Easter [n.]

the festival of the Christian Church celebrating the resurrection of Christ, held [in the Western Church] on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the northern spring equinox.
- ORIGIN Old English, related to EAST.

Compact Oxford English Dictionary

Easter has other links beside those for the Christian religion. It was a pagan festival celebrating the beginning of spring with the Goddess known as Eastre having a rabbit as her symbol, hence the Easter Bunny. The Easter Rabbit did not become a commonly used symbol, however, until the 19^th 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. More information on the history and traditions of Easter is found below.

This page includes extensive information. It covers history, traditions, Easter in Australia, arts, crafts, cards, games, religious meaning, material to use with the very young, education material, Easter images, … .

We continually add to information available and are willing to consider suggested areas and sources as time permits.

Easter

Australian Easter

• Burra Nimu, The Easter Bilby
  ‘An Australian children’s story’.
• Determining the Date of Easter
  Information on how this is done in Australia, a calculator, other information.
• Easter 2009 Australia
  Covers all aspects of Easter from traditions to festivals, eggs to stories.
• Easter Activities
  Fun and games, foods, story of Easter, crafts, stories, music, celebrations around the world, more.
• Easter Bilby
  Australian site urging replacement of the Easter Rabbit with the Easter Bilby.
• Easter Bilby [2]
  ‘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 in Australia
  General information plus a significant array of links grouped under selected headings.
• Easter in Australia [2]
  ‘A website that gives a short summary of Easter and some of the events that occur in different parts of Australia. Perhaps of greater use, would be the material to be accessed by the various links on both sides of the home page.

Easter Art & Craft Ideas

• Easter Activities
  Includes arts and crafts, books and videos, Easter songs, games and other links.
• Easter Activities [2]
  ‘Easter is great time to sit around a table and do craft together. Try our easy instructions for painting blown eggs, and use your imagination creating cards for your friends and family.’ From the Powerhouse Museum.
• 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.
• Easter Craft [2]
  A large collection of craft activities grouped under several headings.
• Easter Craft [3]
  Easter colouring pages, Easter stationery, games, musical postcards, other links, write a letter to the Easter bunny.
• Easter Eggs and Favorite Friends Easter Colouring Pages
• Easter Flavoured Craft Ideas
  Includes origami, masks, papier-mache, eggshell mozaics and more.
• Every Bunny Loves Easter
  Crafts, printables, egg decorating, clip art, book & movie reviews, party games and more.
• Free Easter Crafts
  Extensive listing of craft activities [nearly 100 at time of checking]. Big variety. Well worth a visit.
• Hatching Easter Eggs
  Craft activity for primary level.
• How to make your own Easter Eggs
  [With natural dyes]
  All instructions are provided and there is also a link to Easter cards to print and colour.
• Learn to Make Your Own Pysanky
  Learn how to make Russian Easter eggs. Parental supervision required with younger children.

Easter Cards

• 101 Easter
  ‘Easter eCards, Easter Greetings & Easter Greeting Cards’.
• Awesome Easter Cards
  Flash cards, animated, plain cards.
• Easter Cards
  A range including many with Flash animation.
• Easter Greetings
  Easter Greetings, e-cards and greeting cards.

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Easter Games

• Easter Games
  A small collection of Easter games. Other links to different Easter aspects.
• Easter Games [2]
  Both online and print games.
• Easter Games [3]
  Easter maze, Easter egg fun and the funny Easter bunny.
• Free Easter Games
  Jigsaws, mahjongg, memory puzzles, slider puzzles and more.
• Kid’s Easter Parties
  For Kids, Family & Classroom. Everything from games and ideas to printables.
• The Bunny Hutch
  ‘There are lots of FUN things to do and see this Easter at Kids’ Turn Central Bunny Hutch. Bookmark this page and come back often !’

Easter Images

• Easter Graphics
  Large collection under a range of headings.
• Screensavers, Free Easter

Easter Traditions Around the World

• Easter Around the World
  Find out about the Easter tradition, dates for Easter for any nominated year, links to recipes, eggs and other sites including Easter e-cards.
• Easter Around the World [2]
  Links to many national sites.
• Easter Traditions and Origins
  ‘Learn the history of Easter traditions here.’
• Easter Around The World
  Looks in particular at Africa, Australia, Europe and Mexico.
• Easter [Wikipedia]
  How they find the date, background, position in the church year, non-religious Easter traditions, religious traditions, controversies, meanings of Easter in other languages and more.
• How Easter Works
  ‘We [will] explain the origin and significance of the Easter holiday and of many of the traditions associated with it.’

Specific Countries & Regions

• Easter in Bulgaria
• Easter in England
  Information collected and collated by a junior school.
• Easter in Finland
• Easter in Germany
  ‘Find out the Easter traditions from Germany. Here are Easter recipes, facts, activities and customs.’
• Easter in Mexico
• Easter in Poland
  Polish Easter Traditions. Also try Polish Easter from the BBC.
• Easter in Slovakia
  Velikden - the Great Day.
• Easter in Sweden - Traditions
  Text based article.
• Easter in the Ukraine
  Scroll down for the information.
• German Easter Traditions

