Spring has sprung and with it comes beautiful weather, gorgeous flowers and trees and more opportunities to engage with your residents. April is the perfect time to celebrate spring events and holidays. What better way to host some fun events than by celebrating Easter? We have lots of fun ideas for April events that will be sure to make every resident happy. Keep in mind, not everyone celebrates Easter. Be sensitive to this as you plan and advertise events. It isn’t hard to make sure that your Easter events are inclusive enough to welcome all residents, even the ones who don’t celebrate the holiday.

Spring Brunch

This is a perfect event to entice residents of all ages. Perfect for families as well as those who are single food is always a great way to bring people together. As a way to invite people who don’t celebrate the Easter holiday, call it a Spring brunch. Set up some tables in your common area or leasing space and cover them with bright spring-colored tablecloths in shades of pastels. Have flowers all around as a way to celebrate the season. You could cater the event and offer finger foods such as sandwiches and chips but an even more fun way to celebrate the season is make your spring brunch potluck-style and invite your residents to bring a dish. This is a great way for residents to show off their cooking skills, residents to get to know each other and for the residents to get to know members of the staff. Maybe your residents have an out of this world dish they’re known for or they come from a different country and can share a dish important to their culture. However you choose to advertise your spring bunch, it will be sure to a big hit.

Easter Egg Hunt

Easter can’t be properly celebrated without an Easter Egg hunt. This event will be especially appealing to families with children. And don’t worry – this doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg for you. Plastic eggs can be found at almost any retail store and are relatively inexpensive. Candy can be ordered in bulk to bring down the costs as well. To make sure that every one of your little residents gets a chance to find an egg, consider breaking up the egg hunts into separate age groups. This way the competition will be a little more equal and you won’t have the tiny ones in tears at the end of the day. If weather permits, this would be a great activity to do outdoors; however, if unexpected rain appears on the horizon this is easy to move indoors. Also be sensitive to food allergies and children with special needs. You may even want to consider doing a special egg hunt that doesn’t include food items. Small toys, temporary tattoos and crayons could fill the eggs instead of candy. Just be sure that the items aren’t small enough to choke on for kids under the age of 3. Your tiny residents will be sure to have a hopping good time.

Egg Decorating/Spring Crafts  

Decorating eggs is another classic Easter activity. Adults and children alike can have fun participating in an egg decorating party. You can even offer a contest for best decorated egg. Prizes could vary depending on the age of the winner. For the kids, maybe a yogurt or ice cream from a local restaurant and for the adults maybe a prime parking spot could be the reward. Eggs, vinegar and food dye are inexpensive materials so this event definitely won’t break the bank. As a consideration for your residents who don’t celebrate Easter, be sure to have a variety of spring crafts on hand for those who don’t want to dye Eggs. Perhaps painting flower pots, planting flowers, or supplies to make spring wreaths could be offered.

Picture Session/Petting Zoo

If one of your staff members is willing to be a good sport, it would be fun to rent an Easter bunny costume and offer free pictures with the Easter bunny. Hang a tablecloth as a backdrop and use whatever camera you have on hand and the kids will be thrilled to have their pictures taken with the Easter Bunny. You could make it a big event and have a petting zoo come out with all of their spring animals such as rabbits and chickens.

Aside from the egg decorating and the Easter egg hunt, most of these events could be tweaked to fit any spring event, not just an Easter theme. None of these are very labor intensive as far as staff goes either which is a win-win for everyone. Your residents get a chance to have some springtime fun and you get a chance to let your residents know that you’re thinking of them and want them to have fun.