The Easter bunny is busy preparing his baskets of special goodies and would like some help coloring the eggs. Instead of using commercial dyes, how about trying some natural vegetable dyes. These dyes are safe and easy to use, and result in soft natural colors [1]. Your kitchen and garden have most of the materials you need.

Here are a few plants and their dye color that you might want to try: Spinach or carrot tops will produce a light green. For a soft yellow, consider marigolds [2] or perhaps mint. Now, if shades of purple and lavender are a color you like, try grapes or blueberries. Cranberries or beets will give you pink, and red cabbage yields a blue. And finally donŐt forget coffee or onion skins, as they provide rich tones of brown and sienna.

Gather together the ingredients - hard boiled eggs, fresh or dried plant material and vinegar. Bring two cups of water to boil, add the plant material [3], and one tablespoon of vinegar. Simmer this mixture for ten minutes, then pour through a sieve [4] to strain out the solid material. Dip the eggs into the dye bath for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until the desired color is reached. Remove the egg from the dye, drain, blot gently and place on a rack to dry.

When you are all finished, enjoy the eggs as decoration, in a basket from the Easter bunny, or hide them for an Easter egg hunt. An all around fun project for kids of any age!