Do More than Hunt for
Eggs on Easter
Special Excerpt from The Truth about Parenting:
Navigating the Elementary Years*

On Easter we remember that Jesus was cruelly mocked, beaten, and crucified. So why is it a time of rejoicing? Because on Easter, Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. He is victorious over death and gives new life to those who believe in Him. Through His death, burial and resurrection, we are given forgiveness of our sins and the gift of eternal life. Indeed, Easter is a time for great rejoicing!**

You would need a scrooge-like mentality to not like Easter. It’s the only holiday that meets the needs of both sexes with the added bonus of everyone eating chocolate and jellybeans. For the girls, it can be all about getting a new dress, shoes, and hat to wear to Sunday school. For the boys, the fun comes from hunting for the eggs.

Once kids grow beyond the thrill of a new dress and going on a hunt, it can be hard to get them back to the real meaning of Easter: celebrating the resurrection of Jesus.

Starting when your children are young helps instill a Christian perspective on the holiday. When I was little, our family made a tradition of going to Easter sunrise service. Most of the sunrise services we have attended over the years include singing of the hymn Morning has Broken. The words from the second verse are the ones I reflect on with my children in starting our conversation on the meaning of Easter.

Sweet the rain’s new fall, sunlight from heaven,
Like the first dewfall, on the first grass,
Praise for the sweetness, of the wet garden.
Sprung in completeness, where His feet pass.†

It doesn’t take long for the questions to go from Jesus dying on a cross for our sins down a rabbit hole with “What’s with the bunny leaving baskets?” Ugh. Here we go again with the mixing of a pagan festival together with a Christian celebration. The simplest explanation worked for my boys: “the Easter Bunny comes from the rabbit being a symbol of fertility that carries brightly colored eggs to represent the sunlight of spring. The Easter Bunny hopping down the lane is a lot like Santa coming down the chimney.”

One of easiest ways to make Easter meaningful is to lead kids on a fun, faith-filled Easter egg hunt that can teach them about Jesus’ death and resurrection. Family Life (www.familylife.com) has a ready-made set of Easter eggs that makes this easy. Egg cartons are filled with a dozen colorful plastic eggs that contain symbols of the Easter story and relevant scripture to read. Starting twelve days before Easter Sunday, open one egg per day, talk about the enclosed object. The first day is a plastic palm leaf representing the branches the people waved at Jesus as he rode into Jerusalem on a donkey.

On Easter morning, fill the Easter baskets with things which are reflective of the resurrection and life of Jesus. Here are some ideas from Christianity Today of things to put in Easter Baskets:††

1. A Lamb: This represents the Lamb of God who came to take away our sin.
2. Plastic eggs filled with jelly beans that are the following colors:

• Black — represents the darkness of our lives before Jesus when we were still in sin.
• Red — represents Jesus’ shed blood.
• White — represents our sins that are washed away.
• Yellow — represents the streets of gold in heaven.
• Green — represents growing in Jesus.

3. An empty plastic egg in their basket and, with a marking pen, write “He is Risen” on the outside. The egg is empty for the “Empty Tomb.”
4. Bookmarks or story books from a Bible Store that represents the story of Easter.
5. Rock candy to represent the stone that was rolled away.
6. Chocolate coins to remind us of the thirty pieces of silver that Judas received for his betrayal of Jesus.

There are so many ways Easter can be made more meaningful than just a visit from the bunny. Even the traditional Easter food can have special meaning. Hot Cross Buns, one of my favorite Easter treats, have become known in our family as the Easter Bread. The buns are small round sweet breads enriched with raisins and other sweet dried fruits and decorated with a cross of icing. The symbolism of the bread is to remember Jesus as the “Living Bread” who came down from heaven to give us eternal life. The ham most eat for Easter can symbolize the animals sacrificed in the Old Testament as a foreshadowing of the life and resurrection of Jesus. These are just a few simple ways you can take your current traditions and make them become more meaningful for your children.