Deep breath, stock up on wine and gin, we’re facing the Easter break head on. No need to adopt the brace position, here are the 10 best things to do with the kids this Easter. Yeah I know, Muddy amazeballs!

1/ EASTER EGG HUNTS

Basildon Park National Trist cream stone mansion house seen in film Pride and Prejudice

Every venue across Berkshire is going chocolate crazy but my top tips include The Cadbury Easter Egg Trail (30 Mar – 15 Apr) at Basildon Park (pictured), and Cliveden – zip around the stunning gardens, solve the clues and, ta-da, chocolate reward (£3 per egg); Highclere Castle‘s Easter Egg trail (Sun 1 April), through ‘Downton’s’ exquisite Capability Brown gardens and woodland in aid of the NSPCC; Bucklebury Farm Park’s Great Easter Egg Hunt (30 Mar – 16 Apr) throughout the park, with giant decorated eggs to find (not sure of the catch, it sounds well easy!) with lamb feeding and Wellington Country Park‘s Mega Easter Egg Hunt (1 Apr)– just a great excuse to enjoy the grounds.

2/ COOKERY

Being – mixing bowl whisk flout cracked eggs scoop sieve

Give It A Go! Chocolate Lollypop Making for Kids, Norden Farm, Maidenhead, Fri 30 Mar. Mould, decorate and package your very own chocolate lollipop to take home! Book in advance on 01628 788997. Sessions for ages 8-10 and 11 +, £4. norden.farm

Mini Chefs and Camp Italian Chef, The Jelly Lounge Windsor. Possibly the coolest kids play centre ever, book your littlies in for a cook off in the mini kitchen. Lots of dates throughout the Easter hols, with sausage rolls, macaroons, brownies, cinnamon swirl cheesecake and mac and cheese bites on the menu. Suitable for 2+ years, £15. For older kids (8+), how’s about a 2.5 hr in the kitchen on the Camp Italian Chef. They’ll learn to make 2 types of pasta, risotto and a classic pud. Price 30. thejellylounge.co.uk

Kitchen Capers, Wokingham and Maidenhead. A 2-hour workshop in which the kids will cook three Easter dishes, decorate their own aprons and get a swag bag of goodies to take home too. Suitable for 5-12 year olds. kitchencapers.co.uk

Pasta and Pizza Course for Kids, Delights of Italy, Earley. Grab an hour to yourself, and get your kids to make their own lunch/tea. Winner winner. Suitable for ages 5+, there’s a pizza pro course (4 and 6 Apr ), or Become a pasta master (3 and 5 Apr) . delightsofitaly.co.uk

3/ THEATRE

Large T Rex puppet Dinosaur Live Corn Exchange Newbury

Monstersaurus, Corn Exchange Newbury, 13 Apr. A brand-new show from the creators of Aliens Love Underpants follows the young inventor Monty as he creates a whole world of whacky inventions and incredible monsters, but now he has made them all, how is he going to get rid of them? It’s an energetic show full of magic, mayhem and audience participation. Pack the emergency Tramadol. cornexchangenew.com

Easter School – Madagascar, South Hill Park Arts Centre, Bracknell, 2 – 6 Apr. Join Alex, Marty, Melman and, Gloria as they escape New York zoo (thanks a gang of pesky penguins) and learn new drama skills, before inviting friends and family for the final performance. £185 for the week 9am-5pm daily. Suitable for: ages 7-17. southhillpark.org.uk

Dinosaur World Live, Corn Exchange Newbury, 4-6 Apr Why can pre-schoolers reel off the names of flesh eating giants like T rex, Triceratops, Styracasaurus and Baryonyx but can’t say the word gloves? It’s a mystery, but there is no doubt they’ll LOVE the jaw dropping puppetry of these pre-historic superstars. cornexchangenew.com

Horrible Histories: More Best of Barmy Britain, Magnet Leisure Centre Maidenhead, 30 – 31 Mar Love Horrible Histories and watch it without the kids (don’t judge, it’s hilarious). More Best of Barmy Britain is the dinner party you’d never want to host as HH bring back the dead so you get to meet all faves from Britain’s barmy past – from Elizabeth I to the Vikings! leisurecentre.com

Play In A Week, The Watermill, Newbury, 9 – 13 Apr. I love The Watermill Theatre (the arts programming is fantastic) and it has an awesome educational offering. The Play In A Week, is incredibly popular, immersive 5 day workshop led by The Watermill pros. The theatre runs 2 seasons: 8-11 year olds and 12-16 year olds, the kids will write, direct and perform the play they create. No experience necessary just lots of enthusiasm. £95 for 5 days. watermill.org.uk

Give It A Go! Create Your Own Monster Make Up, Norden Farm Maidenhead, Fri 30 Mar. Ghosts, witches, aliens, animals. Go wild with this hands-on session of art, creativity and play. Suitable for all ages but must be accompanied by an adult. Starts 10.45am, £4. norden.farm

Circus Wellingtonia, Wellington Country Park Reading, 30 Mar – 5 Apr Roll up… roll up… the circus is back at Wellington and on 4 and 5 Apr you can have some fun and learn new circus skills. Try juggling, plate spinning, hula-hooping, diablo, floor-based acrobatics and tight rope-walking. Suitable for 5+ years with an adult, 3pm. Wellington-country-park.co.uk

4/ SPORTS

yoga by the river crossed legged

Kids’ Yoga, Swan at Streatley, various dates Release the tension! And what better place to send them than kids yoga at Swan at Streatley. Two creative yoga workshops for different age groups (4-7 yr olds at 1.15pm and 8-13 yr olds at 2.15pm), where they’ll get to release energy and hit the reset button. You can work on your own tension in the cafe/bar – coffee? wine? Choose your poison and relax.

