3 Simple + Meaningful Easter Traditions

Easter is one of our family’s favorite holidays. I purposefully create meaningful moments during the season of Lent leading up to Easter. Mike + I want to help the girls gain a deeper understanding of what Christ did for them.

I make our traditions simple so that they are easy to do as well as interactive to create memories.

Easter Books

Adding Easter books to our morning reading time is the easiest way to start thinking about the meaning of Easter. The first book we read each year for Easter is Amon’s Adventure: A Family Story for Easter. This book has a reading each day beginning on Lent and culminating on Easter day. It is a story about a young boy in ancient Israel who journey’s to save his father from being falsely accused and sentenced to be crucified.

Our Favorite Easter Books

• The Tale of Three Trees: A Traditional Folktale
• The Crippled Lamb
• The Parable of the Lily
• The Donkey Who Carried a King

A few years ago, we read the All-of-a-Kind Family series which is about a Jewish family raising 5 girls on New York’s upper east side on the eve of World War I. These books gave us a glimpse into the meanings of the Jewish holidays that take place leading up to Easter such as Purim and Passover. The books were page turners and it was worth taking the time to read them all.

Ukrainian eggs

My mom passed down the tradition of decorating Ukrainian eggs. This is an involved activity but well worth the time. My three girls love using the kistka to make designs on the eggs with beeswax. Each year we add our new designs to our collection. It is delightful to see the girls improve in their technique + detail.

Ukrainian Egg Supplies

• Eggs
• Kistka
• Beeswax
• Candle
• Paper towel
• Dye: Use permanent dye not the dye tablets
• Polyurethane spray

Instructions to create ukranian eggs

1. Prepare the eggs. Purchase white eggs that are not too cheap as you want the shells to be tougher. Put a hole in each of the sides of the eggs with a tack. Blow out the insides. It does take a lot of breathe but making the holes a bit bigger makes it a bit easier.
2. Heat up the end of the kistka over the candle. Use the heated kistka to scoop a small bit of beeswax. Reheat the kistka again to melt the beeswax inside the kistka.
3. Fill holes on the ends of the egg with wax. Build up the wax on the ends so that water does not enter into the holes when you are dyeing the eggs.
4. Trace your design onto your egg. The more intritricate you make your design the more detailed your egg looks. Scoop more beeswax as you run low in your kistka.
5. Dye your egg in a light color. Start with yellow, orange, or a light pink color. When making Ukrainian eggs you layer the wax and dyes so you will be dyeing your egg multiple times. Pat dry your egg with a paper towel.
6. Go back up to step 4. Add another layer of wax to your egg. Then dye your egg in a darker dye. I like to do at least 4 layers of wax + dye.
7. Melt the wax off your egg. Hold your egg over the candle but not so close that your egg gets discolored. Melt off the wax, wiping the egg with a paper towel and rotating the egg to take off all the wax.
8. Spray your egg with polyurethane. To protect your egg so it lasts many years spray a lite coat of polyurethane. Set to dry.

Cradle-to-cross wreath

We pull out our Cradle-to-Cross Wreath twice a year. This time of the year we use the Jesus carrying a cross figurine to move each day starting with Lent until Easter morning. It is the simple act of counting the 40 days of Lent and remembering the sacrifice Christ made for us that gives this season meaning for our family.

How does your family prepare for Easter?