Easter is a wonderful time to celebrate, create lifelong memories, and build traditions. Try these fun and creative ways for the family to come together and share special times for years to come.
As bunny season approaches, keep this list nearby and check off the traditions you already do and put circles around what you would like to add this year. Many of these suggestions can also be combined! Continue to search out new ways to connect and share the sacredness of the season.
Plant an Easter Garden - Brighten your yard or home with an array of blooming flowers like pansies, tulips, marigolds, and petunias. Label the plants and flowers and take pictures to document their growth. This Easter gardening activity is a great way to introduce kids to the beauty of spring while creating a lasting memory.
Create a Time Capsule - Help your child write a letter to themselves and place it inside a plastic Easter egg to open next year on Easter. This fun Easter activity allows them to reflect on their growth over the year and creates a keepsake parents will cherish.
Decorate an Easter Egg Tree - Visit the craft store and purchase foam or plastic eggs and an array of decorations. Attach a ribbon to each egg and hang them from a live or artificial tree for a whimsical Easter centerpiece. This creative Easter activity is fun for the whole family.
Journey to Easter through Scripture - Easter is a deeply religious holiday for many, and it’s a perfect time to share the significance of Christ’s resurrection. Research related scripture that can be shared throughout the weeks leading up to the holiday, deepening the meaning of the season.
Gather Round the Table- Many families have a big Easter brunch or dinner. Coming together over a grand meal provides families a time for fun, food, and fellowship. Encourage each family member to prepare a “signature dish.”
Baking, and More Baking - Put an apron on and break out the mixing bowls! Bunny, chick or egg-shaped cookies are perfect for the holiday. Feeling ambitious? Try baking a bunny-shaped cake topped with icing, coconut, jellybeans and candies. Or surprise everyone with hot cross buns on Good Friday; they fill the kitchen with spicy, sweet, and fruity aromas!
Observe Lent - Lent is a season leading up to Easter where some choose to “give up” something they treasure as a reminder of the 40 days of praying and fasting observed by Christ. Others may take on a new challenge, perform an act of service or incorporate a new healthy habit. Consider using this time to do a volunteer project as a family to honor the season.
Attend an Easter Parade – Find a local Easter parade and claim your spot to watch marching bands, colorful floats, large characters and fire trucks. If there isn’t a parade nearby, dress up and hold one around the house or through the neighborhood.
Decorate Easter Eggs - A tried and true tradition! Dipping eggs in a brightly colored dye and watching them turn colors is a delightful experience for kids of all ages. Decorate with glitter, paint, and stickers to put around the house or in Easter baskets. Host a family Easter egg decorating competition, complete with prizes!
Egg Relay Race - After decorating Easter eggs, divide participants up into teams and give each a hardboiled egg and a spoon. Blow the whistle and challenge participants to balance the egg on the spoon while walking or running to a given point and back and then hand off to the next team member. The first team to finish wins the game.
Flour Egg Toss - Fill plastic eggs with flour. Pair up and have teams start by facing each other. Teams should toss the egg to their team member and take a step back each time the egg is successfully caught. The last team to keep their egg together without spilling any flour is the winner
Easter Basket Scavenger Hunt – Add a fun twist to Easter morning with a basket hunt. For little ones, draw a map with picture clues. For older children, use written clues or prompt everyone follow the bunny footprint trail around the house to find their basket.
Treats for the Easter Bunny - This tradition is similar to leaving cookies and milk for Santa, but with a rabbit twist. Put carrots, candy and water out before bedtime and leave a cute note!
Plant a Jellybean Garden - Plant a handful of jellybeans in the dirt outside the night before. Replace each one with a lollipop while little ones sleep. In the morning, eyes will grow wide as they see each jellybean has grown into a magical lollipop treat!
Egg the Neighbors - Spread Easter joy by egging the neighbors with an Easter basket filled with goodies. Leave the basket on their front porch and ring the doorbell before running back home. Make sure the basket contains a you have been egged sign and a clue about your family to help them guess who left it. This is one kind of egging your neighbors won’t mind.
Easter Basket Puzzle Hunt - Start with a blank puzzle (you can buy one at a craft store) with pieces small enough to fit inside plastic eggs. With the puzzle still together, write a message about where their Easter basket is hidden. Then, break up the pieces and divide between the eggs. After all the eggs are found, the children will have to put the puzzle together to find the location of their Easter basket.
New Easter Clothes - Wearing a new outfit for Easter Sunday has its roots in European customs and has become a commonly celebrated tradition. Show off your new digs then go through closets and drawers and donate items that are outdated or no longer fit and give to an organization or someone in need.
Resurrection Eggs - Explain the Resurrection story in an interactive way to by using 12 numbered plastic eggs. Fill each egg with a small object that tells a part of the story of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. Use items such as a rock, money, and sword. Hide the 12 eggs in your home or yard. Once your children have found all the eggs, open them in numbered order and tell the Resurrection story.
Attend Easter Service at Church - For many families, Easter wouldn’t be complete without attending a worship service. Some churches host an early sunrise service and others hold a Saturday night Easter vigil.
Egg Rolling - In many towns, egg rolling is an important part of the Easter tradition that usually takes place on Easter Monday. Decorated, hard-boiled eggs are rolled down a hill to see which egg can go furthest without breaking.
Volunteer - In the spirit of the season, spend time as a family volunteering for a cause close to your heart. Help out at the local animal shelter, clean and stock a local food pantry or sell lemonade on a warm day and donate the proceeds.
Put on a Play - Assemble pairs of clean socks or plain paper bags and let the kids create characters to put on a play. For inspiration, read a Bible or Easter story then let them spend the afternoon working on a performance to share with the family.
Track the Easter Bunny - Follow every hippity and hoppity with an online app. Search “Easter Bunny Tracker” and download it on your phone or computer. Add an educational slant and encourage the kids to find locations on a map where the bunny has traveled.
Spring Bonfire - In some parts of the world, people sit around bonfires on Easter Sunday called “Easter Fires” to chase away winter and welcome spring. Add marshmallows and other treats to make this sweet event even more special.
Watch an Easter Movie - After a fun day of egg hunts, dress up and sharing a meal with friends and family, relax in pajamas, eat some candy and cue up an Easter movie marathon.
No matter how you celebrate, surrounding yourself with family and friends will let everyone feel the love and magic of the season.
Contributors: Sara Kendall and Courtney McLaughlin
Sara Kendall is a freelance writer and mom of two daughters.
Courtney McLaughlin is a freelance writer in Charlotte, N.C. She gratefully shares her life, home and heart with her daughter and their dog.
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