Intro To Climbing, Reading Climbing Centre. Reach for the sky and learn the basic skills involved in indoor roped climbing. Suitable for ages 7-17, the 3-day course starts each day at 10am-12noon, £90. readingclimbingcentre.com

Easter Family Fun Day, Bracknell Ski Centre & Ice Rink, 2 Apr. A full day of activities including Sno-tubing, taster ski and snowboard lessons, taster ice skating lessons and family skating, you’re guaranteed to have loads of fun and you may even stay on two feet for a lot it. £9.50pp (under 5s free with a fee paying adult), booking is essential.

Reading FC Soccer School, various locations, 3 – 13 Apr. Can you kick it? Yes you can. Once again Reading FC is running its ridiculous popular soccer schools. All age groups are catered for plus girls only sessions, goalie and technical skills training. Courses at Madjeski Stadium Dome book up really quickly. From £6 a session -£60 for the week. community.readingfc.co.uk

Tennis Camp, Windsor Tennis Club, 3 – 13 April. Game set and match, learn a new sport or improve your technique and co-ordination, but more importantly have lots of FUN!! Windsor Tennis Club offer half day sessions from 9am – 12pm, £22; or full day sessions from 9am – 3pm, £35. active-tennis.co.uk Camps are also running at Bradfield Tennis Centre, Wokingham Tennis Club and Crowthorne Tennis Club.

5/ FUN STUFF

Eggs on legs

Spring Garden, The Lexicon Bracknell, 30 Mar – 8 Apr There’s a chance to shop and keep the ankle biters happy. The Lexicon has loads of fun Easter themed entertainers, crafty activities to make and take away and story telling. Make sure to book your 30 minute session. Suitable for children aged 3-12 years. thelexiconbracknell.com

Fabulous Fashion, Windsor Castle, 4 – 13 Apr With just a month until Harry and Meghan’s, channel your, I mean the kids’, inner prince and princess and play Royal dress up at the castle. There’s an Easter activity trail and an art workshop inspired by royal fashion throughout history. For more information, click here.

Music Production Course, Berkshire Maestros, Kennet School Thatcham, 11 – 13 Apr. If you have a passion for music and want to learn about music tech or recording, then you’ll love this. From recording live instruments to mixing this could be the first step to becoming the next Mark Ronson or Jay Z. Suitable for teens, £95. berkshiremaestros.org.uk

Lego Movie Making, Brickies Club, Wokingham, Fri 6 April. So you wanna be in the movies? Here’s your chance. Budding directors can create your very own LEGO movie. You will get loads of tips and tricks to make the best LEGO stop motion movie using iPad minis. Grab the popcorn, watch your creation at the end. Available on 6 April, suitable for ages 7+, £18. brickies.club

6/DAYS OUT

Peter Rabbit illustration Kew Gardens

Legoland Windsor, 30 Mar – 2 Apr Take a break from queuing and rides to search high and low for the LEGO eggs hidden amongst models of world-famous landmark, build your very own LEGO Easter themed mosaic to put on display for all to see, or get creative at Ollie’s Easter colouring tent. Book here.

Tree Climbing, Cliveden, 3, 4, 12 April The Big Tree Climbing Company will help kids scale the Cliveden canopies over Easter – an hour activity for 6+, bookable here and promising gorgeous views with a zip line back down to the bottom. Wheeee!

Easter Sunday joust, Sudeley Castle, 1 April The Cavalry of Heroes return to Sudeley Castle along with King Henry VIII and the ladies of his court for this annual event. Expect falconry flight displays (11am, 2pm) along with the jousting (11.30am, 2.30pm) and some serious chain-mailage. Alternatively head up to Warwick Castle as they celebrate the 950th anniversary of William the Conqueror’s motte and bailey castle on the site with the usual fun silliness of the The Mighty Trebuchet, Flight of the Eagles and The Bowman Show.

A big day out with Peter Rabbit™, Kew Gardens, 30 Mar – 15 April There are still a few days to see the orchid festival at Kew (it ends 2 April) but it also overlaps with the start of a new trail based on Peter Rabbit and other famous Beatrix Potter characters. More permanent pleasures include the tree top walk, the 17 metre tall Hive sensory experience, a 14,000 tree arboretum and the Palm House.

Predators Exhibition, Longleat, Wiltshire, 24 Mar – 3 Sep A brand new show for Longleat with 14 killer animatronic carnivores will be stalking the park including lions and tigers. Sounds like it will thrill little ones.

The Making of Harry Potter, Watford, Fri 30 Mar – Sun 23 Sept This WB Studio Tour company never runs out of new reasons to get families back to this paean to the boy wizard. A new special feature dedicated entirely to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the fourth installment of the magical film series, revealing secrets behind the characters, costumes and props that made it so special.

Did you find this useful? Then check out our Easter Guide for Teens!

Going somewhere else for Easter? Use our Easter holiday guides for:

Buckinghamshire

Oxfordshire

Devon

Somerset

Sussex

Kent

Cornwall

Surrey

Warwickshire

Cambridgeshire

Easter fun with the kids

You may also like