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General Information

• BBC - Easter
  A wealth of information with specific links to dedicated information.
• Canteach : Easter Poems and Songs
  A Canadian site with the words of songs and poems related to Easter. There is also a further link to other rabbit songs and poems.
• Cracking Eggs
  ‘Lots of activities and egg fun for children of all ages’.
• Easter
  Annotated links to a range of Easter material including printable books, crafts, activities, themes, worksheets [various subjects], Easter Unit, songs, downloads, cards and more.
• Easter [2]
  A range of topics from special Easter Days to Beliefs and a Folk Calendar, Easter trees and an Easter menagerie.
• Easter [3]
  Information about all aspects.
• Easter [5]
  Crafts, computer fun, gifts, food, cards, traditions, the meaning of Easter.
• Easter 2009 - Happy Easter
  This is a vast site with a wide range of inclusion - books, facts, crafts, celebration information, gifts, Easter party, poems, recipes, songs, symbols and Traditions Around the World.
  Well presented !
• Easter Activities for Kids
  Games & activities, downloads, Free stuff, other links.
• Easter Activity Pack
  From the State Library of Queensland. Find information on the Easter background, resources for librarians, resources for students and a range of activities.
• Easter Dating Method
  Find Easter for dates from 1700 to 2999 and also how Easter dates are determined, including programs for you to use.
• Easter Links
  A collection of Easter links done by a local library group in Boston USA.
• Easter Midi Files
  Both ordinary and religious music.
• Easter Story Quiz, The
  ‘Try to put the Easter story back together in the right order. If you think you need more knowledge then click [here] to see the Easter story.’
• Easter Sunday Dates
  ‘Here is a list of Easter Sunday dates from 1990 to 2050. 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 below are based on the original calculation using the Julian calendar, converted to the equivalent date in the Gregorian calendar now in use.’
• Easter Recipes and Holiday Dinner Ideas
  Recipes and menus for all types of foods as well as egg decorating ideas.
• Easter Resources
  A huge range of material grouped into specific Easter topics ranging from Easter Celebrations to an Egg Theme Page and beyond. Covers lesson materials and worksheets.
• Easter Symbols
  Text presentation which is part of a larger Easter site.
• Easter Symbols [2]
  From Holiday Spot. Text presentation which is part of a larger Easter site.
• Happy Easter
  Includes Symbols & Customs, The Easter Story, Colour-Ins, Crafts, Puzzles, Lesson Plans, Food, Easter Around the World, more. UK site.
• Happy Easter [2]
  General sites, teaching ideas, poems/songs, arts & crafts, colouring pages, stories, recipes, clip art, fun activities, bunnies, history, trivia, religious, traditions.
• Happy Easter ! [3]
  Ecards, greetings, crafts, jokes, facts, games, features and more.
• Happy Easter 2009
  A site which covers every aspect of Easter - history, songs, Easter across the world, foods, baskets, decorations, books, when it is, icons, games, crafts, cakes & cookies, even Easter Island !
  Highly Recommended !
• History of the Easter Egg
  Text information about this.
• Holiday Spot, The - Easter
  Screensavers, history, stories, poems, recipes, colouring in, fonts, craft, wallpapers, greeting cards.
• Puff’s Easter Links
  Links for virtually everything you could want, or want to know, for Easter.
• 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 be suited to children.

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Preschool Material

• KinderArt® Easter Crafts
  ‘Easter Crafts, Lessons and Activities.’
• Preschool Easter Crafts
  ‘Each Preschool Holiday Crafts project is labeled by difficulty level to make choosing the perfect Preschool Easter Craft for your preschooler’.
• Preschool Easter Sites and Ideas
  Grouped under 6 main headings with a further link to additional ideas and sites.
• Preschool Music, Songs and Fingerplays
  A small collection of these.
• Under5s - Easter
  ‘Find some fun things to do, both at school and at home. Each activity opens up in a new window.’

School Specific Material

• abcteach directory - Easter
  An extensive range of links to activities suitable for both the classroom and the home. Includes worksheets, more.
• Best Recent Books
  This collection of both fiction and non-fiction is geared to the Lower Primary levels. Good summaries for each book included.
• Celebrations and Commemorations
  ‘This unit of work is designed to allow students from Kindergarten to Year 6 to explore these various aspects of Celebrations and commemorations.’ Created by the ABC in conjunction with educational groups. Easter is one of the celebrations covered.
• Debbie’s Unit Factory - Easter Links
  Annotated links.
• Easter - Curriculum Context
  ‘The celebration of the Christian festival of Easter provides an opportunity for teachers to investigate with their students, the religious, historical and cultural significance of religious festivals in the Australian community.’ Resources and suggestions from the WA Department of Education & Training.
• Easter For Kids and Teachers
  Lesson plans, activities, songs & poems, stories, crafts, graphics and more.
• Easter Lesson Plans
  A range of links to lesson plans covering different aspects of Easter.
• Easter Lesson Plans [Suite 101]
  Links to lesson plans covering different aspects of Easter.
• Easter Activities & Lesson Plans
  Links to plans and activities related to Easter, from journals to Word Searches.
• Easter Theme Unit
  Includes comprehensions, critical thinking activities, Maths worksheets, shapes, patterns, colouring, printables and links to other sites containing similar material.
• Ideas for Teachers
  Compiled for staff at a British Primary school.

The Religious Meaning of Easter

• Annie’s Easter Welcome Page
  A mix of religion-based and other items including music, prayers, history, links and more.
• Easter in Cyberspace - A Christian Perspective
  Work via the links on the left - from Easter Holists to preaching pages.
• Easter : Its Origins, Meanings & Practice
  ‘Modern-day Easter is derived from two ancient traditions: one Judeo-Christian and the other Pagan.’ Find out about both sources.
• Easter Story, The
  ‘An illustrated story of the arrest, trial and crucifixion of Jesus Christ.’
• Holy Easter 2006, A
  A more religious and formal site but with links to a wealth of religious and other information about Easter.
• Images of Easter
  Images from the past and the present. Mostly vintage images.
• The Easter Season
  A religious presentation that includes suggested prayers and a biblical perspective on Easter.
• The Easter Story Quiz
  ‘Try to put the Easter story back together in the right order. If you think you need more knowledge then click here to see the Easter story, otherwise click the link below to start the quiz.’

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