Focusing On Christ During The Easter Season

I have always found it ironic that we celebrate the Christmas season for nearly a month, yet many people only celebrate Easter one day out of the year.

To help our family truly celebrate Easter and what it means, the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we have started a few new traditions over the course of the last couple of years.

One thing we do is a countdown-to-Easter activity which is known by a myriad of names – the 12 Days of Easter, The Easter Egg Story, Easter Story In Eggs and Resurrection Eggs.  You can find a description of this here. The first night we do this activity, we also read an easy-to-understand kids picture book that depicts the birth, life and ministry of Christ.  [Note - this activity can be started tonight as you count down the 12 days until Easter, or it can also be done as a single lesson.  It is quite easy to gather all the items you need.]

Another tradition we started last year is after the kids are in bed on Easter Eve, I put up dozens of pictures of Christ around the house.  Most of the pictures I use come from old calendars.

I do this because on Easter morning I want the kids to wake up and remember what a sacred and special holiday it is.  I also want them to see the pictures all day long so they can be reminded that Easter is about the life of Christ and the gift He gave us, the Atonement.  It is not all about chocolate bunnies, colored eggs and jelly beans.

We still like to do simple Easter baskets in our family, but we typically give these to the kids on the Saturday morning before Easter.  I know some people who give the kids their baskets on the first day of Spring.  After all, Easter is also the celebration of new life and Spring symbolizes this.

On Easter morning we give the kids a little something, but it is normally something that is centered on Christ.  A new picture of Him, a pencil with a scripture on it, or stickers of the Savior.

Recently I also made some marble magnets that tie in beautifully with Easter.

Here is a tutorial on how to make these.  They are incredibly easy.  And instead of using pictures of Christ, I actually used stickers I had on hand.

I know we all have different ways we like to celebrate holidays.  The ideas I have shared work well for us.  Each family unit is unique so it is up to us to figure out what works best for our own families.  However, I would love to hear what works for you.  What are some of your favorite things to do to celebrate Easter?

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