Treasuring Christ in our Easter Traditions
Easter is the most important Christian holiday. If Jesus had not died on the cross and risen from the dead, we would have no hope in this world. As Christians, our faith would be meaningless, and we would be the fools to be pitied. (1 Corinthians 15:14-20)
It is thus important to think through our Easter traditions. The Bible does not command that we celebrate Easter, but as intentional parents who want to turn every opportunity into a time to teach about Jesus, this holiday is a no-brainer. It is the core of the gospel and the Christian message.
In our family, we have focused on the Christ-centered activities and traditions around Easter, for as with most holidays, the world has its own message.
Easter is not about a new Easter bonnet (in the olden days), a new dress, patent leather shoes, egg hunts, and candy (though none of these things in themselves are wrong.)
Easter is also not about the Easter Bunny, another generous and mythical character like Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy. Again, pretending there is an Easter Bunny or Santa or Tooth Fairy are not wrong, and we don’t condemn those who choose to pretend with their children.
But in seeking to be intentional, we choose not to pretend these things since it can bring confusion about what is true and what is pretend. After all, the Bible contains supernatural stories and the gospel message requires faith. If we as parents want our children to believe in the Easter Bunny, Santa and the Tooth Fairy, but later tell them they are not real, our children may also come to a point where they do not believe Jesus and the Bible are real. (I know of a college professor who made this connection to help derail the faith of his students.)
So we want to be clear about what is truth and what is fiction, and we choose to focus on Jesus in our Easter traditions (and Christmas traditions) and the true and freeing stories of Easter and Christmas.
Spring lends itself to discussions of new life, so baby bunnies and eggs from which come baby chicks can be part of our Christian message. But again, Easter is not about the bunny, it is about the Lamb. So for Easter, our most intentional activities are reading the Bible and having devotions around the scenes of Christ’s arrest, crucifixion and resurrection in the Gospels.
Here are my favorite Easter activities for teaching about Christ’s sacrificial death and Resurrection.
Resurrection Eggs
One of our favorite ways to teach and review the Easter story with young children is with Resurrection Eggs. These are a dozen plastic, colored eggs, each with a symbol of the story of holy week. The first egg contains a donkey to symbolize Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and the last egg is empty to represent the empty tomb and thus, Jesus’ resurrection. Family Life sells a premade rendition of these eggs with a devotional guide, and this has become a favorite tradition of our children for Easter.
Resurrection Eggs could also be combined with an Easter egg hunt. While some eggs could be traditional with a gift of candy or a favor inside, some of the eggs could be the Resurrection Eggs with the symbols of the story. After an egg hunt, the children open their eggs, and we lay out the symbols in order and read the Easter story as a devotion. Or you can learn how to make your own here.
Resurrection Rolls
These are a fun object lesson combined with a yummy treat. This simple recipe uses Crescent rolls and a disappearing marshmallow to represent the empty tomb! Learn how to make these here.
Resurrection Garden
Another fun visual lesson of the empty tomb is a Resurrection garden. If you plant it several weeks before Easter, it can be a decorative conversation piece for Easter day, or plant it while telling the Easter story on Easter week. Here are the directions for your own Resurrection garden.
Jelly Bean Prayer
This is a lovely way to share the gospel story with friends. Buy jelly beans and make small bags with these color. Print out the poem, attach it to the bag, and give to friends to tell them the gospel story.
Music Easter Traditions
As a music-loving family, some of our Easter traditions also include listening to quality music like Handel’s Messiah. Have you ever heard the Hallelujah Chorus? It’s from Messiah!
Our Investigating Messiah Oratorio unit study also works well as an Easter devotional!
Messiah is an oratorio by George Frideric Handel, which focuses on prophecies of the coming Messiah (chosen one of God to save humanity from their sins), his birth as Jesus Christ, his suffering, death, resurrection, ascension, and his ultimate victory over sin. Messiah oratorio brings to life the whole gospel story!
In Investigating Messiah Oratorio, your family will go through 25 days of lessons to break down the larger work of Messiah into smaller sections of short listening pieces and focusing on the individual Scriptures. This also combines music appreciation with art appreciation, as in each lesson, there is an artwork related to one of the Bible verses for the day. You and your children will also learn about the composer, Handel, and the Baroque Era of classical music.
With 25 days of lessons, this makes a great Easter devotional/unit study combined, or it is suitable to use part of it for a short Christmas unit study and part of it for an Easter unit study.
Favorite Easter books for children
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The Donkey Who Carried a King
The Tale of Three Trees
The Legend of the Easter Egg
Amon’s Adventure
Of course, it is essential for us to preach the gospel to ourselves every day all year long. While these activities may make the most of teaching our children about Easter, it is my prayer for all of us that we show gratitude every single day that we live for the sacrificial love of Christ, who willingly took on death and paid for our sins and who rose from the dead, conquering death and sin once for all.
Happy Easter every day! He is risen!
Jus’ Classical is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. You can help support Jus’ Classical at no extra cost to you when you purchase anything through our link to Amazon.
