Easter and children

Like many major occasions throughout the year, Easter has special meaning when children are involved.

Children get excited in the lead up to Easter – and that lead up has been extended by shops selling Easter items in January!

Some children, of course, are taught about the origins of Easter and may be involved in some cultural activities relating to the religious side of Easter. Other children know of Easter as a time of Easter Bilby and Bunny and Chocolate.

Many of the Easter traditions are associated with new life and growth, and this is another reason Easter and children are so well suited. The symbols of Easter are eggs and chickens to represent the start of new life; in the northern hemisphere, this is a celebration of the beginning of spring as well as the rebirth of Christ.

Below are some ways to share Easter with the children in your life, other than just giving them chocolate eggs.

• Give other small gifts instead of lots of eggs; gifts such as stickers, stamps, slippers, gardening tools, baskets and plant seeds all work well.
• Die eggs with food colouring, and decorate with textas. If the eggs are emptied, the shells can last for years; otherwise, they can be safely cooked and eaten afterwards.
• Have a family picnic or lunch – include as many relatives of close friends as possible for a festive occasion.
• Make Easter baskets together – weave strips of paper to make simple little baskets that hold little items or stick decorative pieces onto an existing basket.
• Have an Easter egg hunt – but use something else! Hide little toys or tokens instead of eggs, or have a hunt where children follow instructions hidden around the place with one prize at the end.
• Make bunny ears or Easter hats then run a fashion parade!
• Play bunny games – hopscotch, hop-chasey, leap bilbies, Bilby Pokey (put your bilby ears in…), pin-the-tail on the bilby and more.
• To keep treasure hunts fair and challenging for all players, give each person a colour to search for. Young children’s eggs can be in obvious places and older children’s eggs more hidden without fights over who got more eggs!
• Cook some Easter treats together – there are many traditional and themed foods to be made.
• Give a hand made Easter card, or make some with the children.

Tash Hughes is a Mum of two in Melbourne. She is also a writer and owner of Word Constructions. Tash is available to write articles and profiles for any business, as well as doing other business documentation projects. You can see her site and services at www.wordconstructions.com