Easter is a celebration of rebirth both spiritually and physically. It is a spring festival that welcomes new growth and blooming. The trees are sprouting, the flowers are slowly blooming, the grass is turning greener, and the days are getting longer. The darkness and cold of winter give way to a new optimism full of sun, warmth and joy. The religious origins of Easter are an integral part of the Christian holiday, but they do not prevent people of all faiths from celebrating the more secular side of this seasonal holiday. There’s so much to enjoy as bunnies, chicks, candy-filled children’s baskets, 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 ham baked with honey. Add in some delicious gratin potatoes, a fruit filled colorful jelly mold, and some fresh grilled or sauteed veggies and my menu is ready. I also do Easter as a buffet. Sometimes we have brunch, other years it is an early dinner depending on everyone’s schedule. . No matter how hard you try to avoid it, Easter is an all-day sugar festival for kids, so it’s always better to have dinner earlier than later. Let them eat something substantial before they fill up on all the Easter treats.
When the kids were younger, we always enjoyed making Easter favors for everyone. Sometimes we made little plants or flowers, decorated the pot, added the recipient’s name with a paint marker, wrapped it in ribbon, and added some dyed and decorated eggs that we had made together. These could 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, glue, and even draw on 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 your egg decorating activity meets the age criteria.
Egg hunt is also a popular Easter tradition. In our family, we never hide our eggs. We hid the slippers. Easter morning would have the children running around the house to find their baskets. Our family tradition happened later in the day when all the cousins and friends were out for dinner. We would follow the Easter Bunny Trail. The children would be all over the neighborhood finding the clues that the bunny had left. Like Hansel and Gretel’s trail, the bunny left a trail of clues that would lead the kids to the ultimate Easter basket of treats for everyone. Rain or shine, adults and children would all be together chasing the Bunny and his clever clues. It was really such a fun tradition, that when the kids were in high school, we actually did it for all of their friends. It was a huge success. It just shows that you are never too old to celebrate Easter!
There are more great Easter recipe ideas, decorations, and even sample clues to help you organize your own Bunny Trail Hunt at Celebration Ideas Online.
