Every year, most of the Christians celebrate Easter in Spring, somewhere in the month of April. As part of modern traditions, everyone joins the celebrations, especially as Easter Bunny and Easter Egg Hunts promise to be a source of joy to little kids. Being a mom of a toddler, I am trying to get up-to-date with US trends and traditions too, so I can get my little one to enjoy these, just as we celebrate all the Indian festivals. Are you planning an Egg Hunt yourself? Do you need Easter basket ideas, or plan an Easter party for kids? Or do you simply need some background into why Easter is celebrated? Then this post is for you -read ahead to discover the what, who and why of the Easter festival, along with some interesting DIY ideas for celebrating it.
According to the historical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion, which is celebrated as Easter Sunday, or a day that comes two days after Good Friday. The egg was a symbol of the rebirth of the earth in Pagan celebrations of spring and was adopted by early Christians as a symbol of the rebirth of man at Easter, hence the Easter Egg Hunt. As for the Easter Bunny, he is considered to be the counterpart of Santa Claus at Christmas – he brings colorful chocolate eggs, candies and gifts for kids on Easter.
Easter Egg Hunt Ideas
Most of the communities have Egg Hunts organized for kids; however, if you want to do one yourself, here are a few simple ideas to try.
Treasure Map Egg Hunt Create a treasure map, with clues hidden at each spot. Give a map to each kid and let him figure out the clues from the map, as well as from the eggs he finds.
Color-coded Egg Hunt Ask each child to find eggs of a particular color; the one who finds all of them first gets a grand prize
Hide-&-Seek Egg Hunt This is like an indoor egg hunt, where you hide the eggs inside your house – in the closets, under the washing machine, in the kitchen, etc, and just let your kids run wild in the house to find the maximum eggs they can.
Guess Where Egg Hunt I love this one personally, and it works great for kids of all age. just hide the eggs in certain places in your house, and write down Guess Where riddles for each place. Read out the clues to the kids, like “This is where dad keeps his tool-box” and let them Guess the place to be “The Garage” and go find the eggs hidden in the garage.
Read Your Clues Egg Hunt The easiest and most widely used. Write simple clues or instructions like “Go pick up your pink shoes” where the kid finds a plastic egg with another note saying “Go and find the water hose”…and so on, till he figures out the path and finds the Chocolate Eggs and gifts. Depending on age, you can make the clues harder for elder kids.
DIY Easter Egg Baskets
Most of the fun in any festival lies in the preparations. Taking up small craft projects with kids is the best way to make them enjoy the festivities to the fullest.
Terra-Cotta Baskets – Jen over at the Hostess blog shares these cute baskets with us. Just take flower pots you get in any craft store and a bunch of scrapbook paper. Cut out strip to form the edge of the pots, and a strip to make the handle, then glue it onto the pots. Fill it with artificial grass and use it on your egg-hunt. [First photo on the top of the post]
Plastic Buckets – Don’t have a basket, reuse one of your existing buckets, or buy one from the Dollar store. Just cut out birds and bunnies from felt paper, stick it on the bucket, fill it with grass and embellishments, like this cute idea featured above from the Martha Stewart website.
Easter Gift Basket
For gift baskets, you just need a wicker basket, a cute and cuddly bunny, some colorful ribbons, and a variety of small edibles and paraphernalia that you know the recipient will enjoy. It does have to be only chocolates, you can include berries, fresh fruits, homemade desserts, small activity kits for kids, etc. Instead of using baskets, go with something more meaningful and useful, like a watering can, a huge coffee cup, or a garden wagon symbolizing Spring. Fill these with treats and use as gift baskets – your friends will cherish them long after Easter is gone.
The biggest part of any festivities is to enjoy yourself – the gifts you choose need not be expensive, just something that reflects the thought and wishes that you put in it. Hope these ideas help you plan a perfect Easter. Remember, these festivals are meant to encourage you to spread joy and laughter in other people’s lives, so you can feel happy and contented, in return.
