Do you do anything special for your kids at Easter?

[KristineIN]

Just curious. We never really have, although I'd like to, but keeping it simple. Anyway, does anyone have any fun inexpensive ideas?

 

Kristine

[Kelli in TN]

We do a small basket of candy/trinkets and then at my inlaws we have an egg hunt for all the cousins.

[Mom2legomaniacs]

One thing that I always found to be special when I was a kid was this one thing I would get in my basket. It was the fancy blueberry jam. I loved that stuff. It was too expensive to have otherwise, for us. Besides, all our jellies and jams were put up at home, not store bought. But once a year, I got my very own jar of my very favorite thing -- blueberry jam!

 

I try to do something like that for my kids too. Find some really special little treat that is not an everyday thing.

[WTMindy]

(very small) basket of candy. The grandparents usually do some kind of gift also. It is different each year.

[OnTheBrink]

Not really. I want to focus the day on the resurrection and not on gifts and candy, but being the social lemming that I am, they do get a very small gift of candy and new clothes to wear on Easter Sunday. We don't do egg hunts or anything like that, though.

 

Jim Gaffigan has a hilarious comedic sketch on holidays.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjJCIbC9sxA

[Lisawa]

We still color the eggs and have an egg hunt...we always add resurrection eggs in. Then we go through each egg in the order of the bible reading about the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. *Ü* Ry is the lone searcher now, and the older two hide them.

 

The kids get a small basket w/ goodies... my favorite though is the resurrection cookies that we make on Staurday noght before bed........

 

RESURRECTION SUNDAY STORY COOKIES

You need:

1 c. whole pecans

1 tsp. vinegar

3 egg whites

pinch salt

1 c. sugar

zipper baggie

wooden spoon

tape

Bible

 

Preheat oven to 300 F. (this in important - don't wait till you are half

way done with the recipe!) Place pecans in zipper baggie and let

children beat them with the wooden spoon to break into small pieces.

Explain that after Jesus was arrested he was beaten by the Roman

soldiers.

 

Read John 19:1-3

 

Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 tsp. vinegar into mixing bowl.

Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross he was given vinegar to

drink.

 

Read John 19:28-30.

 

Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave

His life to give us life.

 

Read John 10:10-11.

 

Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand. Let them taste it and

brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty

tears shed by Jesus' followers, and the bitterness of our own sin.

 

Read Luke 23:27.

 

So far the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add 1 c. sugar. Explain

that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves

us He wants us to know and belong to Him.

 

Read Ps. 34:8 and John 3:16.

 

Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks

are formed. Explain that the color white represents the purity in God's

eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus.

 

Read Isa.1:18 and John 3:1-3

 

Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper covered cookie

sheet. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus'

body was laid.

 

Read Matt. 27:57-60.

 

Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF.

Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door. Explain that

Jesus' tomb was sealed.

 

Read Matt. 27:65-66.

 

GO TO BED! Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the

oven overnight. Jesus' followers were in despair when the tomb was

sealed.

 

Read John 16:20 and 22.

 

On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the

cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the first

Easter Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty.

 

Read Matt. 28:1-9.

 

HE HAS RISEN!!!!!

 

- Author Unknown

[Laurie]

I buy a box of those ice cream cone "bowls", some ice cream, and a few toppings and sprinkles. My dc always look forward to making their own "Easter basket sundaes", so I guess it's a tradition. (Of course, I'm the one who also uses Twinkies to make Yule logs at Christmastime, so your dc may have greater expectations than mine do! )

[Elaine]

We do a small basket and I fill it with Legos, some jelly beans and a chocolate bunny.

 

One year I thought, "Ooohhh, let me be creative" and spread Easter grass all over the floor so that when they came downstairs, they would think that the Easter bunny had been there.

 

My three-year old came down and when he asked what happened I told him. He began to cry.:eek: That night he had a nightmare and for days afterward he would ask me, "The Easter bunny is not coming into my house right?"

