Easter is a celebration of both spiritual and physical rebirth. It is a spring festival that welcomes new growth and bloom. The trees are budding, the flowers are slowly budding, the grass is turning green, and the days are getting longer. The darkness and cold of winter give way to a new optimism filled with sunshine, warmth and joy. The religious origins of Easter are an integral part of the Christian holiday, but they don’t stop people of all faiths from celebrating the more secular side of this seasonal holiday. There’s plenty to enjoy as bunnies, chicks, children’s baskets filled with candy, and family gatherings present another side to Easter. So regardless of your beliefs, we can all celebrate the new awakenings that occur each year with the onset of spring.
I always love Easter dinner. I keep it simple by buying or ordering a honey baked ham. Add some delicious scalloped potatoes, a colorful fruit-filled jelly pan, and some fresh roasted or sautéed vegetables and my menu is set. I also do Easter in the form of a buffet. Sometimes we have brunch, other years it’s an early dinner depending on everyone’s schedule. . No matter how hard you try to avoid it, Easter is an all-day sugar fest for the kids, so it’s always better to eat dinner earlier than later. Let them eat something substantial before they fill up on all the Easter candy.
When the children were younger, we always enjoyed making Easter gifts for everyone. Sometimes we would make small plants or flowers, decorate the pot, add the name of the recipient with a marker, wrap it in tape and add some dyed and decorated eggs that we had made together. These can also be placed around the table as placeholders. Decorating the eggs was an event in itself. There are many creative egg decorating kits in stores. So you can dye, paint, stamp, glue, paste and even draw eggs! The key is to keep this event age-appropriate. It takes all the fun out of the project if they can’t do it themselves or what they do looks terrible. So make sure that your egg decorating activity meets the age criteria.
Egg hunting is also a popular Easter tradition. In our family, we never hid the eggs. We hid the slippers. Easter morning would have the kids running around the house to find their slippers. Our family tradition happened later in the day when all the cousins and friends went to dinner. We would follow the Path of the Easter Bunny. The kids would be all over the neighborhood finding the clues that the Bunny had left. Just like the trail in Hansel and Gretel, the bunny left a trail of clues that would lead kids to the ultimate Easter basket with treats for everyone. Rain or shine, adults and kids would all be together chasing the bunny and his clever clues. It really was such a fun tradition, that when the kids were in high school, we actually did it for all their friends. It was a huge success. It just goes to show that you are never too old to celebrate Easter!
There are more great ideas for Easter recipes, decorations, and even sample trails to help you host your own Bunny Trail hunt at Celebration Ideas Online.