Why wait until Easter to host your very own themed egg hunt? Simply switch fluffy bunnies and sweet treats for mythical dragon eggs and you can enjoy hide-and-seek fun all year round. Give your kids something really cool to hunt by making your very own dragon eggs. Here are a few DIY craft activities to get you started.

1. Decorate Paper Eggs

This is for the youngsters as it’s fun, easy, messy and will keep them entertained even before the hunt begins. Simply cut out large egg shapes from a piece of coloured card and get your kids to decorate them in any way they please. To make them look as mythical as possible, provide some coloured foil and encourage them to cut and stick on a wide range of shapes. When the eggs are done, laminate them if possible to make them weatherproof before hiding them around the garden.

1. Decorate Plastic Eggs

This crafting activity requires careful supervision as a glue gun is needed. Once you’ve sourced your plastic eggs, dribble warm glue over each egg and let them cool. This will give your eggs a strange-looking texture. Then, use a variety of metallic spray paints to make your eggs look even more mythical. When dry, decorate further with glitter, plastic jewels and beads. For artistic inspiration, you could book tickets to Dragons & Mythical Beasts at the theatre. Family productions don’t get much better than this, with life-like puppets and eye-catching backdrops really bringing the show to life.

1. Make Papier Mache Eggs

Make your own solid dragon eggs out of papier mache. Start by ripping up strips of newspaper and making a papier mache mix. The most basic mix is one part flour to two parts water. Next, blow up balloons to the size you require and tie. You then need to cover each balloon with several layers of newspaper and papier mache mix before leaving to dry. Once dry, paint the whole egg in an array of elaborate colours. You can even cut the top off to leave a jagged edge and place a toy dragon inside. Hide the eggs for a fun-filled hunt. As papier mache is long-lasting, you’ll be able to hunt for these dragon eggs time and time again.

1. Go Crazy with Boiled Eggs and Food Colouring

Hard boil a box of eggs before leaving to cool in cold water. Next, take a spoon and gently bash each egg so that cracks appear but the shell remains intact. Once that’s done, pop each egg in a bag with a different shade of food colouring, massage the colour into the egg and leave for 15-minutes. Take the eggs out of the bag and leave to dry for about an hour. Hide the eggs and when they’ve all been found - get peeling. The white of the egg should have been dyed a magical colour. These eggs are suitable to eat and can form part of a dragon-theme picnic at the end of the hunt.

If your little ones love fairytales and folklore, don’t miss Dragons & Mythical Beasts live on stage. This is one of the best theatre shows for under 5s, perfectly designed to keep young children entertained. Theatre for preschoolers is magical and great for their little minds, so don’t miss out.