As a kid, I never really remembered why we celebrated Easter. I mean, isn't St. Patricks' Day just about Leprechauns? Then Easter must be about that clucking bunny right? I know without a doubt that I was taught the true meaning of Easter roughly 8,000 times, but yet, my thick skull apparently won.
So now, I have made it my mission to do all I can to help my kids remember WHY we celebrate this wonderful holiday.
I'm also a "biggest bang for my buck" type of person when it comes to time or labor intensive tasks. Translation- I'm lazy with this stuff so if I'm going to spend time on this, it better be freakin' amazing! Which means you won't find any hot glue guns, sparkles, doilies, or anything else Pinterest Photograph worthy here...just quick and practical!
The week of Easter we pick a night to talk about why we celebrating this holiday, but do it in a fun way. At our house, one person teaches about it to the kids. Then, once the "lesson" is over, each kid (starting with the youngest) has to teach it back, to the best of their ability, either to you or another adult. The point is that they get the basic concepts. You're not going for a word for word resuscitation here!! Explaining why we celebrate Easter earns them the "Family Night Treat". Nothing motivates kids to listen around here like some sort of fun treat!
Next up, the Easter egg. Now, I'm sure there's probably some reason that eggs originally became associated with Easter, but who knows, maybe someone just got their animals confused. I mean, if it's an Easter Bunny, why does it bring Eggs? Maybe an Easter Hen would've been more fitting here... Anyway, at our house, Easter eggs represent the stone that was rolled away from the sepulcher, when Mary went to see Jesus on Easter morning. Simple enough. Now I just wish explaining why it's a bunny were that simple...
Last is during our family Easter egg hunt. Now this one probably won't work as well if you have a huge group, but with some creativity could probably be adapted. We have one empty white egg for each kid hidden with the rest of the eggs. They know they can only take one egg that doesn't rattle when they shake it. If they find another they leave it for someone else to find. Then after the hunt they bring the empty white eggs over. I always ask the youngest (unless they're under 2-3) why they think it's empty. If they can't figure it out the older ones can help. It usually doesn't take long to make the connection with the empty tomb and then I remind them that there are lots of great things about Easter but Christ will always be the best part, and the reason for the whole celebration. Then they each trade their empty egg for an awesome treat. I make sure this treat is WAY better than the treats in the rest of the eggs.
After just a year or two, my son has remembered the true meaning of Easter, even if he is still working to learn the smaller details of the story. And thankfully, so have I! LOL
Please take a second to comment below with your favorite Easter traditions! I love hearing good ones to add to the fun for years to come!!
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