Easter!!

[louandivy]

Is anyone else REALLY excited for Easter? I'm not really a Christmas person but even though I am not Christian I love how Easter comes around the beginning of spring and the end of Winter woohooo! So I have already got loads of things planned for Easter; making Easter bonnets, getting my friend with a bunny to come round as the 'easter bunny', obviously choosing a good chocolate egg, making little chick nest cupcakes, and I was also going to do lots of painting of eggs with Ivy in the weeks leading up to Easter day and then use them all in a treasure hunt for her chocolate egg! Any other ideas?

Also if you want to get your little one excited about easter show them this little short, Ivy thinks its the most hilarious thing she has ever seen in her life:

 

[LockandKey]

I'm excited I already bought DD her Easter dress, and our family always has Easter egg hunts outside for all the children. Last year DD couldn't participate as she wasn't yet mobile, but now she is walking and picking up things, I can show her how to look for eggs and put them in her basket. I can't wait! Also, she can help color eggs, and I look forward to filling her little basket with goodies too!

 

[RachA]

I do really like Easter. I am a Christian so like Easter from that point of view. But i do also enjoy setting up egg hunts etc. We don't really decorate in a big way - i have a few little decorations i put up and the children have paper chains they make.
We usually use my in laws garden to set up the egg hunt as they have more interesting places to put them.

I have to say though that i don't like all the Easter chocolates in the shops as early as they are.

 

[DonnaBallona]

LouandIvy, thanks for sharing that short, it's fab! Brooke loved it! x

 

[Natsku]

Not really excited about easter as Maria can't eat chocolate so no easter eggs (and don't get good ones here anyway, just kinder surprise style eggs made out of crappy chocolate) but I might dress Maria up as a witch for Palm Sunday as is the tradition here though she's too young to go round people's houses getting sweeties in exchange for a blessing oh well maybe next year

 

[LockandKey]

Not really excited about easter as Maria can't eat chocolate so no easter eggs (and don't get good ones here anyway, just kinder surprise style eggs made out of crappy chocolate) but I might dress Maria up as a witch for Palm Sunday as is the tradition here though she's too young to go round people's houses getting sweeties in exchange for a blessing oh well maybe next year

I don't like giving DD too much candy, so I'm currently looking online for a bunch of toddler easter basket ideas that involve no candy, and very little sugar, there's actually a ton of great ideas, I'm quite surprised. It's always been tradition in our family to give little easter baskets in the morning, so it's just something I gotta do Also, do you color eggs? Like the hard boiled eggs with the coloring in the little cups? That doesn't involve candy and is so much fun to do, messy, but fun

 

[Natsku]

Not really excited about easter as Maria can't eat chocolate so no easter eggs (and don't get good ones here anyway, just kinder surprise style eggs made out of crappy chocolate) but I might dress Maria up as a witch for Palm Sunday as is the tradition here though she's too young to go round people's houses getting sweeties in exchange for a blessing oh well maybe next year

I don't like giving DD too much candy, so I'm currently looking online for a bunch of toddler easter basket ideas that involve no candy, and very little sugar, there's actually a ton of great ideas, I'm quite surprised. It's always been tradition in our family to give little easter baskets in the morning, so it's just something I gotta do Also, do you color eggs? Like the hard boiled eggs with the coloring in the little cups? That doesn't involve candy and is so much fun to do, messy, but fun

Never did that in my family but could give it a go. In my family our traditions were soft boiled eggs and soldiers for breakfast (can't do that as Maria is allergic) and chocolate easter egg hunt (I guess I could let Maria hunt for the eggs and I'll eat them )

 

[wishuwerehere]

My LO is probably going to her dad's for easter weekend so my current plans involve too many mini eggs and a little bit of crying...

 

[RaspberryK]

We used to do die eggs by picking flowers and lichen, wrap in onion skin and blue string with my nana and go egg rolling.
I'm dieting and I don't want lo to have Easter eggs.
I don't think we'll be doing anything.
X

 

[RileysMummy]

I like easter Last year my friend organised an egg hunt and Millie loved it so hope to go to another this year. Going to do some easter themed craft x

 

[mumandco]

I'm really not fussed on Easter I'm not a Christian so don't celebrate that side of it and we don't buy a load of eggs.But we do buy a present and one or 2 choc eggs We do Easter crafts in the run up because the boys enjoy it but it not a huge deal.

This year though wel either have a very new baby or an overdue mummy

 

[Jchihuahua]

I don't get that excited about Easter really. We have an Easter egg hunt in the garden and the kids wear new clothes but that is about all we do really.

 

[RedRose]

Ahh that sounds lovely. Last year we did an Easter egg hunt over at my parents place- they have a fruit farm so it took ages! We used little Lindt animals instead of eggs and I made a felt basket. Oh man it was so fun!

You should look on pintrest- I bet there's loads of ideas on there.

Also, if you're focusing on the spring aspect, check out Waldorf season/nature tables. They are so cute, I really want to start one with Lily.

 

[EstelSeren]

As we're not Christian we won't be celebrating Easter per se, more we'll postpone the celebration of Ostara so that it corresponds with Easter simply because it's more convenient as my husband has time off! It's quite nice as a lot of the more secular elements of Easter (eggs, Easter bunny, etc) are associated with Ostara so the common traditions in Western society work quite well!
Ostara- 20-21 March
Festival of Ostara (Eostre), the Spring Goddess. This is a festival of renewal, rejoicing and fertility, although for most of the Northern People, the forces of Winter are still at full sway. In ancient times, the gift of colored eggs to one's friends and loved ones was a way of wishing them well for the coming season; a magical ritual of prosperity and fecundity. The rabbit was the symbol of this festival as well because of it's re-emergence during this season, and for its reproductive ability. These two rituals have survived into the modern holiday of Easter (which derives its name from Eostre) as Easter eggs and the Easter bunny. Like most ancient heathen rituals, they are relegated into the world of children; held for naught among adults; but the race memory lingers on.

Tanwen's still trying to get through her chocolate from Christmas at the moment so we're probably not going to give her a lot of chocolate and get her some toys or something instead (not that we'd know where to put more new toys!)!

Beca :wave:

 

[louandivy]

Ahh that sounds lovely. Last year we did an Easter egg hunt over at my parents place- they have a fruit farm so it took ages! We used little Lindt animals instead of eggs and I made a felt basket. Oh man it was so fun!

You should look on pintrest- I bet there's loads of ideas on there.

Also, if you're focusing on the spring aspect, check out Waldorf season/nature tables. They are so cute, I really want to start one with Lily.

Ahhh thanks Rose, thats a gorgeous idea!

I've never really been into Easter much before and I'm not religious - I just am SO excited about the end of Winter and love the idea of having a spring celebration this year, I just had a sudden realisation that Easter is potentially a really fun little holiday for kids!

Does anyone know where I could get some cheap plastic/any other material eggs for painting? I've decided that every morning in March we are going to paint a new egg to use in our treasure hunt but the idea of blowing a real egg every day sounds like waaayyyy too much hassle

 

[LuckyD]

I always loved Easter as a kid! We used to blow eggs and decorate them too. Try dripping wax from a candle on them, then rolling them in food colouring, then peeling the wax off - makes lovely patterns!

Also, my partner's family used to have a cute tradition where they would decorate an Easter Box to keep their eggs in. Just a shoe box or something, but coloured in/painted and with pictures stuck on it, and then you go for a walk and pick grass, flowers, leaves etc to put in the box for the Easter Bunny to leave the eggs.

I think my LO is a bit young this year but next year I am looking forward to all this!