Have fun with your family each and every year by keeping your Easter traditions alive, and someday your kids will be passing them down to their own children.
1. Easter Eggs
This tradition goes all the way back to a time before Christianity, symbolizing spring, fertility, and new life. Originally hard-boiled eggs were exchanged as gifts, but nowadays these, of course, have been replaced by the much more commercial and appealing chocolate variety. The Easter bunny will be bringing chocolate eggs to children all over the country, and often hiding them in places around the home and garden for children to find.
Adult chocolate eggs are also more popular than ever, with an increasing range of eggs including alcohol.
The 12 Best Easter Eggs for 2018
2. The Easter Bunny
The Easter Bunny, a symbol of fertility, originates from 16th century Germany and has found its way over to the UK.
Today children are told and believe that if they are good, the Easter Bunny will leave chocolate eggs and treats for them on the night before Easter.
There are several ways to encourage your children to believe in the Easter bunny including explaining the story to them and leaving your kids a note from the bunny with their gifts. You could also leave out water and a carrot (we all know bunnies love carrots) and have your child find them nibbled at in the morning, as well as leave bunny footprints on the floor and cotton balls as bunny fur.
3. Bake Easter Goodies
Easter is a time to get creative with baking, whether it be making traditional Simnel Cake and Hot Cross Buns, or bunny & chicken shaped cupcakes & biscuits. Baking Easter goodies is a fantastic fun experience to share with the kids.
Simnel Cake
Simnel Cake, a fruitcake often decorated with marzipan balls has been the traditional way of breaking the fast on the middle Sunday of lent since medieval times.
Simnel Cake from Fortnum & Mason
Hot Cross Buns
These buns are made using spiced raisins, marked with a cross before baking, and usually eaten toasted with melted butter. They were originally served on Good Friday but are now a popular treat throughout the Easter festivities.
4. Plant Parsley and an Easter Flower Garden
Easter is a happy reminder that winter is over, and spring has arrived. The perfect way to celebrate this is by planting some seeds such as marigolds and petunias with your kids and creating a beautiful flower garden. Another very ancient tradition is to plant parsley which is meant to bring good luck to women.
Palmers Garden Centre
Garden Creation Services
5. Create Easter Arts and Crafts
A Big part of celebrating Easter traditions is creating arts and crafts with your kids such as dyeing and painting eggs, making Easter baskets, drawing and colouring Easter characters, making clay ornaments, and designing Easter cards to give to family and friends.
Dyeing & Painting Eggs
This is for most of us a cherished memory from our childhood, and one to pass on to our children and our children’s children.
You can create your own using actual eggs, or buy plastic and polystyrene alternatives from craft shops that can be painted and decorated.
Ribbon Hanging Plastic Eggs from Baker Ross
Polystyrene Eggs from The Works
Making Easter Baskets
You can purchase Easter baskets and add the different chocolate and non-edible contents or have fun making the baskets yourself using simple household items and a few craft supplies. This is lots of fun for children while encouraging them to be generous by giving to others.
Easter Basket Ideas
Easter Flamingo Basket by John Lewis
6. Watch Easter Movies
Easter is all about family time, and what better way to spend time with the family than snuggling up on the sofa to watch a film together. Alternatively, make it an outing and catch the latest easter movie at your local cinema
Top 12 Easter Films of All Time
7. Maundy Money
Since the 4th century, leaders of Christian countries have given out Maundy money and performed other acts of public humility at Easter.
In Britain every year (dating back to Edward 1), on the Thursday before Good Friday, the Queen takes part in the Ceremony of the Royal Maundy and hands out special purses of coins to deserving senior citizens who have worked in their community.
8. Easter Bonnets & Parades
Children up and down the country will make and decorate Easter bonnets both at home and in schools which they will wear in parades and take part in competitions.
Easter Bonnets from HobbyCraft
Easter Bonnet Ideas
9. Attend an Easter Event
There are all the usual parades, egg hunts, bonnet contests, as well as the much more unusual events such as egg rolling and bottle kicking that take place in different areas of the country. One particular event that stands out is in my home county of Leicestershire.
Bottle-kicking & Hare Pie Scramble, Leicestershire
For the last 200 years, on Easter Monday, the inhabitants of the Leicestershire villages of Hallaton and Medbourne have taken part in this bottle-kicking tradition.
The event starts with a parade through the villages of Medbourne and Hallaton, where locals carry a large hare pie and the three “bottles”, which are in fact small barrels.
There are virtually no rules to the bottle-kicking, except that there is no eye-gouging, no strangling, and no use of weapons. It’s therefore quite a rough contest, and I’m told the emergency services are generally on standby.
More info on 2018 Bottle-Kicking Event
Whatever you choose to do, one thing is for sure, you can keep the whole family entertained over the Easter holidays by browsing the fantastic selection of events we have put together happening in your local area.
The Best 2018 Easter Events happening in The East Midlands
10. Easter Egg Hunt
One of the most enjoyable activities, especially for younger children is to participate in a chocolate egg hunt. This is something that can be done in your own home and garden or join an event in your local area. Hide plastic eggs containing chocolates and other treats and gifts around your home with clues for your children to find. They don’t have to just contain chocolates, I usually include some small toys as well, reducing their sugar intake a little. You don’t have to limit this to just the one day either, it’s nice to spread the fun throughout the Easter holidays.
Easter Egg Hunt Supplies
Check out Snizl Events feed for Easter Egg hunts available in your local area
11. Morris Dancers
Morris dancing is a traditional English form of folk dance consisting of a complex choreography involving belts and sticks as well as costumes with hats, ribbons, and bells around their ankles. The Morris Men, and now women, dance through the streets in towns and cities up and down the country around Easter celebrating the coming of spring. This is a tradition that has been taking place since the 15th century.
Check out Snizl Events feed for Morris Dancers in your local area
12. Host an Easter Brunch
This is the perfect way to encourage family, friends, and loved ones to spend time around the table together in the home, or often the first time of the year to eat outside in the garden.
It’s fun to plan an Easter brunch menu and maybe some exciting party activities too.
Easter Competitions
We have lots of great giveaways in our Easter Competitions, so what are you waiting for. Good Luck and Happy Easter from all of us at Snizl!
Easter Competitions
Easter is nearly here, and to help get you into the festive fun, we have lots of fabulous Easter giveaways