Easter Traditions

I’m a mom to two cunning and adventurous boys, aged almost four and two, and even though I’ve been in the parent role for almost four years, I feel like I’m still fairly new to the family tradition-starting game. I don’t even want to get into my response to my toddler pointing out that Santa did indeed look a lot like Grandpa; I will forever remember not having a clever response to his shocking observation. Therefore, for Easter, I wanted to be on my game, so I asked around my mom-circle of friends for some crafty new-age and old-family Easter traditions. Here were a few egg-tastic ideas I came across!

 

Growing Your Own Egg Grass

Many families, including mine, put together big baskets of goodies and toys for their children. It’s a real treat to follow the trail of Easter eggs to the treasure basket at the end, right? Well for this tradition, instead of using that plastic grass or green paper shreddings for the bottom, it’s a neat idea to grow the grass yourself ahead of time – with your kids! My family purchased wheatgrass from the farmer’s market and are currently taking turns watering it until the big day. I explained to my boys that the Easter Bunny needs to have a place to leave his gifts to us, so we need to grow some grass for him to hide our presents. They really like helping me take care of it; it gives them some responsibility and excites them quite a bit. It’s also cheaper than the plastic grass and will go nicely in our smoothies afterwards. Plus, it won’t end up all over my floor or in the landfill.

 

Planting Magic Beans

This was the cutest tradition I’d ever heard of and I can’t wait to do it with my family! The evening before the Easter Bunny arrives, my family and I will be planting jellybeans in our garden. Yes, that is correct! We will be digging holes in the soil, putting candy jellybeans inside, burying and watering them. The next morning (with a little help from Mom), the jellybeans will have sprouted into large, muti-coloured lollipops (or peeps on sticks, I haven’t decided yet)! This will be the sweetest tradition because any lollipop-shaped treats are my children’s favourite candy and I know I will be catching amazing memories on camera!

 

Visiting a Farm

One of my mom friends told me she takes her kids to a farm once or twice around the Easter holidays. This really makes me think of spring because you’re bound to see bounding lambs, chirping chicks, and porky piglets. I think this is a great idea for a spring outing and is sure to teach young ones about outdoor farm activities. If you’re interested in making this a tradition, I recommend Prairie Gardens just north of Edmonton. They are opening a little later this year than normal (May 1^st) but they always have great farm activities, including a petting zoo, and festivals (click here)!

 

Easter Scavenger Hunts – In the Dark

Lots of families do the chocolate and toy scavenger hunts, even personalized ones or ones with riddles and clues! I love the idea of all of them as my parents also did these for us while growing up, but have you ever heard of an Easter egg scavenger hunt at night!? When my tots are a little older, I will certainly be bringing the fun with this game! What you do is get the plastic Easter egg containers, the chocolate eggs or toys, and glow-in-the-dark bracelets – crack the bracelets, add them and the chocolate to the Easter egg containers, turn off all the lights and hide them. I’m certain no child will forget this cool and spooky Easter tradition (beware of terri-fried little chickens)!

 

Rainbow Brunch

Again, many people probably recall the lovely family brunch they grew accustomed to on Easter morning, cracking open and enjoying numerous coloured eggs (after handfuls of chocolate I’m sure). But a few Mom friends of mine have brought the Easter egg coloured breakfast one step further – rainbow pancakes! Just separate your favourite pancake batter into different bowls and add food colouring. Watch the happy faces enjoy their rainbow stack of pancakes with their favorite juice (which you can also add colour to)!

 

Egg Carton Picnic

This one is also really cute – instead of using plates for our Easter picnic at the park, we will be eating out of egg cartons! And I have so many cartons saved up already, it won’t be hard at all. Cut up some cheese, broccoli, carrots celery, nuts, raisins (all of the Easter Bunny’s favourites of course) and add them to their own egg compartment for a portable lunch outdoors! Of course, one of the egg compartments will have chocolate eggs; I’m not a total Momster.

 

Remnants of the Easter Bunny

Lastly, try this one out if you enjoy a goofy way to end the holiday (it’s a total Dad joke but hilarious; I’m a comedi-hen myself). Take those jellybeans you planted in the garden (since no one wants to eat them now) and put them in the toilet bowl. Add a sign from the Easter Bunny to the inside of the toilet lid that reads, “Easter Bunny was here – Sorry I forgot to flush!”

If your kids are old enough to read, they’ll either love it or be disgusted – if this joke is a bad egg, don’t blame me, I only laid the table!

 

Add Your Easter Story

If you have Easter traditions you’d like to share, please feel free to leave a comment or story! I know we’re all funny-side-up yolkers here!