Easter is on Sunday and it’s hard to imagine that I won’t be with all of my family, celebrating and enjoying our annual traditions. Although Easter will look a little different this year for most of us, there are still a lot of ways to continue to enjoy our family traditions with a twist. And who knows…maybe we’ll even start some new traditions! Here are some of the ways we'll be celebrating Easter on Sunday.
Easter Egg Hunt:
Kids and kids at heart love to hunt for Easter Eggs. My family learned the hard way when I was a little girl not to use actual eggs for the hunt, especially in the house! I am not sure how long it took my grandma to find that rotten egg behind the couch, but it took even longer for her to get the smell out of the house! I usually fill our plastic eggs with candy, coins, and a few with dollar bills. But this year, I am not getting out of the house to shop for those tiny plastic eggs, so we’ve decided to make our own out of poster board. The kids will make them and decorate them, and I’ll write virtual dollar amounts on the back that can be used to buy video game extras or a special treat from Amazon. And I will include a couple of fun experiences that we can look forward to in the future like movie night at the Alamo, or game night at Incredible Pizza. Then I’ll hide them in the yard or throughout the house and the kiddos can exchange them like Pokemon cards if they want!
Easter Baskets:
Even though my kids are older, I always make a basket for them. I usually go a little crazy at the dollar store with fun little trinkets for them and lots of their favorite candy. But I never started my shopping for these items and I’m doing my best to stay at home, so I’m getting a little more creative this year! I’ve decided to make their baskets “A Blast from the Past.” I’m including my favorite pictures of them as babies and young children, pictures of them and myself as a child from past Easters, a book from their bookshelf that I know they’ve never read, an old favorite toy from the back of their closet they’d forgotten about. I might even have a stuffed bunny or two that I can recycle. This year it will be about remembering Easter celebrations from the past, being thankful for the precious memories we’ve made along the way, and using the resources we have right in front of us to make it a special day. Of course, I have to include chocolate! So I ordered some special candy from my favorite local candy shop, Bon Bon’s Candyhouse to be shipped straight to my door! They are also offering curbside pickup. It just wouldn’t be Easter without jelly beans, chocolate bunnies, and peanut butter eggs!
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Easter Egg dying:
Even though we won’t be hiding these particular eggs, this is a tradition I can’t live without! Here are some fun and creative ideas from McCormick for different dying techniques and click here to check out their Easter Egg Color Chart for a huge list of different colors. So pretty! However, you may not have any food coloring at home. Don't worry, you can still decorate your eggs! Koolaid is a great substitute for dye! If you want to take a more natural coloring approach, use foods with natural dye in them like blueberries, beets, or cabbage. You can also use water color paint and art brushes. Or skip the coloring all together. Just grab some glue or a glue stick and you can use ribbons, tissue paper, or flower petals from the yard. Stickers are always fun too! For instructions and more ideas like these, check out 20 ways to Decorate Easter Eggs Without Dye
(Photo: Getty Images)
Church Services:
If going to Church is part of your family’s tradition, many places of worship will be offering online services that you can stream from home. If your home church is not offering an online service, try visiting another church instead. You can also listen to worship music through your iHeartRadio App. And consider making an offering to your place of congregation, to a local food bank or charity that needs help during this time, or maybe even your favorite service industry provider who could use a hand up right now.
Easter Dinner:
The thing I will miss most this year on Easter Sunday is the incredible meal I share with my family. The food preparation and our time together in the kitchen is some of my favorite time spent. And we all contribute something different to the meal . I know my green bean casserole will be missed! I'd share the recipe but I just sort of made it up years ago and it's a little different every time. This is a similar recipe in flavor. You can make it simpler by using cream of mushroom soup instead of making your sauce and the pre-packaged fried onions are just as yummy. I add a layer of shredded Colby Jack cheese to the top of the casserole before I add the fried onions for an extra layer of gooey goodness.
I still plan to make a traditional meal for my own family at home. And I’m planning a Zoom date with my mom and sisters as we prepare our own versions of Easter dinner. My mashed potatoes won’t be as good as my mom’s, but at least I will still enjoy the laughter and stories we’ll be able to share while we cook. For more ideas about how to stay connected with your family, check out this list.
However you choose to celebrate, I hope you have a Happy Easter!