Easter
Easter [n.]
the festival of the Christian Church celebrating the resurrection of Christ and held [in the Western Church] on
the first Sunday after the first full moon following the northern spring equinox.
- ORIGIN The name is recorded from Old English [in form ēastre] and is of Germanic origin, related
to east. According to Bede the word is derived from Ēastre, the name of a goddess
associated with spring.
Oxford Reference
Easter has other links beside those for the Christian religions. It was first a pagan festival celebrating the beginning of spring, with the Goddess known as Ēastre having a rabbit as her symbol, hence the Easter Bunny. The Easter Rabbit did not become a commonly used symbol, however, until the 19th century. Similarly, the sharing of eggs was a common practice during spring celebrations, though they may not have been quite as colourful or made of chocolate. Further information on the history and traditions of Easter is found below.
This page covers history, traditions, Easter in Australia, arts, crafts, cards, games, religious meaning, material for the very young, education material, Easter images, … .
Easter
Australian Easter
- Burra Nimu, The Easter Bilby
‘An Australian children’s story’. - Easter Bilby
Australian site urging replacement of the Easter Rabbit with the Easter Bilby. [The Australian Bilby Appreciation Society.] - Easter Crafts - Easter Activities
‘There’s more to Easter than an Easter egg hunt when it comes to keeping kids amused. Try these egg-citing ideas to keep the kids occupied during Easter’. - Easter Holidays in Australia 2022
When they are, Traditions,Easter Eggs, Festivals, gift ideas, the Easter Bunny and more. - Easter in Australia
General information plus a significant array of links grouped under selected headings. Now archived through the National Library of Australia [Trove]. - Easter Chocolate Recipes [Cadbury Recipes]
‘Check out our Easter recipes including Hot Cross Buns, Easter Chocolate Eggs, Cakes, Biscuits, Cheesecakes and Cupcakes, more’. - Easter Recipes and Easter Food : SBS Food
‘Make it a long, leisurely Easter lunch of slow-cooked lamb shoulder, whole baked fish and roasted veg. Later, pass around the spice-laden hot-cross buns, baked by none other than you’. - Easter Traditions in Australia
‘Cultural historian Grant Stone goes through the current and former Easter traditions in Australia and how they have shifted’. [9:27 podcast presentation.] - Save the [Easter] Bilby
‘A website to support the endangered Australian bilby’. There are Teacher resources, activities, fun stuff and links. All schools received log in details at the beginning of 2003 for the teaching resources.
Easter Art & Craft Ideas
- 20+ Cool Easter
Crafts for Tweens to Make
Multiple sections with some quite different craft activities to have fun with. - Easter
‘Discover dozens of kids’ Easter activities & ideas for a fun family Easter. Make it great holiday with egg-cellent crafts, games, recipes & egg decorating’. - Easter Activities
Pinterest. ‘Easter activities, recipes, games & projects for school-age kids’. Now 830+ pins for activities, etc.. - Easter Activities for Children
Dyeing Easter eggs, crafts, colouring pages, traditions, games, puzzles, printables, recipes, other links. - Easter Colouring Pages
A range of colouring pages around the Easter Theme. - Easter Craft
A huge range of ideas from tie-dyed Easter eggs to printable Easter materials. Includes Hatching Pompom Easter Chicks, suitable for primary level students. - Easter Craft - Kidspot
‘Find Easter crafts to make with kids for the Easter holiday including an Easter basket, Easter eggs, Easter bonnet and other Easter activities for kids’. - Easter Craft [3]
Easter colouring pages, Easter stationery, games, musical postcards, jokes, other links. - Easter Crafts
‘These easy crafts are more than just Easter baskets and egg dyeing [although we have those, too !]. Whether it’s DIY Easter garlands or spring flower wreaths, we’ve got plenty of Easter crafts for kids [and adults] to help you celebrate the holiday’. - Easter Eggs and Favourite Friends Easter Colouring Pages
There are also links to other activities. - Easy Easter Crafts for Kids
[Parenting]
‘These adorable crafts are a great way to welcome spring. Whether you need decorations for Easter brunch, or you’re looking for an afternoon activity, these crafts can be done with children of all ages’. - Free Easter Crafts
Extensive listing of craft activities [Over 100 at time of checking]. Big variety. - Learn to Make Your Own Pysanky
Learn how to make Ukrainian Easter eggs. Parental supervision required with younger children. - Printable Easter Egg Colouring Pages
& Templates
‘We’ve designed some fun Easter egg colouring pages and templates just for the occasion. Check out our twelve designs, which includes basic and detailed designs of Easter eggs’.
