Make Easter Special This Year

In the flurry of pastel eggs, chocolate bunnies and new spring clothes, it’s easy to let the focus of these days become tasks to do to prepare for the visit from the Easter Bunny (aka Santa Lite).

But just a little planning can turn the time into a great one for celebrating life together, and creating some of those fun traditions that cement our family closeness over the years.

Take the egg hunt, for instance. There are some easy ways to keep it from turning into a meltdown waiting to happen (and we’re not talking about the chocolate here, although there is that) with little ones crying because the older ones got all the eggs, or the classic sibling quarrels over who saw the egg first, or the obvious, eye-rolling boredom of the older kids making it clear that they’d rather be on their phones.

One fun way to add excitement to the egg hunt is to assign each hunter a specific color. Sort jellybeans or wrapped candy by color, too, and create a trail from the starting point to the first hidden egg for each child. That way, you can set the difficulty level at which you hide the eggs, and everyone ends up with the same number of eggs when it’s over.

Even if you love the tradition of hiding real eggs or candy eggs, it’s fun to mix in some plastic ones, just because you can put fun stuff inside. From clues or messages to trinkets, small coins, or cash, mixing it up can keep interest high.

If you do use money, having the kids count it at the end, and then set aside a part of it to give to a charity or a cause offers the chance for a great lesson on caring for the needs of others.

And finally, for Christ-followers, there’s the importance of talking to the kids about the real reason for the celebration, and that is what the Resurrection means in terms of how we view both life and death.  Conversations like this always have more impact when they happen at home, between parents and kids, in an informal, matter-of-fact way, so we suggest starting a tradition like having the whole fam gather in the kitchen to make “Resurrection Rolls” for breakfast on Easter morning.  

As you make the rolls and wrap the dough around a marshmallow, you talk about the Easter story. When the rolls come out of the oven, the marshmallow has disappeared!  You can find the easy, yummy recipe and a guide for telling the story, at this website: http://www.lifeway.com/kidsministry/2014/03/31/easter-recipe-resurrection-rolls/

We love and appreciate our customers, and at Easter time, we are celebrating the parts of life we get to share with you!