Easter & Kids

[Redguard]

When doing Easter-type stuff with your kids, do you incorporate the non-biblical stuff like Easter Eggs and Bunnies?

Or do you try to keep it about the resurrection of Christ, and discourage the other stuff?

 

[lsrichey]

I grew up in church and knew the Easter Bunny was not real. I never got any thing from the Easter bunny. If I got a basket of candy I knew it was from Mom & Dad. We did however have Easter egg hunts. The adults hid the eggs and the kids would stay inside and wait. Then the kids would be turned out to hunt them. I have carried that same tradition to my kids. They know Easter is about Jesus dying on the cross and be risen again. The egg hunt is a fun game for them. I don't buy the normal candy like the creme eggs, I use plastic eggs and fill them with Reeses PB cups, gummy bears, sweet tarts and other candy they like. Nothing that they or myself doesn't like.

 

[karla]

We incorporate both - my daughter knows the true menaing of Easter (my son is getting there, but is still young)

 

[andiesmama]

As some of you guys know, my daughter is just 2 1/2 (3 at the end of June)...so how do you start to explain the whole concept of Easter to someone this age? I've been wondering about that, too.

I've started talking about it a little bit, comparing it to Christmas (which she knows is Jesus' birthday) by saying that Easter is coming soon and that's when we celebrate Jesus, like we do at Christmas...I just don't know that she could grasp the whole "He is Risen" thing, you know?

But to answer the OP...I still plan on having the Easter Bunny leave an Easter basket, we hunt for eggs, etc. But just like Christmas (ie: Santa)...she'll know the true meaning behind the holiday, the extra stuff is just for "fun".

 

[okiemommy26]

We do both.

 

[lucypevensie]

Both here too.

 

[Zoomer]

We do both.

 

[daisyduck]

We do both too. When the kids get older, and question if the easter bunny is real we tell them the truth, but we include them in the fun of doing the easter bunny stuff with thier younger siblings.

 

[HeatherJay]

We do both, too. But we stress that the important part Easter is all about the death and resurrection...and that the Easter bunny and eggs are just something fun that we do.

As for explaining it to little ones, maybe start off by stressing how much Jesus loves us...He loves us so much that He wanted us to be with Him forever in heaven...and then explain as the get a little older, in words that they can understand, the way He made that possible. If your child has had no experience with death (the death of a grandparent or something) it might be a difficult concept for the younger ones to grasp. But, I think it's important that they begin to hear the Scriptures early on...maybe get a children's story bible or something to start off with?

 

[Gerry_NY]

My wife and I don't do the Easter Bunny thing. Nor do we do Santa or the Tooth Fairy. We still do the baskets and we have egg hunts. We do the fun things, but we also try to have them understand that Easter is really the time to reflect that Jesus died on the cross and then on Easter, was ressurected to defeat death.

It's a lot to grasp at my childrens age...the whole concept of Jesus on the Cross, though 3 of my 4 children are saved...PRAISE THE LORD!

 

[suzybeezy]

We have made it a family tradition to see a play about Easter that a collective group of churches puts on each year. Its very well done. It's good that the kids are reminded in a vivid clear manner what the season is about. It brings each of us to tears. It is done in a manner that even the young ones can yield an understanding from it. And the uplifting pride that fills us when the entire place is singing out "He's Alive". It is fantastic. It's one thing to tell them the story, but to get the chance to show them what it was possibly like in those days is really wonderful.

 

[erin74]

We are stealing two great ideas from friends.

1. - Hollow easter eggs remind us that the tomb was empty - so we can use that as a better illustration than the bunny.

2. - Having a Jesus is alive party on Easter Sunday. They read the easter story to their kids (all under 5) from a kids bible, over the weekend. Then on Sunday have a "Jesus is Alive" party and invite some other friends around.

Now I just have to work out how to incorporate my sons 1st birthday or else I have to have 2 parties in 1 week!!!! Not keen at all!

 

[katelyn]

I know someone who does Resurrection Cookies with their kids...

http://www.annieshomepage.com/resurrectioncookies.html

 

[faith177]

we do not do the easter bunny, last year my hubby made a clue hunt using bible verses that he hid around a park and some of the clues had dollar bills in it. They had to use their bibles to figure out the clues, It was really fun.

 

[yeshuaskid]

I think this one is just like the Christmas questions. We teach our daughter about the real meaning of Easter but, we do the baskets and eggs, too. In fact, she has a carton of eggs that we got from the Christian book store that tells the Easter story. Each egg opens to reveal something else. For example, one has a nail in it and another one has a whip. I really like using it.