Easter Cards
- 20 Free, Printable Easter
Cards for Everyone You Know
‘These free, printable Easter cards are a great way to spread some Easter joy to the special people in your life, especially the ones you won’t get to see on Easter’. - Design a Custom eCard - Canva
‘Create and send custom eCards to loved ones with Canva’s DIY e-card maker’. - Easter Cards
‘Easter season should be celebrated with church, chocolate and cards !’ - Easter eCards
‘Make Easter extra special with ecards to remember everyone you care about and share the joy of spring with Easter ecards’. - Easter Greeting Cards
: Free, Unique Ideas to Make
‘The vast majority of the tutorials that I rel="nofollow"m sharing here exclusively use supplies that you can purchase at almost any craft and/or sewing store. Additionally, most of them can be completed in a single afternoon. Please respect artist copyrights. Unless it is indicated otherwise, all card ideas and templates are for personal use only’. - Free Printable Easter
Colouring Cards
‘Create and print free printable Colour Your Card cards at home’. - Happy Easter Cards
A wide range of cards to choose from.
Easter Games
- 7 Free Online Easter Games
‘There are Easter puzzle games, cooking games, sports games and more here’. - 21 Fun Easter Games for Kids to Play - Kid Activities
‘These Easter games for kids will give you some fun alternatives. These game ideas will work in the classroom, at home, or in daycare’. - 43 Best Easter Games the Whole Family
Will Love
‘Here, we’ve compiled the very best Easter games, each of which is perfect for all ages’. - Easter Games [ActivityVillage]
‘We have a growing collection of Easter games for your children and family - some printable, some not! We also have ideas for your Easter egg hunt, so that you can adapt it for all ages’. - Easter Games [PrimaryGames]
Featured game. Multiple games to choose from. - Easter Games [Y8.com]
90+ online games based around the Easter theme. - Easter Party Games for Kids
‘These Easter party games are a favourite way to let them hop, jump, skip and dance their way through this celebration’.
Easter Images
- Easter Archives - The Graphics Fairy
A wide range of free material, most in traditional or vintage styles. - Easter Clip Art
‘Welcome to our Easter category of Classroom Clipart. Browse through our great Easter collection. In this section you will find great clipart to download’. - Easter Clip Art [MyCuteGraphics]
- Easter Graphics [Pinterest]
600+ pins provide a wealth of material. - Easter Graphics Guide
Annotated links to multiple sources. - Free Easter Clipart
‘A huge list of the best free Easter Clip Art Collections’.
Easter Traditions Around the World
- Bet You Didn’t Know : Easter Traditions
‘How did Easter traditions like the Easter bunny and egg hunts become part of the holiday celebration ?’. History.com. - Easter [Wikipedia]
Etymology; Theological significance; Early Christianity; Date; Position in the Church Year; Liturgical observance; Easter celebrations around the world; Music; See also ...; References; Links. - Easter Around The World
Looks in particular at Africa, Australia, Europe and Mexico. - Easter Around the World
[FTfs]
‘Find education resources about Easter, free for use in your classroom. Included are facts and general information for students about the traditions and cultures of Easter in Australia and around the world. Also find a selection of curriculum-linked lesson ideas and accompanying student activity sheets and extra resources’. Australia. - Easter Celebrations and Traditions around the World
Range of information, quick quiz, glossary, extra reading, listen to a story, class and other activities. - Easter Symbols and Traditions
HISTORY.com. ‘Easter traditions and symbols have evolved over time, though some have been around for centuries. While to Christians, Easter is the celebration of the resurrection of Christ, many Easter traditions are not found in the Bible’ Article, images, videos, more. Recently updated by History.com. - Easter Traditions
from around the World
‘Secular Easter traditions; Religious Easter traditions; Pagan Easter traditions; Easter foods; Unique Easter rituals; Easter as the weather warms; Easter as the weather cools; Fun Easter activities’. - How Easter Works
‘The Season of Lent; Holy Week; Easter Sunday; Easter Traditions; Worldwide Easter Celebrations; Egg Rolling and other Easter Activities’. Only recently updated by the authors.
Specific Countries & Regions
- Czech Easter [Velikonoce]
- Denmark - The complete guide to
Easter
Extensive Text, short video and images. - Easter in Poland - Polish Traditions
‘Easter in Poland is full of folk traditions and customs, some of which are still vividly cultivated, and some are increasingly disappearing. However, we still bless the food, paint Easter eggs, take palms to churches, and pour water on Monday’. Also try Polish Easter Traditions. - Easter in the Ukraine
Scroll down for information about traditions including special foods pysanky, paska and more. - Easter in the United Kingdom - Traditions and
Features
Information, images, links to further sources. - Finland - Finnish Easter Traditions
Covers traditions, religious celebrations, celebrating at home, more. - France - A Guide to the
Easter Traditions
A lot of details covering areas we sometimes do not necessarily consider as important. A second site is at Easter Sunday in France, while you might also be interested in My Page About Easter In France by a 12 year old French student, which has just been updated from her essay written two years ago. - Germany - Easter Traditions
‘Find out the Easter traditions from Germany. Here are Easter recipes, facts, activities and customs’. A second site is German Easter Traditions including links to further information. - How is Easter in Japan ?
‘Why isn’t it popular ?’ Interesting presentation and background. - How Mexico Celebrates Easter ‘Mexico celebrates Easter [also known as Domingo de Gloria — “Sunday of Glory”] with unparalleled passion and pageantry’. You can also find information at Easter in Mexico.