 

Golly. I thought it would be special, instead it's just one more thing he has to discuss in therapy.:rolleyes: Now we laugh about it, but then, oh, I just felt awful!

 

Needless to say, that was the last year we did the Easter bunny schtick.

[RoughCollie]

We fill Easter baskets with candy and little gifts, trinkets really. When it's time for a new Bible, they all get them at Easter. This year, I'm thinking of getting the DC who really want them necklaces with crosses. My sons' birthday is close to Easter, so if there is a present they would like that DD would like too, I usually get that for them all to share and give it to them at Easter.

 

The secular part of Easter has bored me ever since I found out that the Easter Bunny isn't real. The DC sure do like the candy though, especially since I usually don't think to buy it except at holidays.

 

They used to like Easter egg hunts when they were little. I'd buy the plastic eggs at the Dollar Tree and put something in them: candy, a quarter, or a trinket.

 

I had several Easter-themed videos, books, and coloring books that we hauled out when the DC were little.

 

I usually make a bunny cake (just the head of the rabbit) that I put coconut frosting on and decorate like a face. I make cupcakes too, and let the DC frost and decorate them for Easter. We also made a lot of spring-themed sugar cookies.

 

We'd make decorations to stick on the walls and windows and Easter cards for the grandparents.

 

I like to drag holidays out, so we'd start with the Easter prep about 2 weeks ahead of Easter. That way the cupcakes would be eaten long before I made the bunny cake.

 

 

 

 

 

Just curious. We never really have, although I'd like to, but keeping it simple. Anyway, does anyone have any fun inexpensive ideas?

 

Kristine

[Plaid Dad]

A few traditions:

 

 

• new clothes
  
• coloring eggs (crayon-resist "pysanky")
  
• Easter egg hunt (plastic ones with candy inside - we make her work for the candy!)
  
• special picture books about the season
  
• special church services leading up to Easter Sunday (dd doesn't yet attend them all, particularly not the very long ones, but I try to)
  
• dinner with family across the state
  

 

[MomofSeven]

just loving dying Easter Eggs. That was the highlight for me and it is for my dc as well.

 

We've done Ressurection cookies, egg hunts, etc. but still my dc love dying eggs.

 

Our church does a station walk each year that we all attend and really enjoy.

 

 

Their baskets are kept simple, maybe a special toy or two and some candy. This year however, instead of filling their baskets, I'm buying each child a new bike helmet (which they each need) and using it as their basket.

[mamato3 all-boy boys]

But it has to do with Jesus -- one year my oldest got the Armour of God set, but usually it is a book or CD or DVD. And candy. I have one huge Easter basket for all three boys -- it is a Longaberger one that I got with my hostess credits when ds1 was born; there's no way I could get one for the other two these days:o.

 

We've also done resurrection eggs, resurrection cookies, and egg hunts (usually at grandmas).

 

With Easter so early this year, and the amount of snow we have (and are expecting more tonight), I've all but stopped buying them Easter outfits. However, I do tell the boys that I get to dress them in whatever clothes I want them to wear. Obviously, that is not my 3rd grader's favorite part of Easter;)

[Cathy in IL]

I make a cross out of something unattractive. It varies from year to year, sometimes its sticks, other times just brown paper. The children and I write our sins or draw pictures of offenses and hang them on the cross. We fold the papers b/c they are not to be read by everyone but are to be shared between the individual and God. On Good Friday we put a cut-out figure with a verse about the death of Jesus on the cross over our sins. That night before bed we take everything off the cross and place it in an empty box to represent the tomb. We roll a rock in front of the opening. (We have used oatmeal lids and various things when a real rock is not available.) Sunday morning the children wake to find the cross and the "tomb" changed. The notes with our sins recorded are gone. The cut-out figure is gone. Small treats of coins and candy are in the tomb. The cross is decorated with foil and flowers.

 

On the first day of spring, the Spring Bunny comes to our house. the Spring Bunny bring a little candy in a basket and outside toys like bubbles, kites, sports equipment, and sidewalk chalk. I try to give the outside toys in something creative like a picnic basket or bag to carry the toys to the park in.

