Easter traditions?

Every year my mom, sister and I decorate eggs the night before easter. In the morning "the easter bunny" hides all of our eggs and an easter basket for each of us. Even though they're always hidden in the same three rooms of our house, there's always at least one egg that's really difficult to find.
My sister and I (25 and 29 years old, respectively) are well past kiddie age and yet we look forward to this tradition every year. But now, we involve a glass of wine or two to the egg-coloring session and have recruited our boyfriend and husband in the egg hunt.
One day, we'll have children of our own and finally graduate to the other side of this tradition. =)

We do a lot of the same things that have been listed. One of our favorites though is "Resurrection Cookies" http://www.easyfunschool.com/article2099.html As you prepare them, you read the Easter story. To cook them, you preheat the oven, put them in, turn off the oven and tape the door shut! In the morning you have puffed up, hollow cookies that represent the empty tomb. Easter Breakfast is always boiled eggs and Resurrection cookies. The Easter baskets have changed a lot since the kiddos are getting so big. ITunes gift cards are the hot item this year!

My mother in law is passing down her tradition of having an easter egg tree...she also does a Valentine's day love tree in February that is similiar. For Easter they blow out eggs...decorate them with ribbon and yarn (I plan on trying puff paints this year) and hang them from the tree. The tree is made from small branch from a tree that is placed in a container and is simply held up by plaster of paris or just rocks (decorate the container as you wish).
I can send you a picture if you wish, just email me. This year my sweet mother in law even blew out the eggs, brought me the branch and container. Me and my boys (ages 5 and 3) will have a blast decorating it! And it is carrying on a tradition from my husband's childhood which makes it extra special. In fact, I will have to so a layout about it!

HI Ali
i tried to read all the comments so as not to say an idea already said but i didn't see "our tradition" we always had the usual coloring of eggs and the egg hunt in the morning- part of the hunt were a few "special eggs" (plastic colored ones) they contain God's story
we number these eggs and before they get to the goodies we open the plastic eggs in order...everyone says their part of the story...
egg #1 contains a flower (God created the world to be beautiful)
egg#2 contains dirt (then sin came into the world)
egg #3 a stick cross ( God had a plan - He sent His only Son )
egg#4 contains a rock ( they put Jesus in the cave)
egg #5 is empty (just like the tomb on Easter morning
egg#6 contains a picture of your family ( the reason God did this....YOU)
even now that my kids are all teenagers...we will always tell the Easter story with our eggs..and i still get that lump in my throat hearing my kids say their part....we are blessed :)

Last year when we dyed the eggs we had a contest (we all voted), and took photos of the winner with the winning egg in their hand (held up close by their face), ie. funniest, most sporty, most colorful, most detailed, worst looking, most creative, etc. My DDs helped come up with the categories.
We do the treasure map idea too, but after I make the map I cut it into pieces like a puzzle. I put the pieces in the plastic eggs, and then after they find their eggs (they are told what color/s they are looking for) they have to piece and tape together the puzzle/treasure map. Then they follow the directions on the treasure map. Along the way they find a surprise... a piece of candy, a hair bow, a sticky note pad, office supplies (new mechanical pencil) are a big hit. They also have do silly things within the steps of the map, like brush your teeth, walk on the treadmill for three minutes, etc. This year they will also do a little looking around when we get to my sister's house! They carry their baskets along the way to collect the treasures they find. Last year the grand finale egg had gift certs to the movie theater so they could pick a movie and take a friend and treat the friend to the movie and snacks at the movie.
Loved your question Ali, and loved reading everyone's answers! Hoppy Easter!

We also like the Easter cake tradition, but ours is a "King's Cake." We use a single layer of a 9" round cake, frosted, then we add sugar ice cream cones (inverted) on the top to make the cake look like a crown. Then comes the fun part! Everyone decorates the crown with fun-colored candies (M&M's, jelly beans, gumdrops, etc.) to look like jewels on the crown. We always talk about how Jesus is our King and why He died for us. We also make one at Christmas, incidentally! It's a fun activity for the whole family!

As a kid I had fond memories tring to find our Easter baskets in the morning on Easter. We also colored eggs and had easter egg huts at our church! good times!

As a kid I had fond memories tring to find our Easter baskets in the morning on Easter. We also colored eggs and had easter egg hunts at our church! good times!

For DS - I made the bunny cake - a sheet cake cut in a VERY simple pattern -- he loved it while he was little!
And -- don't make the same mistake as me -- I didn't every get a "traditional" Easter basket -- a woven thing with handle -- I thought I'd be so inventive and cute by finding a little, very inexpensive plastic toy -- a wheel barrow, a little wagon, a bucket, etc -- for a non traditional container! Now -- DS is 18 -- I don't have "anything" that is either appropriate or "traditional" --
Go for TRADITION -- get a nice woven basket and use it every year!!
And -- dye eggs with them while they will dye eggs with you!!

it's great reading about all of these easter traditions . . .we usually have an egg hunt around our property . . .this year ethan is starting t-ball so most of the gifts the easter bunny is leaving is associated with t-ball . . .even the protective gear! i'll even hang his new spring clothes at weird places (like from tree branches) . . . we hide some cool things for brett (23 now) too (like some yuengling). . .lots of fun and we all get a big kick out of it.