- Italy - Easter Traditions and Celebrations
- Sweden - Easter and Traditions
Text based article.
General Information
- 10 Easter Symbols and Their Meanings
‘The following are symbols of Easter and their meanings that you need to know to appreciate the symbols and their role in Easter’. Symbols Related to Easter also supplies meanings for a range of symbols. - 10 Fun and Interesting Facts About Easter for Kids
‘Enjoy these fun facts and snippets that you can learn about for this cheerful and colourful holiday occasion’. - 10 of the Best Easter Apps For
Kids
‘These Easter apps are perfect if you’re travelling with kids over the holidays, or you and the kids are just in need of some Easter fun’. Most are free. - Can teach : Easter Poems and Songs
A Canadian site with the words of songs and poems related to Easter. Link to further examples. - Cracking
Easter Resources for EYFS and Primary
‘Activity packs, games and fun lesson ideas to bring the spirit of Easter into EYFS and primary classrooms’. - Easter
Annotated links to Easter material including printables, crafts, activities, Easter resources about Jesus, Secular Easter Resources, Easter Unit, songs and poems, links to other sources. - Easter [2]
Access various pages/topics using the drop down menu near the bottom of the page - Easter Activities Preschool
Theme
‘Includes preschool lesson plans, activities and Interest Learning Centre ideas for your Preschool Classroom. Scroll down through this page to see all of the preschool activities for your theme, or just click the picture links to go to the specific preschool activity type you are looking for’. USA. - Easter [Activity Village]
‘A huge selection of Easter activities for you to enjoy with your children, including colouring pages, printables, jokes, crafts and puzzles ! Explore them all’. Free. UK. Some sections have been included in other sections of the page. - Easter [Teaching Ideas]
‘When Easter is approaching, don’t forget to try using our free teaching ideas, display materials and activity resources with your children’. Keep loading more ! Free. UK. - Easter Teaching Resources [TES, Australia]
More than 5 000 resources you can filter by age, subject, licence, type and file type. A mix of free and fee-based material.
Easter Dates
- Determining the Date of Easter
Information on how this is done in Australia, a calculator, other information. - Easter Dating Method
Find Easter for dates from 1700 to 2999. Also how Easter dates are determined, including programs for you to use. - Easter Sunday Dates
‘Here are tables of Easter Sunday dates from 1990 to 2049. Below the list is an Easter Sunday date calculator for any year from 326 to 4099 ! Western Easters are the basis of public holidays, and are the dates celebrated by Western religions. The Orthodox dates are based on the original calculation using the Julian calendar, converted to the equivalent date in the Gregorian calendar now in use’. - When Is Easter Sunday ?
‘Here is a list of Easter Sunday dates from 2020 to 2049. Below the list is an Easter Sunday date calculator for any year outside this period’. - When Is Easter Sunday 2022
A countdown to Easter site [to the second !]. ‘We will update the site year after year so you can always come back and find out each year what day or date Easter Sunday will fall on’. It also has a brief amount of additional information.
- Easter - Happy Easter
A site with a wide range of inclusion - books, facts, crafts, celebration information, gifts, Easter party, poems, recipes, songs, symbols and Traditions. - Easter Poems
Multiple sections including Bunny Poems, Easter Eggs, Easter Pictures, Short Poems for this Holy Day and The Christian Story. You can submit Easter Poems for possible inclusion. - Easter Quiz
‘This is a quiz to be used for fun at Easter. There are three rounds, each with 10 questions. The first round is Eggs, the second is Easter around the World and the third is The Easter Story’. TES Educational Resources. - Easter Recipes
‘From Easter egg cupcakes to chocolate recipes for kids, we’ve got your Easter covered. And if you love hot cross buns, check out our hot cross buns collection’. - Easter Resources
Grouped in specific Easter topics ranging from Easter Celebrations to an Egg Theme Page and beyond. Lesson Plans, Resources, Colouring Pages, Activities, Printables, Clipart, Worksheets. - Happy Easter
A site which covers every aspect of Easter - crafts, songs, poems, games, flowers, decorations, cards, Easter Party, gifts, Across the World, icons, dresses, dinner recipes, cakes, cookies, desserts, Quotes, Jokes and Movies. There are even more links, even including Easter Island ! - History of the Easter Egg
- Scootle :
Easter
Classroom and teacher resources. About 35 at this time. Multiple filters available to narrow the focus. - The Holiday Spot - Easter
history, Personalised Gifts, Images and Memes for WhatsApp and Facebook, Wallpapers, Greeting Cards, Craft Ideas, Easter around the World, Letters from Easter Bunny, Animated Wishes/Greetings for WhatsApps, Activities and Downloads, Easter Trivia and “Easter Scoop”. - The Mystery of the Empty
Easter Bunny Basket
‘A mystery game for 6-12 children and 3-4 adults. Includes role playing and party games’. This is fee-based.
Other sections of the site may not necessarily be suited to children.