Teaching Kids About Easter

Easter: More Than Just a Fuzzy Bunny

Most kids, when asked, will say that Easter is a holiday with a bunny who hides eggs. 

Stores are decked out with plastic eggs, baskets, and bunnies every year reinforcing the secular side of Easter. 

Easter is something much more, though. It is a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

So, how can a parent or grandparent teach the special kids in their lives about the true meaning of Easter? 

Here are a few ideas for teaching kids what Easter’s really all about. 

Begin by telling your kids what Easter means to you personally. You can read book after book and scripture after scripture to them, but if they don’t see Easter affecting you in a personal way - well it’s just another bedtime story. 

Talk to your kids honestly. Allow them to ask questions about the Easter story and allow yourself to not know everything. When my own children ask me questions I’m not sure how to answer, I tell them I’m not sure. Then we look it up together - whether the answer is found in the Bible, in the dictionary or on the Internet. 

My children usually have lots of questions about Easter. I assure them that every question they have is important and I will do my best to answer them. 

Remember that young children don’t need to know all the gory details of the crucifixion of Christ. It is important for children to understand that Jesus suffered and died - but they don’t need to be told that his flesh was ripped open by a whip embedded with nails. 

Read the scriptural accounts of the crucifixion and resurrection (found in Matthew chapters 26 through 28, Mark 14 through 16, Luke 22 through 24, and John 18 through 20). Focus on the resurrection - explain to the kids that Jesus’ death on the cross was not the end of the story. We all need to be reminded that the most important part of Easter is Christ being raised from the dead on the third day.