It was close to midnight when I had the idea.

Something I'd seen on Pinterest when breastfeeding a newborn. I was leaking and sleep-deprived; the perfect deranged combination.

It was bunny footprints, pressed into baby powder.

I woke my husband and hissed Get the powder. I made him chomp aggressively into a carrot, whispering Be the bunny. We staged an elaborate diorama in our loungeroom; THE Easter Bunny had walked across the floor — OUR FLOOR. Eaten. And left some eggs.

Our toddlers' mind? Blown. And for us, it was pretty fun.

I never thought I'd be this kind of parent. And I'm not, not every year. But sometimes you look at your kids and think: right, I need to make some core memories here.

And every year when Easter sneaks up on me, I am torn between 'I want my kids to remember this!' and 'Oh wow, not more mental load, please. Also, we're out of baby powder'.

So I've got ideas. The MOST amount of memories for the least amount of work. Because when I was a kid, Easter was a Cadbury multipack on the dining room table and a visit to Mass. That was it. And it worked, because it was ours, and it was the same every year.

Now there are bonnet parades, Pinterest-level grazing boards, elaborate egg hunts, and it is very easy for it to feel like too much mental load. 

Here's what I know (and what parenting experts say).

It isn't extravagance that creates memories. It's ritual. Tiny repeated traditions that say — this is what we do.

You might be an Easter camping family. You might be an Easter Sunday lunch family. You might be none of those and just looking for ideas.

So here are a few that dial up the core mems without going overboard.

All you need is a little forward planning, and frankly, one decent Spotlight run so you're not scrambling in the lead up. Here's how:

Easter crafting

Image: Supplied.

Oh no, you say. Please not with the craft. To that I say — hey, at least it's not screen time. Crafting is awesome for kids' brains. Colour. Mess. Tactile things. But yes, if you're a neat person it can be… dysregulating. You can never find the glue stick. Someone urgently needs the googly eyes that you swear you saw in a drawer two years ago. Paint? Everywhere.

The key is: take a deep breath. Tell yourself — this is developmentally excellent. And then make it simple.

Choose something where the thinking is done for you. A Paint Your Own Egg Kit or one of their Easter craft tubs is perfect for this. Everything's there, you just lay it out and step back.

Now, advanced mode.

Because Easter feels like that last little hurrah before winter settles in, this is when we make wheat bags together.

Stay with me.

If you have a sewing machine — or know someone who does — this is my favourite Easter craft. We head to Spotlight and the kids pick their fabrics. Yes, they will have beautiful pastel prints, as well as the cartoon character your child is currently obsessed with. We cut rectangles, we sew around the edges. They work the pedal, I steer. We fill with wheat and stitch them closed.

They're simple. They're practical. And because the kids made them, they're obsessed.

Easter baking

Image: Supplied.

I love baking. And if competing in The Great Australian Bake Off taught me anything: keep it simple and make it fun.

If you're not a confident baker, here is easy mode: This Bunny Cupcake Kit. My 7-year-old spotted it, and I was in love. Grab a packet mix (Greens Vanilla Cupcake is elite) whip them up, and let the kids go wild on the decorating.

If you're feeling slightly more ambitious and want something that fills an afternoon, we make Easter Biscuits.

Use your easiest biscuit dough (I use Nagi's because I trust her with everything). Cut out Easter shapes with these cute cutters. Decorate.

When kids are little, make the biscuits ahead of time, and hand them over for the decorating. Once they're older, get them to help with the baking part too.

FYI, Spotlight is wildly underrated for baking gear. Sheet pans, cookie cutters, gel icing colours, piping bags, the sprinkles of your dreams are all there. We even got these carrot toppers for our biscuits which were the highlight.

Easter egg hunting

My friend Claire runs a survivor-level egg hunt every year. Puzzles. Poems. Multi-stage clues. Possibly a tribal council. I don't have the energy. But at the same time, I don't want it to be a chaotic grab that's over in 43 seconds and someone cries.

Enter: the middle ground.

Outsource your clue writing to AI. Handwrite them onto cute paper. And don't make every stop chocolate. It might be a fillable egg with a different surprise — pastel chicks or little notes or toys or even vouchers like "you get to choose a movie tonight".

It slows it down and stops the feral sugar grab. That part is for me, once the kids are in bed.

Easter baskets for the night before

In our house, Easter doesn't start on Sunday morning, it starts the night before. The kids get Easter baskets at the end of their beds. Maybe it's guarded by a cute Easter bunny gnome. Inside there are new jammies for the cold season, maybe some slippers squished in and their wheat bag sitting proudly inside. You could throw a toy in, too (the plush Hot Cross Bun is elite).

They change into their new pyjamas, the wheat bag gets warmed and the anticipation builds.

It stretches the excitement of Easter across the weekend. Besides, they needed new jammies and winter bits anyway, so you've just made that purchase work harder for you.

After Easter, I hide the baskets away and reuse them again the following year.

So look, you don't need to do all of this. Choose one thing. Make it easy on yourself.

And when the next year, they say: "Are we making wheat bags again?" or "Mum, when are we doing the biscuits?" That's when you know.

Core memories, unlocked.

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Featured image: Supplied.

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