time to over the Easter break. The International Space School Educational Training has launched a series of YouTube events that will feature a guest NASA astronaut. Full details can be found at: www.isset.org. Space to Learn is an hour long free live interactive podcast featuring an astronaut who will present and narrate videos of the inspiration of venturing into space followed by a Live Q&A with children. (Info from here)

_Elsa_

Easter Riddles

Why was the Easter egg hiding?

Because it was a little chicken.

What shouldn’t you tickle an Easter egg?

Because it might crack up!

How many Easter eggs can you put in an empty basket?

Just one, because then it isn’t empty anymore.

What do you get when you cross a rabbit with shellfish?

The Oyster Bunny.

Why was the Easter Bunny so grumpy?

Because he was having a bad hare day.

What happens when the Easter Bunny loses his temper?

He gets hoppin’ mad!

How do you make rabbit stew?

Make it wait for 4 hours.

What kind of music does the Easter Bunny like?

Hip Hop.

Where does the Easter Bunny eat breakfast?

At the IHOP of course!

Why do we paint Easter eggs?

Because it’s easier than trying to wallpaper them.

What day does an Easter egg hate the most?

Fry-days.

Why did the Easter Bunny cross the road?

Because the chicken had all his Easter eggs.

What kind of beans grow in the Easter Bunny’s garden?

Jelly beans!

When does Valentine’s Day come after Easter?

In the dictionary.

Why are rabbits so good at math?

Because they multiply so quickly.

How does the Easter Bunny stay in shape?

With lots of egg-cercise.

What’s the difference between a counterfeit dollar and a crazy Easter Bunny?

One is bad money, the other is a mad bunny!

What’s the difference between a lumberjack and the Easter Bunny?

One hews and chops, the other chews and hops!

(Info from here)

_Elsa_

Festive Easter Facts That You Probably Haven't Heard Before

• Easter Eggs Had a Medieval Twist

Think Easter egg hunts are odd? Listen to this medieval game children's game: the priest would give one of the choir boys a hard-boiled egg, and the boys would pass it amongst themselves until the clock struck midnight, when whoever was holding it then got to eat it. Sounds...fun?

• Easter Clothes Used to Be Considered Good Luck

Old superstition held that if you wore new clothes on Easter, you would have good luck for the rest of the year. In fact, it was so widely believed that upper-class New Yorkers would quite literally strut their stuff coming out of mass in beautiful and well-to-do Fifth Avenue churches. This tradition become the basis of the modern, and decidedly less elitist, Easter Parade and Easter Bonnet Festival in New York.

• Easter Eggs Date Back Way Before Easter

There's evidence showing that Easter eggs originated from Medieval Europe and Christians may not have actually been the ones to start the tradition of giving eggs — a symbol of new life, fertility, and rebirth in many cultures.

• The Holiday Was Named After the Anglo-Saxon Goddess Eostre

Scholars believe that Easter was named after a festival celebrating Eostre and the coming of spring. Her sacred symbols are thought to have been the hare and the egg.

• Eggs Are Dyed to Represent the Blood of Jesus Christ

Well, at least that might be one of the reasons, which stems from early Christians in Mesopotamia. There isn't a concrete reason behind the tradition, but there are several theories.

• Good Friday Is Recognized as a Holiday in Only 12 States

Occurring two days before Easter Sunday, Good Friday commemorates Jesus Christ's crucifixion, but it isn't a federal holiday. Residents in certain states experience closures, including: New Jersey, North Carolina, and Tennessee.

• In 2018, Americans Were Estimated to Have Spent $18.2 Billion on Easter

The whopping number is the second-highest on record, coming really close to beating 2017. Consumers spent $5.7 billion on food, $3.2 billion on clothes, and $2.9 billion on gifts!

• We Can Thank Germany for the Bunny

The idea of the Easter bunny giving candies and eggs is said to have originated in Germany during the Middle Ages, with the first written mention of this tradition dating back to the 16th century. Dutch settlers in Pennsylvania brought the bunny to the United States in the 1700s.

• Easter and Halloween Often Compete for Highest Candy Sales Every Year

The two holidays are always going head-to-head to have the most candy sales, usually coming close to each other. In fact, some years people buy more candy the week before Easter than the week before Halloween, but that's because Halloween purchases are more spread out over the month leading up to the spooky night.

• Americans Eat About 1.5 Million Marshmallow Peeps During Easter

Making them the most popular non-chocolate Easter candy. The Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, factory makes an impressive 5.5 million a day.

• In 1953, It Took 27 Hours to Make One Peep

That's back when they were still new to the world and were handmade with a pastry tube. But don't worry, it was sped up to six minutes thanks to a unique machine called The Depositor.

• More Than 1.5 Million Cadbury Creme Eggs Are Made Every Day

Even more impressive is that the Bournville factory in Birmingham, U.K., makes 500 million every year. If you piled those eggs on top of each other, they'd be taller than Everest.

• Americans Consume More Than 16 Million Jelly Beans During This Holiday

That's enough jelly beans to circle the globe not once, not twice, but three times — or to fill a plastic egg the size of a nine-story building. First introduced as an Easter treat in the 1930s, we can't imagine this day without them.