[Friederike in Persia]

build a little moss-house at the bottom of our garden about 2 weeks before Easter. Then we'd find a little sweetie every day, when coming home from school. A bit like an advent calendar.

 

Haven't been organised enough to do this with mine (though our lawn provides enough moss!:)), but apart from an Easter egg (which doesn't have much to do with Easter at all!) hunt we also get up very early, go to a nearby hill and sing worship songs. As the sun rises one of us tells the resurrection story.

 

A small one is the Easter greeting: "Christ is risen." "He's risen indeed!" We greet one another that way in the morning and they also greet their grandparents that way on the phone.

 

Christ is risen,

Friederike

[OnTheBrink]

 

On the first day of spring, the Spring Bunny comes to our house. the Spring Bunny bring a little candy in a basket and outside toys like bubbles, kites, sports equipment, and sidewalk chalk. I try to give the outside toys in something creative like a picnic basket or bag to carry the toys to the park in.

 

I love your spring bunny idea! What a neat way to mark the changing season and yet not have it tied in with the resurrection! I'm going to do this for my dd!

[PiCO]

Just curious. We never really have, although I'd like to, but keeping it simple. Anyway, does anyone have any fun inexpensive ideas?

 

Kristine

 

Easter egg hunt! I'm so sad that my kids are getting old and it's not as magical anymore. I probably have one more year with my youngest, my oldest helps hide the eggs. I'll have to find some other kids to come search for eggs.

 

I also do simple easter baskets with spring and summer type toys and a little candy. We are not Christians, so we celebrate the coming of spring- the return of light and greening (re-birth) of the earth.

[Tammy]

nt

[JFSinIL]

into each bedroom and leaves eggs all over the place each night. OK - only one kid (son, 16, with autism) still believes in the bunny (and Santa) but heaven forbid the bunny should not leave each kid the exact same # of eggs.:rolleyes:

Bunny has to remember, too, when filling plastic eggs, who has braces and can't eat certain things, who loves choc. and who doesn't - bunny has to sample all candy while filling eggs, too.

Used to have the Bunny come after church (dad and kids would walk home while Mom drove ahead to do Bunny stuff) but now four cats a lab...bunny needs to go into bedrooms with closed doors now.

Dinner at Grandmas - Grandma always has a lamb-shaped cake, also lamb-shaped butter from the local Jewel. Dinner is...lamb.

 

The first Easter I ever spent in IL, walked with then-fiance in shorts and t-shirts all over Oak Park looking at flowers, etc. NEVER has it been that warm since for Easter!!!! Odds are, the way the weather is this year, there will still be snow on the ground come Easter!!!

[Chris in VA]

My hubby's a priest, so yeah, we do special things for Easter! LOL

It's actually my favorite holiday of the year.

 

After our Lenten preparation (going to class on Wednesday nights) we celebrate Holy Week. On Palm Sunday, our church reads a Palm Sunday liturgy, gives everyone a palm leaf, and we process into the church (assemble outside first) while singing (usually-- sometimes we say a Psalm from the Psalms of Ascent, which Jesus would've said going to Temple). The first half of the liturgy is quite nice, happy, etc. Then we read the Gospel, and re-enact the Passion (each year from a different Gospel). We have communion as usual, but the tone is subdued the rest of the day.

Each day in Holy Week has a special reading from the Gospel, depicting what Jesus did in Jerusalem before Passover. Sometimes we read these, sometimes we just go to church from Thursday to Sunday. I don't know how familiar you are with the Holy Week liturgy, but it is such a wonderful way to engage in the story of my faith I love the way all my senses are engaged, and my heart is so moved. For me, preparing this way helps me joyfully and fully celebrate Easter.

 

But maybe that's not what you meant! On Easter morning, the kids dress in new clothes, and hunt for Easter baskets. We don't do Santa or the Easter bunny, but we definitely do chocolate! We don't see anything pagan about Easter baskets because we've changed the meaning--for us, candy is symbolic of the sweetness of Christ. Bunnies and eggs are also symbols--one of new life (as rabbits are great at reproducing and are a fertility symbol--we take that symbol and reassign the meaning), and the other of the empty tomb and life.

