How to dye eggs for Easter

What you’ll need

Hardboiled or blown-out eggs (see instructions below)

Food colouring

Vinegar

Water (at room temperature)

White or light coloured crayons (optional)

Hardboiled or blown out?

The first thing to decide is if you want to hardboil or blow out your eggs. Blown-out eggs can be kept forever, but they are much more fragile, so they might not be suitable for very young children.

• To make hardboiled eggs: In a large pot, place your eggs with enough cold water to completely cover them. Place the pot on the stove on high heat and bring the water to the boil. Once boiling, cover the pan and remove from heat. Leave the eggs in the water to sit for 15 minutes, then run under cold water until the shells are cool to touch.
• To blow out eggs: Wash your eggs well. Using a needle, carefully poke a small hole at each end of the raw egg. Hold the egg over a bowl, put your mouth to one of the holes, and blow – the egg liquid should come out the other end. Once empty, rinse the egg with water and a little vinegar and carefully put aside to dry.

Making dyed eggs

1. If you want patterned eggs, use white or light-coloured crayons to draw shapes, designs or messages onto the blank eggs first. The crayon will stop the dye from absorbing on that area of the shell.

2. For each colour you want to use, you’ll need a small container, bowl or mug. Mix together ½ a cup of water, 1 tablespoon of vinegar and around 20 drops of food colouring in each one.

3. Experiment with mixing colours – a great chance to sneak a little art theory lesson in with the kids! For example, you can mix red and blue to make purple, blue and yellow to make green, and red and yellow to make orange.

4. Gently dip your eggs into the dye, one at a time. You may need to add more water to the container so that the egg can be completely submerged. The longer you leave the eggs in the dye, the more vibrant the colours will be.

5. When your egg reaches the desired colour, carefully remove with a spoon. Leave to dry on a paper towel or in egg cups.

6. Further decorate with sequins, paint or glitter pens to your heart’s content.