Easter is the best holiday and you can’t convince me otherwise.

Seriously underrated and overlooked by most, but if you’re a parent it should be the hero of your calendar.

Clearly it beats Christmas, which seems to pass in a split second between prepping and packing up presents. Instead Easter gives the ultimate gift: Freedom (and chocolate, obviously).

I love that shops and restaurants tend to stay open, so the long weekend is filled with meals I’m not responsible for making and lots of restorative retail therapy. No weird shopping deadlines or complex Kris Kringles to buy in advance.

PSA: The Easter long weekend can be easy, fun and relaxing, like a mini-vacay without the packing, travel time and weird sleeping arrangements.

Now Christmas is out of contention, shall we also agree Easter is the much cuter cousin of Halloween? All the costumes and sweet treats, just done better.

I’ll take a pastel fever dream of Easter bunnies and fluffy chicks over scary Halloween monsters and messy fake blood any day.

To kick off Easter 2024, here are seven easy activities guaranteed to be a hit with your kids.

1. Wear matching pyjamas.

I submit as evidence these gorgeous Easter pyjamas from Target, perfect for a family photoshoot and matching egg hunting outfits.

My personal favourites are the Peter Rabbit Family Matching sets which come in a silky soft satin and flannelette. I know they’re going to be super comfy while washing really well.

The Bunny Family Matching sets radiate BBE (Big Bunny Energy) and my girls immediately gravitated to them. They’re stretchy and come in adult size too, plus $2 from every set sold goes to Australian Childhood Foundation's Bring Up Great Kids Program, which builds positive and nurturing relationships between parents and their children. Win, win, win.

If you’re cutting down on chocolate gifts this year, these cute Sibling Matching Easter sets would make a great alternative gift for cousins or friends. Or forBlueyfans (aka everyone) I love these Bluey Family Matching sets which you could gift along with someBlueybooks.

Pyjamas have actually become my go-to gift for Easter. It's the perfect annual occasion to refresh everyone’s sleepwear, and Target's are always of good quality (with a great price), so I know they’ll survive a full year.

2. Set up a scavenger egg hunt.

This one is easy, and there really are no rules; my only requirement is good quality individually wrapped chocolate eggs (because I’m going to eat half of them while setting up the hunt, and waxy chocolate is the worst). Mental note to grab some bags of chocolate eggs from Target.

If you’re looking to level up your hunt game, try one of these twists:

Pro tip: If you have really little kids (or pets) and don’t want to hide chocolate eggs where they might be found and consumed unsupervised, cut out big paper eggs to hunt instead. Then set up an Easter egg "shop" at the end where they can trade in for the chocolate goodies.

3. Create an Easter-themed obstacle course.

Think old-school sports day but make it Easter. Here are a list of challenges to get you started. Run them as individual events or as one long obstacle course.

4. Build the Easter bunny’s burrow.

Okay it’s literally just a fort. Put a blanket or big sheet over a table or chairs and throw in every bunny rabbit toy you can find in your house. You’ll have 300; every child has 300 bunny toys. The fluffy things seem to breed like actual rabbits.

My girls will happily play for hours in a fort, sorry "burrow". There’s something rebellious about having blankets, throws and cushions on the floor, and they can’t get enough of it.

5. Design your dream Easter egg.

All you need is chalk and some clear pavement. Everyone designs their dream Easter egg. It’s colourful, it's messy and it’ll wash away in the rain… the perfect activity.

Pro tip: Encourage the kids to go big, the larger the egg the longer they’ll be busy colouring in.

6. Make an Easter bunny hat.

I love the pageantry of our school’s Easter hat parade, but if the idea of investing in a hot glue gun gives you hives, you can make a super basic headdress with paper, scissors and tape.

7. Transform the living room into a cinema experience.

A movie night is always a popular choice.

As is a movie afternoon.

And a movie morning…

Okay they just really want to watch television and Easter is no exception. Turn screen time into a core memory by transforming the living room into a cinema experience. Close the curtains, dim the lights, put on the Easter pyjamas and pull out the Hot Cross Buns.

Obvious movie choices are any of the Peter Rabbit films but my vote is forIce Age: The Great Egg-Scapadewhere the prehistoric characters fromIce Ageset out on the world's very first Easter egg hunt. For shorter attention spans, you can’t go wrong with theBlueyepisode 'Easter', wearing theBlueymatching pyjamas of course.

Check out Target's matching family and kids pyjamas to celebrate Easter this year, online or in-store.

Feature Image: Supplied.