I can’t believe Easter is already approaching.  I love Spring! Aside from all of the pollen it is beautiful outside and feels like a new beginning. It is my go-to time for clean up and organization, planning fun activities for spring break and vacations for the upcoming summer. There is so much to look forward to.  One thing I am looking forward to the most is celebrating Easter with my family! I wanted to keep the theme going of holiday traditions so I have been on the hunt for fun Easter ideas to share with all of you!

Of all the holidays Easter seems to be the hardest for my kids to really understand the true meaning of what that day means.  I haven’t been able to find a good correlation between the Easter bunny filling a basket of goodies and Jesus dying on a cross for us and rising from the dead.  It is hard to explain that to kids, to bring up death during a celebration, but really it isn’t about his death, it is about him coming back to life!  More important than any of the holidays,  Jesus rising from the dead is what sets Christianity apart.  He wasn’t just a good teacher, he was God, that came here in the flesh to live the perfect life we will never be able to live.  He died the most terrible death as a sacrifice for all of our sins and then rose again 3 days later to ascend to Heaven.  That is the core of Christianity.  It is about that sacrificial gift of undeserved love from the creator of the universe, and all we have to do to receive it is believe it.  Now that my kids are getting older I want to make sure that the true meaning of this holiday isn’t getting missed.  The bunny will still be visiting our home but I want the sacrificial love of Jesus to stand out the most.  Finding a fun way to incorporate all things easter is my goal this year! Continue reading for fun and simple easter ideas!

• Dyeing Easter Eggs! This is a great tradition to start and I found a few new ideas to try that will allow for less mess! AMEN! If you have a large whisk you can stick the egg inside of it and then dip it into the dyes using that.  You can also add dyes to a small Ziploc bag of rice (about a cup of rice per bag and add a few drops of color) mix the dye into the rice and then add the egg.  Shake it around for the egg to get colored. It looks like sponge painted egg!  Another idea is to put electric tape on the eggs in designs before dipping them (or putting in rice bags).  Wherever the tape is placed will remain white.  Lastly, I wanted to share a few natural dye options in place of using the harmful ones.  Food coloring (artificial dyes) are known to cause cancer and lead to behavior issues in children (future blog post coming on THIS).  Choosing natural is always the best option and you don’t have to think twice about eating the eggs after they are dyed!  Here is a link to natural dyes.  I can’t wait to try them this year and in future recipes!
• Decorate Eggs– Crayons work great if the eggs are warm or use stickers
• Get fun Easter jammies for your kids and give before Easter so you get lots of photo opportunities
• Visit the Easter bunny!! We go to Basspro every year or the mall depending on the length of the line.  I’ve decided to throw together a small simple scrapbook of easter bunny pictures that I can easily add a picture to each year.  (Planning to do this for Santa and Halloween pictures as well)
• On Easter morning have the Easter baskets full of goodies for the kids.  I like to fill mine with dye-free candy, chocolates, some simple toys like small baby dolls, matchbox cars (fit perfectly in eggs), notebooks/pens, fun games, etc.
• Bunny footprints: I have never done this but some people will make them out of powdered sugar (the thought of this overwhelms me) or use cut-outs and make footprints of where the bunny went and lead to their baskets
• Have a fun Easter breakfast.  I am planning to do the same thing I did for Valentines Day and get some simple decor from the dollar store to decorate the table to add an extra surprise for the kids when they come downstairs that morning. I’m planning to make some fun easter pancakes with these dye free pastel sprinkles as well.
• Have an Easter Brunch with family and friends.  This year we are having brunch with my family and doing an Easter egg hunt with the cousins.  This has become a great tradition that the kids look forward to every year!
• Attend an Easter church service.  I love the memories I have of going to church with my family on Easter and getting to wear a new fun spring outfit was a huge highlight! Make sure to take a family picture!
• Make Resurrection Rolls!  This has me really excited because it is an easy and fun way to share the true meaning of Easter with my kids.  They sound delicious too! The Recipe and instructions can be found below:

Resurrection Rolls Recipe

1 10oz refrigerated crescent rolls

8 Large Marshmallows

1/4 cup melted butter

2 tablespoons cinnamon

2 tablespoons sugar

Separate crescent rolls, lay flat on baking pan and flatten with hands, mix cinnamon and sugar together, using a toothpick dip the marshmallow in butter then the cinnamon and sugar mixture.  Place in the center of the dough and wrap it around the marshmallow pinching the seams together tightly.  Place in a muffin tin. Bake @ 375 for 10 minutes.

While you are making these…explain that Jesus is the marshmallow, anointing him with oils (butter) and incense (cinnamon and sugar), wrapping him in cloth (crescent roll) and placing him in the tomb (oven).  When the rolls are finished the marshmallow will have disappeared! When eating, remind them that Jesus tomb was empty that first Easter! He is alive!

• Last but not least is an idea a friend reached out to share with me a few months ago.  It is one that combines the bunny and the true meaning! It is a tradition that was shared with her by a woman at church that did it with her children.  I LOVE this idea and can’t wait to start the tradition in my home this year.

Instructions:

1. The day before Easter or on Good Friday fill their Easter baskets with grass.
2. Using Black paper cut out 4″ to 5″ circles (usually about 10 per basket)
3. Explain to your children that sins are things that are bad for us, things that God doesn’t want us to do for our own good. Tell them that everyone sins, even them, and that sin makes God sad.
4. Give them the black circles and a piece of white chalk.  Have them draw sad faces on each circle.  As they get older you can help them write an area of sin they struggle with on the back side (ie. lying, anger, not sharing, teasing)
5. Have them place the “sin circles” in their baskets until the grass is completely covered
6. Explain to them that this is what life is like without Jesus…darkness and sadness because of our sin.
7. Before they wake up on Easter morning, remove all the sin circles and fill the baskets with goodies and treats. Make sure to dispose of the circles so they will never find them.
8. When they see their baskets of blessings rejoice with them! Tell them Jesus loves them so much that even though he never sinned, he died on the cross for our sins.  He came back to life and is now in Heaven. He came to take away all our sins so we can be with him in heaven one day and to fill our lives with every good thing, blessings of every kind…just like their baskets!
9. Let them know Jesus removes our sin completely.  Have them search for their sin circles all through the house.  When they can’t find them, tell them that is what happens to our sin.  It’s gone. God gets rid of it forever, all because of Jesus!
10. In the days ahead, as the kids enjoy their treats, remind them that Jesus took their sin and gives them good things. Encourage thanks and praise to Him!

I am going to tweak this tradition a little bit because our kids are used to the Easter bunny tradition of filling their baskets with goodies.  If you haven’t started the Easter bunny tradition you could omit that and just do this.

*My plan is to have 1 separate basket that we put all of their sin circles in, including ones from myself and husband.  That basket I’ll fill with treats that we can all share on Easter morning.  So my kids will still have their individual easter bunny baskets and then we will have the family one that represents the true meaning.  On Easter morning we can all look for the sin eggs together and remind each other of the true meaning of the holiday.  I will keep you posted on how it plays out but I am really excited about it!

I hope you enjoyed reading through these ideas and hopefully a few jumped out at you! Please comment below and feel free to tag me on Instagram in any videos or posts.  I would love to see the traditions in action. I hope all of you have a wonderful Easter and enjoy every precious minute with your loved ones!

♥Erin