With Easter coming up we are all bombarded with the Easter bunny, eggs (since when do bunnies lay eggs?), candy, toys, bubbles, candy, did I mention toys?
I know for me I am wanting to teach the real meaning of Easter to my kids.
So today I thought I would give some tips on how to share the real story of Easter with your kids:
- Don’t be shy – I know for me I struggle with the “how do I explain to my kids about Jesus dying on the cross for our sins?” How do we explain sin? How do we explain death? But one thing I learned there is no need to get to in depth, just explain that Jesus died on the cross for our sin and Easter is when He conquered death and went into heaven to be with God to wait for us. I have also noticed that my younger kids don’t really question it, they just accept it. My oldest daughter understands it more but I like to remind her that if she has any questions then I am here to answer them.
- The Real Meaning Behind the Easter Egg – Yesterday when my husband and I were walking through the aisles of toys, candy, and bunnies that lay eggs at Target, I asked my husband “What do eggs have to do with bunnies?” And the smart man that he is said the eggs actually is suppose to represent the shape of the rock that was in front of Jesus’ grave! I thought how cool is that? What a great little fact to share with your kids as they wake up on Easter morning to start their Easter egg hunt.
- Be Honest – I know I am going to get some grief for this one, but I am a big believer of telling my kids the truth about the Easter bunny, Tooth Fairy, and Santa Clause. In our house these characters are just that characters – like Dora the Explorer or Elmo.
I don’t believe revealing this to my kids is robbing them of their innocence, my kids still play make believe (probably more than the next kid, they make believe A LOT! – probably because they have nothing better to do, lol!) If you ask me I think we rob our kids of their innocence when we fail to set up boundaries on what type of music they listen to, the TV shows and movies they watch, and the clothes we allow them to wear. I feel being honest about the Easter bunny helps to keep the true meaning of Easter in perspective.
So those are my tips, please feel free to share yours in the comments below!
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So glad you joined in!
Love these tips, Heather. I blew the whistle on the Easter Bunny too
That is a smart husband indeed, never thought of the connection to the stone in front of the tomb before! Cool.
We don’t do an easter egg/chocolate hunt at our house (like I need the chocolate temptation in the house lol!) We give each child a gift and explain how Jesus gave us a free gift too…then we read the Easter story from the Zondervan Kid’s Bible. Might even get my 10 yr old to read it to my 4 yr old this year.
We had a set of the resurrection eggs at one point. Unfortunately the cat found them to be quite intriguing and they have disappeared. They were a nice visual aid to go with the story!
Wow, Marlo that is a great idea about the free gift and the story. We may have to implement this tradition as well! Thank you for sharing.
Great Tips!
We did the same with our kids. They knew that Santa, the Easter Bunny, etc., were make-believe and that it was really Mommy and Daddy who put out the presents, etc. But we still played like that Santa did. Same way with the Tooth Fairy, and our son was always amazed when he was little how the money got under his pillow without him knowing when we did it.
We let them believe for a while.. but we are really clear on the REAL meaning of the holidays as well.
I was floored when I found out about why Easter changes… each year the Sunday? Due to the phases of the moon?? following a pagan ancient holiday calendar!