{12 ways to have a Christ-centered Easter}

I mentioned in my Easter Scripture post that I want to be intentional about Easter with Mason. It's so easy to get caught up in the Easter bunny, the candy, the festivals, the egg hunts, etc. and we forget about the true meaning of Easter. Which is that Jesus died for our sins and rose on Easter Sunday, giving us the gift of eternal life. The cross meant to kill is our victory!! As Easter nears {and always} I want to Easter to be a sacred celebration and a time to reflect on the hope of His resurrection. Below are some of the ways that I do this. Some of these dates have already passed, but maybe you can incorporate them into your Easter in the years to follow.

1.) Take a walk through the Holy Week 
This is more common in the LDS faith, but I still do this of some sorts with Mason, We read scripture and do activities about Jesus' last week to bring the Easter story to life. We use this resource as a basis for these activities. This starts one week before Easter.

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2.) Read an Easter devotional as a family
This year we are reading Ann Voskamp's Trail to the Tree this year. It's a free download once you sign-up on her site, here.

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3.) Make Christ-centered Easter Baskets

Fill Easter baskets with things that point to Christ. Instead of a toy, give them a bible or book about the story of Easter. Instead of a chocolate bunny give them a chocolate Cross. And for things you would typically put in their baskets you could add things to make them point to Christ. For example, on the marshmallow bunny peeps add a note that says "No bunny loves you more than Jesus", add the "Jelly Bean Story" to a bag of jelly beans, etc.

4.) Bake Resurrection Rolls to represent the empty tomb

This is a great {and delicious} way to present the Gospel to your family. There is a lesson to be told while making and baking the rolls...the biscuits represent the white linens Jesus was wrapped in (Mark 15:46), the oil represents the oil they anointed Him with (Luke 23:55-56), the cinnamon and sugar represents the spices and herbs (John 19:38-40), the white marshmallow for our sinless Savior, as you bake the rolls read Matthew 12:40, Luke 24:1-8, open the rolls to see them empty. The tomb is EMPTY (Romans 10:9).

You can find the recipe here. 

5.) Include Faith-filled Eggs in the Easter egg hunt
As you stuff plastic Easter eggs include scriptures about the resurrection, hope and love to help remind kids the true meaning of Easter. After the egg hunt sit down and read the scriptures together as a family.

6.) Egg your friends - He Is Risen style
Egg your friends, but use the He Is Risen style to do so. The concept is to hide 12 eggs in their yard, but leave one empty to represent the empty tomb!

The egg is hollow, just like the tomb; for it is meant to represent Christ has risen for you.

- Matthew 28:6

You can find the directions and the printable here.

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7.) Open Resurrection Eggs

This is a set of 12 plastic eggs that are filled with symbols that represent the Easter story. There are many DIY Resurrection Egg tutorials out there {here, here and here}, but we bought our set at Walmart. This is one of Mason's favorite things to do each year. You can either approach this activity as an advent or you can have the kids hunt the eggs and then gather to discuss. 

8.) Read Real Easter Bunnies together

I found this adorable printable here. I love that it uses the Easter Bunny to point to scripture and Jesus Christ.

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9.) Listen to praise and worship songs that point to the cross and read books filled with the truth

We like to create a playlist that is filled with music that points to Jesus and to the Cross. I created this playlist to listen to throughout the Easter season {and even after}. 

Some of our favorite Easter books are The Easter Story, God Gave us Easter, and The Story of Jesus.

10.) Dye Easter eggs and talk about what it represents

As you dye Easter eggs talk about how they represent new life like our new life through Him.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 

- 2 Corinthians 5:17

11.) Go on an Easter Scavenger Hunt

I created this printable last year to for an Easter Scavenger Hunt. It includes things that represent the resurrection. Mason and I had so much fun doing this!

12.) Go to church and hear an Easter sermon

I cannot think of a better way to spend Easter Sunday than at church! We go to both sunrise service and Easter service and we love it.

What are some ways that you keep Christ the focus on Easter?

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