Creating Easter Traditions for your Family

Creating Easter Traditions that we enjoy every year is important to me. Easter is one of the main holidays in our family. Next to Christmas Easter is the most special to us from a religious and a family perspective.

Easter in my childhood

As a child Easter Sunday was special, filled with Easter Traditions.

The ten minute drive from church to home was the start of the Easter Egg hunt. The drive home was spent trying to spot the Easter Bunny, somehow it was always mom and dad who spotted him. A window seat was the converted place to be – who wants to be in the middle looking in the back of someone’s head when you could have a prime viewing position. Once at home we’d have to walk around the block – the long way round, through the park – to find the Easter Bunny but by the time we got home he’d already left, leaving Easter eggs and chocolates hidden all over the garden.

I have such wonderful memories of Easter and I want my children to feel the same way about this special holiday.

Easter as a parent

The Easter Egg hunt continued way into adulthood. Now an Easter Egg hunt is something I enjoy with my own kids.

My kids are too small to walk around the block so I have to hide the eggs while they watch a quick tv show instead or play with some lego.

My husband also makes bunny prints using flour and then takes photos to show the kids that the Easter Bunny came to visit.

Creating Easter Traditions

I think it’s great to have traditions with your family, either something that’s been passed on or something that you start as a family now.

Should you be looking for your own new tradition here are a few of my thoughts on how to celebrate the Easter Sunday or prepare for it so that is a special holiday for the family.

In the lead up to Easter

1. Deliver Easter cards to your neighbours. This may be a bit random but a nice thought and a fun walk for the kids. Easter cards made by the kids and given to their friends is also a lovely way to spread the love.
2. Observe Lent. Lent is the period between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday characterised by fasting where you give up something to show your religious commitment or penance. For a religious understanding of lent, check out the United Methodist explanation.
3. Make Easter baskets for one another. Then on Easter Sunday open them up after breakfast in lieu of having an Easter Egg hunt. You get so many different types of nice baskets in the stores or you could have the kids decorate them – would make for a great craft afternoon!
4. Watch an Easter Movies together. There are a number of movies regardless of beliefs or tastes (Hop, It’s The Easter Beagle Charlie Brown, Springtime with Roo, The Dog who saved Easter and it can’t go unmentioned although not for kids: Passion of the Christ).
5. Eat Hot Cross buns. Even if you’re not a fan of raisins you can now get chocolate chip ones.
6. Make a Easter hat. This is very popular in schools in South Africa but I haven’t come across it as much in Australia.
7. Read Easter books together. Here is a list I found with 20 beautiful Easter books.
8. Make a wreath for your door or mantel piece. Use those decorative eggs, ribbon or flowers or wrapping paper and craft paper.
9. Print out some Easter colouring in pages and let the kids spend some time colouring in.
10. Cook with the kids. Spending time together making biscuits in the shapes of bunnies, hot cross buns or chocolate chip cookies.
11. Create a Easter Friday tradition – dinner and a movie together, a puzzle night or attending Mass.
12. Count down the days to Easter. Like an advent calendar but for Easter. This could co-incide with ;end or with every night that you read an easter book together.
13. Find and feed some bunnies. Just make sure you know what bunnies should be fed beforehand – here is some advice from Health Guidance Org.

On the day 

1. Easter egg hunt. Surely this is on the top of most lists. With ours it’s not just eggs but chocolate for adults and a toy for the kids, just something small. Everything gets hidden in the garden, at this stage in a small section but as the kids grow so too will the search region. Last year we attended a big Easter Egg Hunt in the Centennial Parklands in Sydney and it was a really special event.*
2. Easter picnic. The weather in Sydney in great this time of year and Easter is a special family time so remove yourselves from TVs / phones and iPads and head outdoors to enjoy a bite together.
3. An Easter Show. Across the world Easter time seems to bring with it a carnival / festival or show of some sort. I know families that have gone to the same festival year in year out since they were little kids. Sydney has the Royal Easter Show and the Easter Parade amongst other events.
4. Easter tea complete with hot cross buns. Traditionally, hot cross buns used to only be eaten on Good Friday but if you’re like me, you’ll try eat as many as humanly possible by the time you see them in the shops and then swear them off forever.
5. Family roast lunch. This would be similar to your Christmas lunch I suppose. It’s a nice excuse to get all the family together and focus on spending time with one another.
6. Attending a church service together. As a Christian family this is one of the most important Easter Traditions for us.

♦

* We attended the Great CP Egg Hunt in Centennial Parklands last year and loved it. Here is a link to the AllThingsMomSydney Review.