 

We also make Easter Bread (Paska) to symbolize Jesus as the Bread of Life,and Shoslik (lamb and veggie kabobs) to symbolize Jesus as the Lamb of God. We feast, we laugh, we are so very joyful that day!!!

I love Easter.

[Guest Lorna]

We go egg rolling. We boil about ten eggs until they are hard boiled; the children decorate them with coloured pens or watercolour paints and then we roll them down a grassy hill in a nearby park (ones that you have been sledging on in winter are the best!).

We always did this in Scotland as children. It symbolises the stone being rolled away from the tomb of the risen Christ. I insisted my children did it when we lived in England. For the first few years we were the only ones and we got a few funny looks. A few years later we saw some other egg rollers in the same place.

It really is lots of fun. You keep rolling your egg until it is broken and then you are supposed to eat it. We never do because it gets all grassy. We like to roll it until it is in little bits. It is quite liberating getting to break eggs and the children get lots of exercise running up and down the hill.

In the morning when the children wake up the Easter Bunny has left tiny metal foil covered eggs all round the garden. The children search for them and then share them out. Hopefully Mummy and Daddy get some too.

Oh, and the children make an Easter bonnet to symbolise new life, with flowers.

[Guest Lorna]

taken from

 

http://www.jamboree.freedom-in-education.co.uk/

 

Marzipan Hares

 

You can make these marzipan hares out of your own marzipan if you wish, the recipe is below.

Marzipan recipe

 

 

Ingredients:

 

 

2 oz (50 g) almonds, with their skins

 

 

 

2 oz (50 g) icing sugar, or soft brown sugar

 

 

 

¼ teaspoon almond essence

 

 

 

2 teaspoons rose water

 

 

 

 

 

Method:

 

 

1. In a blender, grind the almonds as finely as possible. Add the sugar and grind together with the almonds to make a fine powder.

2. Add the almond essence and enough water to make a sticky dough. Be careful not to add too much liquid. Turn out onto a floured board, and press together to make a ball of marzipan. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate.

 

 

Make three balls, the largest being about 3cm across, the second largest about 2cm across, and the smallest just less than 1cm across.

 

 

Mould the two biggest balls into the shapes shown above, and cut slits for the legs and ears with the sharp knife. If the marzipan is sticky, knead in a little icing sugar.

 

Model the ears and face until they are the shape you want them, and make holes for the eyes and mouth with the end of a matchstick. The matchstick can be split into little pieces to make whiskers.

Put the pieces together - if the marzipan is dry, a little water can be used to do thi

 

 

[Mom2boys]

We make each guest for Easter dinner their own chocolate bunny cake. I use one of those Wilton pans, and it makes six at a time. The kids like to frost and decorate them and use jelly beans for their noses.

 

We also have an egg hunt in our yard, and they each receive an Easter basket with a gift and a small amount of candy. We decorate plastic eggs with stickers in place of dyeing eggs, since my youngest has a life-threatening egg allergy.

 

We also do resurrection eggs and read picture books about Jesus. My dc perform with the choir at church for Palm and Easter Sundays.

[Alice]

We do a small basket and I fill it with Legos, some jelly beans and a chocolate bunny.

 

One year I thought, "Ooohhh, let me be creative" and spread Easter grass all over the floor so that when they came downstairs, they would think that the Easter bunny had been there.

 

My three-year old came down and when he asked what happened I told him. He began to cry.:eek: That night he had a nightmare and for days afterward he would ask me, "The Easter bunny is not coming into my house right?"

 

Golly. I thought it would be special, instead it's just one more thing he has to discuss in therapy.:rolleyes: Now we laugh about it, but then, oh, I just felt awful!

 

Needless to say, that was the last year we did the Easter bunny schtick.

