How to Make Easter Meaningful for Your Kids
By Evan Page
Let’s face it, marketing geniuses have done a great job of taking meaningful holidays and turning our focus to “stuff.” This year it is anticipated that Americans will spend $17.3 billion on Easter alone! Instead of focusing on things for our kids this Easter, here is a list of ideas that can help our kids experience what this season is really about … JESUS!
Watch the Sunrise
Sounds pretty simple, but when was the last time you were intentional with your family time? Pick a morning to go watch the sunrise with everyone and take a minute to reflect on the story of Jesus and his resurrection. Read the Bible together, say a family prayer, or ask significant questions to engage everyone. (Example: “What would it have been like to go to the tomb that morning and find it empty?”)
“Egg” a friend’s house
I know what most of you are thinking, especially if you have teenagers! But this is an egg-ing you won’t mind taking part in! Grab some plastic eggs and fill them with Bible verses (maybe even fill a few with candy that ants can’t get!) and throw them in a friend’s yard. When they wake up the next morning, they will have a pleasant surprise that they won’t mind cleaning up and that will be encouraging to read.
Forget to Fill the Eggs
Every year my husband and I leave our yellow eggs empty on Easter morning. This gives us an opportunity to focus more on the meaning of Easter than on the surprise they get inside because they always ask why some of the eggs are empty. They might not understand the significance right now, but we want Jesus to be our focus on Easter. As kids get older, keep things challenging by switching up which eggs are empty.
Bake “Resurrection Rolls” Together
There are a ton of great recipes on the internet for these fun treats; but even better than getting to eat them, is taking advantage of another opportunity to tell your children the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection! Here are a few easy steps:
1) Read John 19 while you have the oven preheating.
2) Unroll your crescent rolls and explain how these are like the cloths Jesus was wrapped in.
3) Hand each child a marshmallow and relate the color white to how Jesus was pure and without sin.
4) Roll the marshmallow in melted butter to symbolize the embalming oils that were used before Jesus’ burial.
5) Roll the marshmallow in a combination of sugar and cinnamon, explaining that it represents the spices used to prepare Jesus’ body for burial.
6) Next, wrap each marshmallow in the crescent rolls. This represents how Jesus was wrapped before He was buried.
7) Place prepared crescent rolls in the oven (symbolizing the tomb) and bake according to the package.
8) Read John 20:1-18 while the rolls bake.
9) Once finished, remove the rolls let them cool for a few minutes. Pass each child a roll and let them open it up to find that the marshmallows are gone! This is to show Jesus’ resurrection.
However you do it, I challenge us as a community of believers to make this Easter season different. Let’s put our focus back on who Jesus is and what his death and resurrection means for us.
Evan Page lives in Hilton Head Island with her husband, Stephen, and her two boys, Merrick (3) and Wake (2), and they are expecting their third baby in August. She is currently a stay-at-home mom and most of her days are filled trying to capture adventures with her children on camera.