what do you do (or not do!) for Easter?

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This is the question I posed to some of my favorite online pals: What will you be doing this Easter weekend? I’m always curious to see how others approach their holiday traditions, and I think you’ll love some of the stories I’ve gathered below. Make sure to check out everyone’s websites as well – we’ve got a talented selection of peeps here today!

Last year the Easter break here in Australia coincided with Earth Day so we planned a special getaway at a lovely farm just a few hours from home. On Easter Sunday the three of us went out at sunset equipped with our bunny years and hopped around hunting for eggs that had been strategically hidden around the farm. We had a really great time, especially my daughter who was only two years old at the time. Although I think the ones that probably had the best time were the family of goats that stared at us the whole time from behind a fence; probably wondering what on earth we were doing :-)

– Flavia, Petite Eco Kids

The funniest that comes to mind is one family Easter trip we took years ago back in Ireland. Renting a boat on the River Shannon(big river, popular holiday spot) it rained solidly for most of our holiday. Thankfully we had some friends with us and we had planned an Easter Bonnet competition. This ended up taking place in the teeny cabin, condensed windows, jackets on indoors, but bouts of hilarity as everyone donned their ludicrous creations. Although there was no bright light outside the sun certain shone in our boat. Wish I had a photo for you…

Moral of the story? No matter the weather, gather a group of old and young, set a creative task, have no expectations  and enjoy the results!

Jen, The Brothers Trimm

Our Easter is very low key and traditions are evolving and pretty young- both girls have only really been able to participate together for the last year or two. The key to a successful morning on the Easter egg hunt for us is-

* Absolutely identical hauls
* 50% labelled with one initial and 50% labelled with the other
* Hidden all over the garden with some strategically easy ones for lower frustration levels

That way they share the experience, help each other and and are both super excited and all is fun and games. And yes, I learned that from experience. Other than that, we do buy the big plastic eggs (so excellent for playing dinosaur farm the rest of the year) but we put our own treats in them and some smaller cooler pressies.

– Helen, numsi

My boys favorite part of Easter is dying and decorating eggs! Now that they are a little older (Christian is 5 and Carter is 3) they can have a little more fun, with mama’s help of coarse, dying their eggs and using sequins, buttons and feathers to add a little flair to each. I usually make up their baskets the night before Easter and they wake up to their baskets full of fun items which I wanted to do because as a child one of my favorite things was to wake up to my Christmas stocking (it kinda made me excited for what the rest of the day would hold)! We go to Easter sunday service with family and usually have a yummy homemade breakfast when we come home.
In Brasil the tradition is to give huge Chocolate eggs that are hallow and filled with more candy and sometimes toys. We have started making them with the boys now that they are older and they seem to love it.

Last year though I decided to go with the boys to get an Ostrich egg to color. We ended up making the biggest omelet EVER with the yolk and the boys had fun drilling the egg with daddy (yes, the shell is so hard we had to use a drill!) They then colored it and we still have it. It was something I think they will always remember and I am planning on taking them this year to do it again. They will both be able to pick their eggs and it’s fun to come home and compare it to the little chicken eggs in our fridge!

– Priscilla, Little Miss Heirlooms

our first tradition is a family easter egg hunt. my mother’s large extended family all gathers at my aunt and uncle’s house where each kid is given a bag and told how many eggs they can each collect. the kids line up by age and the littlest kids are let outside first with each group of older kids being let out in about 1 minute increments. the older kids know to leave the “easy” eggs for the little kids. once everyone has gathered their allotment, we all go inside and open the plastic eggs to discover, coins, candy, and small toys. it’s a huge hit with the little kids every year. (we collect the plastic eggs at the end to use the next year. recycle!)

our second tradition comes from my dad’s side of the family. every easter we play “king egg”. to play king egg, two people each pick an egg from the stash. the first person wraps one hand around their egg with the “pointy” end up. the second person then takes their egg with the “pointy” side down and takes his turn hitting the top of the first person’s egg, with the “pointy” end of his egg. (so that the pointy sides hit) if neither egg cracks, you repeat with the “rounded” side of the egg. whomever’s egg “survives” the battle without cracking has the “king egg”. your goal is to keep your “king egg” until all the eggs have been eaten throughout the easter holiday. sometimes you go through many “king” eggs before crowing the final “king”, and other times, one triumphs over the whole batch. after a little research we’ve found that this tradition/game stems from the greeks. not quite sure how my family ended up playing it since i’m not aware of any greek heritage.

-Lori, Paisley Wallpaper (and thanks Lori for the egg picture above!)

In the Small for Big household, we’re planning on continuing the Easter Egg Hunt tradition started my amazing mom, but I’m still a little fuzzy on the details of the whole thing. Getting up before my daughter to hide eggs outside sounds cold and dark – she gets up at, like, 6. But on Saturday we’ve heard rumors of a Helicopter Egg Drop – 1000 eggs falling from the sky! Crossing my fingers we’ll get to see that. Have an amazing spring weekend everyone!