Wow! I love reading all these ideas. A few from our home:
1. If hiding real eggs outside, always know how many you start with...so one isn't left for the lawnmower!
2. My mom always included spring PJs and a paperback book in our baskets. I do the same for our boys.
3. Depending on where you live, it's fun to go on a hunt for "new life"...can use the camera to add to it. Babies, flowering bulbs, leafing trees, etc. Just waking the kids up to the significance of our holiday.
Now I'm gonna go find my old Betty Crocker and find that bunny cake recipe!
DK

Hi! I am so glad you asked this question. I am excited to find new ideas from everyone who posts. We always go to great grandma's house for an easter egg hunt the day before Easter. The Easter Bunny always hides the kids baskets. They love running around the house looking for their basket and then helping each other find theirs.

What great ideas! Especially the resurrection cookies!
Since I am 32 and my cousins are old enough to be my children, I put together an Easter Egg hunt a few years ago with plastic eggs and filled them with various candy-and stickers that I just wasn't going to use. At the end of the hunt, we counted the eggs (to make sure that our grandmother wouldn't have a melted platic Easter egg in her backyard in August (: ) and then they got the grand prize-a big stuffed animal for each of them.
I hope they will always remember that. I know their parents will-they were eating M&Ms at 9 o'clock at night!

hey girl.
for the last 3 years, since she could read on her own, i've done a 'Basket Treasure Hunt' for Allie...you know, she gets one clue...which leads her to the next...which leads her to the next. you get the idea. it always ends up with her finding her basket in some crazy place..i think last year i hid it in the oven. she looks forward to this every year. just remember to print out the clues, so nobody guesses your handwriting!
sadly, but also cool for her, Allie will be away for Easter this year. my sister-in-law asked if she could bring her to St. Louis with her two cousins to spend Spring Break there. i know she'll be having a ball, but we'll miss her none the same...so maybe somebody will see the scavenger hunt idea here, and do it for their own children...in honor of Miss Allie, since she won't be home.

Our kookiest Easter tradition is the annual egg toss.
We literally draw a line across the street with chalk, remove wedding rings and watches (we are serious contenders here!) and carefully choose an uncooked egg that looks like a winner.
Each pair of tossers generally consists of spouses, but those w/o a spouse team up together too. We begin the toss relatively close together - the person on one side of the line tosses it to the other. Then we all take a step back and toss it back. This continues on until there is only one couple left standing w/o egg on their feet, face or clothing. Believe me, after a while you aren't just lightly tossing this egg - you really have to put some muscle into it to get it to your partner.
We are so serious about this tradition that there is even a plaque that gets engraved w/ the winners' names each year. The kids used to be content w/ their egg hunt and the toss was adults-only, but as the kids grow they are getting in on the action and teaming up after the adults are finished. We always end the tradition of our annual egg toss by hosing off the street!!

We dye eggs- the messier the better.
The easter bunny always leaves a piece of his cotton tail near the easter basket.
Sometimes there are even "bunny prints" in some flour on the floor.
My parents always had us make a "nest" out of clothes outside our bedroom door and the easter bunny would put our baskets inside.
Deviled eggs- a must.
An easter egg hunt- indoors if the weather isn't dry.
Happy Easter!

The Easter Bunny leaves us a TREASURE HUNT to follow in the backyard. He uses plastic eggs and fills each one with a clue to find the next one along with some jelly beans (for energy!)... the last egg leads the kids to their baskets, which are also hidden! They LOVED it last year at 3 and 5 yrs. old, so we'll do it again!

Oh, yeah, and my mom's advice...don't hide the basket in your oven if you have a pilot light - for gas. One year the bunny melted! (Just as yummy, though!)

When I was little I would be just as excited for the EB that I was for Santa. I have a very creative mom!
The EB would "layer" my basket. The bottom was usually typical candy. Then grass.
The next layer would be toys. Small ones such as Silly Putty. etc.
Then grass.
The next layer would be candy.
Then grass.
Then the top would have a huge chocolate EB. Then I would get a big toy that I had been wanting or I would have a Easter Poem that I had to do to "find" my big thing.
When I went away to college the "grass" became dollar bills on the bottom and layerd up 5's then 10's then 20's then the top was a 100.00 bill with quarters to do the wash. (The money was for my phone bill b/c my boyfriend lived 6 hours away LOL LOL
I do this for my 2 daughters but not as great as mine. I have two daughters and my mom only had me to buy for.

For the past 30+ years we have travelled to visit our best friends in Arizona at Easter for the annual egg cracking contest! Did you know that if you bump eggs small end to small end - only one cracks. We have an Easter brunch with about 50 people, but the egg cracking is the highlight of the day and winner has bragging rights for the year. We see the tradition now being carried on as our kids leave and move away and they are starting their own Easter egg-cracking contests!