Easter Traditions
I absolutely love holidays. Its are a time where everyone gathers together and memories are made. One of my favorite holidays is Easter. The beautiful colors of freshly bloomed flowers are all around, we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and there are so many enjoyable activities we do together as a family. I thought it would be great to share some of my favorite Easter Traditions. These are traditions we have in our house, and I look forward to them every year. I am always trying to add more to the list because there is never too much to do during a holiday season to feel the cheer.
Resurrection Rolls (Empty Tomb Rolls)
Celebrate the true meaning of Easter with these rolls. Each ingredient in these delicious treats represents a part of the resurrection story. While I make these rolls with the kids, we discuss the story of Jesus and the importance of the resurrection in our lives.
Easter Brunch
After Easter egg hunts and enjoying our Easter basket goodies, we all come together and share a delicious meal. Start it off with a prayer and enjoy this time together gathering around food and conversation. The menu usually includes eggs, waffles (with a large variety of topping choices), bacon and fruit.
Easter Dinner
When I was little, my mother always served a big Easter dinner. I looked forward to it each year as a kid for I loved helping her in the kitchen. She would serve the classics for an all time Easter feast- ham, roasted carrots, deviled eggs, scalloped potatoes, rolls and a delicious Easter dessert such as a cake or pie. I enjoy doing this with my kids so they can experience the delight in this tradition like me.
Dying Easter Eggs
This is a fun tradition you don’t have to wait until Easter day to do. We start dying eggs weeks before Easter and if we eat them all before the big day, we make some more. This tradition is fun to do with the kids because they can be so creative with the colors and designs on the eggs.
Easter Baskets
This is one of my favorite traditions because I love putting them together. I enjoy looking for items that I can fill in the children’s baskets for them to appreciate. This year, I filled the girls’ baskets with a stuffed doll, some body spray, chocolate Easter bunnies, chalk, umbrella, and bug catchers. For his first Easter, Rhett, received a stuffed bunny, some baby toys and baby food. I think these baskets should include some things in these baskets for the kids to indulge in, but also something they can play with and enjoy during the spring season.
Going to church
Going to church on Easter dressed in your finest clothes. For this tradition, I buy the kids a nice Easter outfit for them to wear to church. This is a surprise for them, so they don’t see what I chose until Easter morning. I enjoy finding the girls pretty spring dresses that they can wear to church and continue to wear throughout the season. This year, due to the Covid-19, social distancing guidelines we weren’t able to attend church in person so I didn’t purchase formal dresses, but a pretty shirt paired with a cute pair of shorts.
Make hot cross buns
A traditional Easter treat that can be made and enjoyed on Good Friday or Easter morning. These sweet, spiced buns made with fruit are marked with a cross on the top with sweet white icing. They are traditionally eaten on Good Friday, but really you could enjoy these during the whole Easter season because they are a tasty treat.
Easter egg hunt
Such a fun tradition for all ages is an Easter egg hunt. Place surprises inside of the eggs and hide them around the house or yard and let the kids find them. For a drama free egg hunt, assign kids a specific color of egg to find. This will help with the little kids too- so all the big kids won’t take all of the eggs.
Read the Easter Story from the Bible
I think that it is important for children to understand the true meaning behind Easter. Its not just about an Easter bunny, chocolates or treats but about the death and resurrection of Jesus. So, each Easter I read the Easter story from the children’s bible. We sit around together and talk about it afterwards reflecting on the sacrifice Jesus made for us.
Take pictures in the flowers.
Its iconic in Texas to take a picture in a patch bluebonnet flowers. As a child growing up in the hill country part of Texas, each spring we would witness the beautiful Texas state flower blooming in my parent’s backyard. My sister and I would snap a picture in our yard to remember these beautiful flowers and wait for them again the next year. I absolutely LOVE bluebonnets. They really are a gorgeous flower and they were definitely an important part of my childhood. Where my husband and I live today, we don’t have very many bluebonnet patches nearby, yet we still enjoy flowers just about anywhere. You can find a variety of flowers or wildflowers to stop and snap a picture with during the spring season in Texas. So, this year we had the kiddos sit by our patch of lily flowers in the garden and appreciate one of God’s beauties on earth.
Easter Egg Games
Easter day, is meant to be spent together with friends and family. So, after church and eating why not have some fun with good ol’ fashion spoon race games. The kids truly enjoy these games and I have to say, the competition between the adults can get pretty intense as well. At my house, we enjoy spoon races with a boiled egg on a spoon (why not use some of those boiled eggs that you dyed up?). We race across the yard to see who can get tot he finish line first without dropping their egg. We also enjoy the jelly bean race. This games involves two bowls full of jelly beans, two empty bowls and two teams. The object of the game is to see who can fill up their empty bowl with jelly beans first while tossing them in.
