I don't know about you, but I always get the same questions every year from friends and family members, How can I explain Easter to my kids? To answer that question, I first have to answer the question...What's the bunny got to do with it? Well, I went on google and went on several blogs to see what other parents are saying about this and here is what they said:
What is the story of the Easter Bunny anyway?
"you know i have no idea!"
"i just know its a giant bunny who hops around the world and hands out baskets of eggs and toys and candy to the good boys and girls. kinda creepy if you think abt it. how it started and why i don't know."
"LOL, I'm actually trying to google it, it makes no sense. Rabbits are fertile, birds are fertile, let's mesh them together to symbolize spring and tell the kids if they're good a rabbit will lay eggs for them and bring them goodies, is what I'm getting."
"think the Easter bunny story is German in origin."
"The symbols of the Norse Goddess Ostara were the hare and the egg. Both represented fertility. From these, we have inherited the customs and symbols of the Easter egg and Easter rabbit."
Now let me tell What the real meaning of Easter is or Resurrection Sunday and how to explain it to your Children.
When my children where very young everyone around us was celebrating Easter with the typical pastel eggs full of candy and treats and baskets full of gifts. I wanted my kids to understand what an important day, NO! was THE most important day for us Christians. So I started to look for alternatives to the "typical" Easter egg hunt and I came across a wonderful book, Benjamin's Box by Melody Carlson to be used with The Resurrection Eggs. To those of you that don't know what the Resurrection Eggs are??? I will explain below. My kids were like any other kids, they loved candy! I would go and buy the pretty pastel plastic eggs at the 99 cent Store and fill them up with a bunch of candy and hide them all over our back yard along with our Resurrection eggs (NOTE: I wrote the pg. # on the egg that corresponded to the book) they look exactly the same :) When they were done picking the eggs, I would read the book Benjamin's Box to them. As we went along and the book indicated to open up a Resurrection Egg we would discover an item inside the egg that would explain what happened to Jesus on the day He was crucified. It was great, because it wasn't scary it was a children's book with the real story of Easter! It was a little boy "Benjamin" seeing first hand what was happening to Jesus on that day when He was crucified for you and me for our sins. He collects several items and puts them on a small box and later is able to tell others of Jesus and how He had Risen from the dead!
Do you want to read more about it? It's all in the Bible in the books of Matthew, Mark, John!
Resurrection Eggs: You can buy sets of resurrection eggs or you can make your own. To make your own, label 12 plastic eggs with the numbers 1-12 and fill them as below:
- Egg 1 – a piece of fur or a toy donkey to represent the donkey Jesus rode into Jerusalem
- Egg 2 – a cracker symbolizing the Last Supper
- Egg 3 – a piece of soap, symbolizing Jesus washing the disciples’ feet
- Egg 4 – three dimes to symbolize the 30 pieces of silver Judas received to betray Jesus
- Egg 5 – a feather to represent the rooster that crowed three times
- Egg 6 – a thorn, symbolizing the crown of thorns that was put on Jesus’ head
- Egg 7 – a die to symbolize the lots that were cast for Jesus’ clothing
- Egg 8 – a small wooden cross or a nail to represent Jesus’ death on the cross
- Egg 9 – a piece of black paper to symbolize the darkness that covered the earth
- Egg 10 – a piece of cloth to symbolize the cloth in which Joseph wrapped Jesus’ body
- Egg 11 – a rock to symbolize the stone that sealed Jesus’ tomb
- Egg 12 – Leave this egg empty to symbolize Jesus’ resurrection
The most important thing is that our kids don't forget the real reason on why we celebrate Easter. It is because Jesus Christ our Lord, Savior, God and King, came to this earth, to pay a debt He did not owe, because we owed a debt we could not pay. We needed someone to wash away our sins and that was Christ Jesus our Savior!
Happy Resurrection Day!