 

Oh my goodness, that made me laugh. Sorry to laugh at your pain...I could just totally see this happening in my house. :)

[Maria from IN]

When my son and niece were getting a little old for the egg hunt, and we parents and grandparents were still not willing to give it up, we did a nighttime egg hunt. We took plastic eggs and stuck pieces of reflective tape on them, hid them carefully so the tape faced the kids, and gave them flashlights. The tape reflects back the kids' flashlights and they have to look a little harder, but they think it's really cool. Plus we stuck quarters and chocolate in them, so they were rather motivated...:)

[Stacia]

Well, if you're meaning the 'Easter Bunny' type stuff, we usually do a few small items. I don't keep or use traditional Easter Baskets -- too bulky and wasteful, at least in our house.

 

Once, I got very cute rice bowls for each child (pale yellow w/ little cats in the design), then added a few good chocolates to each one (my kids are spoiled to the expensive chocolates, lol). Plus, they usually get a book or two. These things are sitting at their place at the kitchen table when they come down. Another time, I got a set of 4 small wooden serving dishes (each is probably about 3"x3"x1") & put a few candies in each -- that year, dh & I got some candy too, lol. You could also use something like sauce dishes, or even a little origami box you make or something.

 

These neat little dishes/containers are things that we continue to use. The kids love to set a 'nice' table, so I try to find things that will be a fun addition for that.

[Stacia]

My three-year old came down and when he asked what happened I told him. He began to cry.:eek: That night he had a nightmare and for days afterward he would ask me, "The Easter bunny is not coming into my house right?"

 

LOL. I feel your pain. When dd was younger, she was terrified of Santa. We had to promise her that he would not step foot in the house; she grudgingly agreed that it would be ok if Rudolph came in while Santa waited outside. Still, on Christmas morning, she didn't want to come downstairs for fear that either Rudolph or Santa was still in the den. Rudolph was the gift-giver for years.

 

For some reason, the Easter Bunny was never an issue. Go figure.

[*anj*]

It changes from year to year. I don't like to cook a big meal for that day, so we went out to brunch for a few years. Now that we're more budget minded, I just do a simple buffet. We'll go to church, then when we come home I'll put out a ham and some side dishes, and then I will spend the rest of the day relaxing. I work my sweet patootie off for Thanksgiving and Christmas, so I like to have one holiday that is more laid back.

 

We give our kids baskets of candy (not a lot), and we have a hunt using the little plastic candy-filled eggs. We color eggs the day before and now I let my kids each have their own dozen. I buy cheap supermarket eggs for that purpose and I don't feel badly if they don't all get eaten. They are kind of an art project. :p

 

I'm not planning to buy new clothes for them this year. We're getting kind of scroogey about these things.

 

This will be our first Resurrection Day when we're all on the same page religion-wise, so I'm sure that we'll accentuate that aspect.

[GothicGyrl]

15 and 11 yr old here and we still do egg hunts--but ours have no religious meaning whatsoever. We color eggs, do baskets for both of them (which results in some cash and a special something they've wanted) and lots of favorite candy.

 

Then off to Gramma's for the same thing. Sometimes they get a new outfit, sometimes not. It just all depends.

 

Even *I* get a basket still. ;)

[Musical Belle]

We really like using Resurrection Eggs to share the meaning of Passion Week, the crucifixion and the resurrection.

[Tonia]

We decorate eggs the week before. Have an egg hunt and a small basket with a small chocoloate bunny and some kind of outdoor toy - bubbles or chalk (because we will FINALLY be able to go outside and play!!!). Church and a nice lunch.

[Karenciavo]

(Of course, I'm the one who also uses Twinkies to make Yule logs at Christmastime, so your dc may have greater expectations than mine do! )

 

[mcconnellboys]

I didn't see it on the list of replies, but I'd bet someone here does Pisanky eggs. I know I'm not spelling that correctly. They are the beautiful, painted Russian eggs. Very intricate designs. I believe there are websites online to help do versions of these with children. They can be handed down to future generations.

 

Regena