Color Your Easter Eggs Using Nature's Colorings

As a parent of young children one of my favorite activities at Easter was that of helping my young children color Easter eggs. There was always much excitement as the little ones scrambled around the kitchen gathering pots and pans, paper towels, and newspapers to provide a protective layer covering the kitchen table.

For the first couple of years we purchased commercially available food dyes to be used for coloring our eggs, but as our children grew older we decided to experiment with coloring our eggs using the wide variety of colors found in nature. My wife had recently read an article about American Indians using dyes made from various plants, berries and flowers to color clothing, jewelry, and to produce various forms of Indian art as found on the walls of caves and on Indian tepees. American colonists and frontier settlers often imitated the use of these natural dyes.

It occurred to use that encouraging our children to experiment with making their own egg coloring (dyes) from items found in nature would not only be a fun activity it would be a valuable teaching lesson and would help us encourage our children to make friends with their environment and to "think green".

The children loved the idea.

The process used to color the eggs naturally is relatively simple. After many less efficient attempts we through trial and error found that the best method for coloring eggs was to combine the egg cooking step with the coloring step of the process.

Eggs and the color producing material are placed in a pot containing enough cold water to completely cover the eggs. Two teaspoons of vinegar are added to the water. The water is brought to a rolling boil.

Reduce the heat to allow the water to simmer for ten to fifteen minutes. Following the boil the liquid will begin to color as the natural material "bleeds" into the hot water. The longer the egg is allowed to remain in the colored liquid, the deeper shade the color will be. The vinegar will "set" the color on the egg.

The following natural items are some that we have used successfully to produce various colorings for our Easter eggs:

Yellow Onion Skins - these produce a golden yellow tint.

Red Cabbage - relative to boil time produces light pink to light red color.

Beet Peals - produce light purple or pink coloring

Blueberry Juice - produces a light blue, almost gray coloring

Coffee or tea (instant) - produces light to dark tan color.

Spinach - fresh or frozen - various shade of green color.

Pickled beet juice - pink and light red color.

Strawberries - shades of pink and light red

Cranberries - red or pink coloring

In addition to above, many colors can be produced using spices and seasonings found in your spice rack. Turmeric, for example produces a vibrant yellow. Paprika produces a vivid red.

As our location provides an early spring we have even successfully experimented with producing color from wild flowers such as violets (purple) and dandelions (Gold).

If you want to be really bold you can develop an even wider range of colors by combining coloring producing natural ingredients or by over dyeing a previously colored egg with a second and new color. The results will surprise (and be aware, sometimes disappoint) you.

Using dyes provided by nature is fun and provides a unique learning experience for our children. There is no end to the wide range of colors available in your kitchen and nearby in nature.

Try developing your own egg dyes from nature provided sources......try it......you'll like it!