• Around 90 Million Chocolate Bunnies Are Sold for Easter

Considering $2.6 billion is spent on candy alone during this religious celebration, it makes sense. Oh, and that's only in the United States.

• A Surprising 59% of People Eat the Ears First

Only a handful start with the feet/tail, and the rest apparently don't have a plan of action.

• The White House Easter Egg Roll Tradition Started in 1878

It's said that President Rutherford B. Hayes was taking a walk when children approached him asking about a possible Easter egg roll. He loved the idea and it's been a yearly event since then.

• In the Old Days, Pretzels Were Associated With Easter

Why? Because the twists of this salty treat resemble arms crossing in prayer. We say it's time to bring back this savory snack to the sweets-filled holiday.

(Info from here)

_Elsa_

Don’t Let Egg Shortages and Quarantine Ruin Your Easter Fun This Year—Here’s How You Can Still Celebrate

• Change the way you dye eggs

For many families, dyeing Easter eggs together is an annual tradition. This year, though, fresh eggs may be hard to find on grocery store shelves as people stock up unnecessarily. Also, if you do have fresh eggs at home, you want to preserve them for eating, not decorating or crafting. (For best results, avoid dyeing eggs and then eating them later. Not all dyes or decorating tools are food-safe, and even though they’re on the shell, it’s better to be safe than sorry.) Instead, consider using Styrofoam eggs or another type of crafting egg. These eggs can be ordered straight to your door—you want to avoid unnecessarily trips to the store—and decorated with markers, crayons, and more tools you likely already have around the house. Best of all, you can save your favorites (and any extra, undecorated eggs) for next year.

• Do an alternative egg hunt

Setting the kids loose on a field or playground dotted with eggs isn’t really social distancing, especially if you typically do it as a group with other families. Instead, if your home and yard have the space, tuck eggs around your house for your kids to find. For a larger egg hunt, get in touch with your neighborhood group text or homeowners’ association. Ask all participating families to decorate large Easter eggs on paper and then tape the paper eggs into windows facing the street. On Easter Sunday, families can head out in cars, on bikes, or on foot—careful to keep their distance from one another—to try and spot all the eggs in the neighborhood.

• Rethink Easter baskets and gifts

The overflowing Easter baskets of years past may not be possible this year, either because money is tight or you’re unable to visit your go-to stores to pick up all the supplies and gifts. (Online delivery may not be as speedy as you’d like this year, either.) Save the big adult Easter basket for next year: Consider tucking homemade sweets into baskets or fill them with print-outs or drawings of the Easter gifts you plan to order or buy once businesses are open again. (Consider it an IOU from the Easter Bunny.) If you can, for Easter gifts for kids, focus on digital gifts you can enjoy in the moment: Buy and download a new movie or new game for them to enjoy at home.

• Order in for your Easter dinner

If you typically go out for Easter brunch or dinner—or head to Grandma’s for her Easter specialties—don’t take it upon yourself to cook a multi-course meal. You want your groceries to last as long as possible, and taking a trip to the grocery store just to pick up extra eggs and potatoes for your Easter spread isn’t worth the risk. Instead, consider supporting local businesses. Call around to see if any restaurants are offering a to-go or delivery special for Easter meals. (Chances are, at least one place is.) Place your order a few days in advance so the restaurant is prepared and get ready to enjoy your meal with minimal prep or stress on your part.

• Focus on small-scale Easter games

A bunny hop race or Easter egg toss may not be possible this year if you don’t have the supplies, numbers, or space (or all three). Focus on games—beyond the egg hunt—your family can play together, such as guess the number of jellybeans or Easter egg basketball, even if you only have one or two kids in the family. For older kids, consider giving your favorite family games an Easter spin: Play Scrabble with all Easter- or spring-themed words, for example.

• Adjust your expectations for your Easter service

If your Easter celebration includes a religious component, think carefully about attending church services. Many states, counties, and cities have banned all group gatherings, but WalletHub’s survey says 56 percent of people who attended Easter services last year would attend this year if services were held. Even if your church does still hold a service—some are skirting federal recommendations to do so—consider if attending is the safest option for you and your family (and others attending). You can stay connected with your church on Easter by checking to see if it’s hosting a digital service: Many religious organizations have been offering online services, so do a little research online to find one you can stream.

(Info from here)

_Elsa_

Easter Knock Knock jokes

• Knock, knock!

Who’s there?

Egg.

Egg who?

Egg-cited to see me?

• Knock, knock!

Who’s there?

Wendy.

Wendy who?

Wendy Easter Bunny coming?

• Knock, knock!

Who’s there?

Arthur.

Arthur who?

Arthur any more eggs to decorate?

• Knock, knock!

Who’s there?

Heidi.

Heidi who?

Heidi eggs around the house!

• Knock, knock!

Who’s there?

Howard.

Howard who?

Howard you like to find an Easter egg?

• Knock, knock!

Who’s there?

Sherwood.

Sherwood who?

Sherwood like to find some Easter eggs!

• Knock, knock!

Who’s there?

Alma.

Alma who?

Alma Easter eggs are gone. Can I have one of yours?

(Info from here)