If celebrating Easter with Peeps, bunnies, and eggs makes you feel like you are pushing the real meaning of Easter to the back-burner, then I completely understand. I have felt that way since my first son was born.
In order to help myself, and other parents who may feel the same as I do, I have made it a point to discover ways to bring meaning to Easter for toddlers.
Swap the Eggs and Bunnies for Crosses and Lambs
“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’” –John 1:29 (New International Version)
Jesus is the lamb and he died on the cross. These symbols hold high significance in Christianity and can easily be incorporated into Easter.
One thing you can do is make homemade marshmallow rice treats or cookies, and put them in an Easter basket to replace Peeps or other candy. You can easily shape these into crosses with a stencil, or grab a cross cookie cutter, which I have seen carried at Wal-Mart and Target in the Easter sections.
If you like to bake a cake for Easter, consider a cute lamb cake or grabbing a cross cake pan from the Easter aisle.
Associate Jesus with the Cross and the Lamb
It can be a bit hard and confusing to explain to a young toddler the significance of Jesus’s act of sacrifice and resurrection to save all of mankind. However, a great start is to have them associate crosses and lambs with Jesus. In addition, you can mention the love of Jesus. This, in turn, will help them associate Easter with Jesus. Knowing the love of Jesus and that He is associated with the cross is a great foundation for toddlers to understand the meaning of Easter.
For an older toddler, you could also start to introduce that Jesus is the only person to rise from the dead because He is God. This associates Easter with Jesus’s resurrection.
Change Up the Egg Hunt
You definitely do not have to get rid of the Easter bunny and egg hunt. Those memories are just too precious. Instead of nixing it all together, pop some adorable and simple Bible verses into the eggs with the candy. You could also wrap the verses on the outside of the eggs. I have also seen many families use the eggs to represent the new life that is awarded to Christians after the resurrection of Christ. I thought that was a great idea!
Here is a free printable for Super Simple Easter Bible verses.
Download PDF Here: Simple Bible Verses for Easter
Do some Christ-centered Easter Activities
There are so many great free resources for toddler activities online, it is very easy to find some Christ-centered Easter games and projects for kids. Here are some of my favorites from blogs around the web that I am definitely going to do with my boys this Easter:
Printable Resurrection Set -This adorable craft is perfect for toddlers and turns out super cute. The printable is free if you subscribe to the emails from the blog. It’s a great blog, so I don’t mind at all!
Cross Craft Using Left Over Egg Dye -This craft turns out absolutely beautiful and is super simple to make. Get the directions and see pictures of the end result at the link!
Where is Jesus? Magic Watercolor Art -A very neat art project that will amaze your little one! There is a free printable for this project and directions at the link.
Free Coloring Pages -Free coloring pages! On the page, there are many free Easter themed coloring pages. Some of them are the typical eggs and bunnies, but they do have just as many Christ-centered pages.
Cross Fingerprint Craft -This is another cross craft that turn out very beautiful. It is meant to be used with a class, but you can easily turn it into a family craft. You can even carry it to grandma and grandpa’s house to get more fingerprints!
Hopefully, this list gives you some great ideas to make Easter meaningful for toddlers, or even young children. I like to incorporate these ideas into the days leading up to Easter day, to make this day even more meaningful. Even if you are not Christian, I appreciate you reading and keeping an open mind about the true meaning of Easter.
Tay Tay Mommay 