Rechenka's Eggs ~ Book and Activity

Rechenka's Eggs is such a wonderful book!

Honeybee wanted me to read it to her yesterday.  So, I asked her and Buck to join me on the couch to read.  As usual, Buck gave me lip about it.  "Do I have to?"

Yes, I told him.  Poutingly, he sat down beside us girls.

About half way through the book, he leaned over and rested his head on my shoulder, looking as I read.  When I was finished, I asked him to choose a book for me to read.

Guess what he said???  "Let's read this one again."

Of course, I opened it right up and began to read again.  This time I stopped when we got to the page where Babushka is blowing the inside of the egg out and asked if they would like to try this.  "Really?"  Yes, really :)

You'll want to wash the egg first

Then poke a tiny hole in each end.  I used a small pocket knife and a needle.

Then blow, blow, and blow so more....

I've since learned they make hand tools for this :)

Once the eggs were empty inside, I washed them with cool water and put them in an empty egg carton to drip dry.  The empty egg shells are so light!  Everyone thought that was really cool.

We watched this video of a real Babushka painting the eggs in a special way called psyanky.  This is an amazing form of art!

I knew this was more than I could do at home, so I broke out the "special - permanent" paint that the kids had been begging to use for some time.

Here are their creations and the meanings of the symbols they chose.

Honeybee

Brown Cross for Strength in Jesus

Blue Swirl for protection inside a triangle which represents the Holy Trinity

White represents purity

Buck

Blue Swirl for good health and defense

Green Saw for spring, new growth, and loyalty

Brown Net for endurance as a fisher of men

Snuggle Bug

Red Rose for happiness, love and caring

Ribbons for everlasting life

Brown Ladder for strength and endurance in prayer

Yellow Cross for Christ's light

Red swirls for Hope in God's protection

Purple nets for denying yourself and searching out the lost



This was definitely a fun activity.  We are all hoping to make more for Easter Sunday.  I think they will really add to the Easter dinner table both in beauty and conversation.

You can also visit Homeschool Share for a ton of activities that go along with this book.