Keeping Christ in Easter: When Your Kids Get too Excited about the Easter Bunny, Follow These Tips to Redirect Their Attention to the Cross
As Easter nears, kids get excited about the Easter Bunny, Easter baskets, and Easter egg hunts. And who wouldn’t? After all, these are fun traditions! But we need to remind our kids that Easter is not about eggs and baskets; it’s about Jesus’ death and resurrection. They need to know that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead so we can live with Him in heaven when we die. To help you remind your kids of the importance of Easter, we’ve created a list of fun activities you and your kids can do to keep their focus on the cross.
1. Easter baskets: Pre-packaged Easter baskets have become commercialized and are often now full of toys. Instead of buying a pre-packaged basket, why not make your own? Include some of your kids’ favorite treats, but instead of toys, add a children’s Bible or a book telling the Easter story. You can also add something special for your child to wear to church on Easter Sunday: a tie or new shirt for a boy or a piece of jewelry, a bow, or a purse for a girl.
2. Easter treats: Resurrection Cookies and Empty Tomb Rolls are fun, easy, and yummy treats to make with your kids. Each ingredient in these treats symbolizes a part of the Easter story, so you can read the Bible or an Easter storybook while you make the treats. We’ve posted the recipe and suggested Bible verses to read for both Resurrection Cookies and Empty Tomb Rolls on the homepage of our website. Click the links above to download PDFs of each. Note: Make Resurrection Cookies on Saturday as they need to stay in the oven overnight.
3. Easter egg hunt: We have two great ideas to use for an Easter egg hunt. Resurrection eggs are a set of a dozen plastic eggs; instead of a treat, each egg includes a symbol representing a part of the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection. You can hide these, and, for older kids, you can even create a scavenger hunt for them to find the eggs in order. Another idea is to hide 13 plastic eggs. Twelve can include a treat of your choosing, but the 13th egg is empty, representing the empty tomb.
4. Resurrection garden: This is a great craft to do with your kids, and you can use it as a centerpiece or table top decoration. Get a pie plate or similar container, and fill it with dirt. Set a small flower pot or jar on its side to serve as the “empty tomb.” Add some rocks (include a larger rock to represent the rock rolled away from the tomb) and some grass. (If you plan ahead, you can add seeds and grow your own grass!) Use sticks and string to make three small crosses to set in the dirt near or on top of the “tomb.”
5. Easter service project: A great service project idea is to gather small bags and have your kids fill them with items for those in need: young moms, nursing home residents, hospitalized children, homeless people. Bags can include personal care products (or appropriate kids’ products for children) as well as a few plastic eggs with treats. Include a scripture card in each bag. A great idea is to pray over each bag! You can then take the bags to organizations serving those in need for distribution before Easter.
How do you help your child focus on Jesus’ death and resurrection at Easter? Let us know in the comments!
At One by One, our mission is to mentor and educate new moms to parent well. It’s our vision that all moms will accept God’s love and parent well so children thrive. Visit our website for more information about us and for volunteer opportunities at One by One.