History of Easter For Kids

Welcome to Bedtime History. Do you know what holiday it is this week? If you guessed Easter, you were right. I have lots of fun Easter memories as a child. I remember waking up and searching the house for my Easter basket. When I found the basket, it often had candy and games and other little treats inside. Then later we'd go to our grandparents' house, but the only way we could find our Easter baskets there was by following a very long piece of yarn all around the backyard. We also did an Easter egg hunt at my house and our grandparents' and we loved searching the backyard for hidden plastic eggs. The eggs usually had candy in them. Sometimes they even had coins. Have you ever wondered how the Easter holiday came to be? Like most holidays, it goes very far back and usually started as a religious holiday. That's where the word holiday comes from, the two words holy day. The Easter holiday was first started by Christians who used the holiday to celebrate their belief in Jesus Christ and his resurrection or rising from the dead. For many, the holiday includes an entire week of celebration. The first day is called Palm Sunday, celebrating the day Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem. Other events during the week were his last supper with his apostles, then his death on the cross, now called Good Friday. The final day is Easter Sunday, celebrating his resurrection. Many Christians also participate in a 40-day religious observance called Lent that begins on Ash Wednesday, which involves fasting, which means not eating, and giving up certain luxuries to remember the Bible story of Jesus' 40-day fast in the desert. The Christian holiday of Easter is also linked to the Jewish holiday of Passover because Jesus was in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover at the time of his death. Today, Jewish families celebrate Passover each year to remember the liberation of their ancestors from slavery in Egypt. Passover celebrations include a special meal, prayers, singing, and the telling of the story of Passover. While early Christians were celebrating the resurrection of Jesus for many years, evidence of Easter being a formal festival shows up around 200 years after Jesus' death. In our day, many Christians who celebrate Easter go to a church service along with other traditions that have been added onto Easter. One of the most popular Easter traditions involves the Easter egg. For many years, the egg has been a symbol of new life and rebirth. The Easter egg tradition started several hundred years ago among early Christians in Mesopotamia. At the time, they used natural items to dye eggs such as onion peels, tree bark, flower petals, and juices. Today, families often hard-boil eggs and then dye them different colors and decorate them with patterns and stickers. Many families like mine also buy plastic eggs, fill them with candy, and hide them around the house or yard. Kids love seeking out the eggs, filling their baskets with them and cracking them open to see what treats await inside. Another popular Easter tradition is the Easter bunny. Many years ago in the 1600s, German families first included the tradition of the Easter bunny, who was much like Santa Claus, playing the role of judge to decide whether their children had been naughty or nice and deserved Easter treats. The kids who had been good received a basket with candy and toys on Easter day. Another fun tradition in the United States is the White House Easter egg roll. No one knows quite when the tradition first started, but some say informal egg rolling parties started when Abraham Lincoln was president. Eventually, this tradition became so popular, rolling eggs on the U.S. Capitol's west ground, that President Ulysses S. Grant signed a bill banning rolling eggs, saying that it was causing problems with the grass. But in 1878, a group of children walked up to the White House gate hoping to be able to roll eggs there. The president at the time was Rutherford B. Hayes, and he told the guards to let the children enter and play egg rolling games. From then on, Easter Monday festivities at the White House became a yearly tradition. It has also become a tradition that the first lady, the president's wife, plans and hosts the event. In the most recent event, nearly 30,000 people who won tickets attend the Today, Easter has become a very popular, even worldwide holiday, where people share candy, cards, and treats. Americans spend around 1.9 billion dollars on Easter candy. Easter has become the second biggest candy holiday after Halloween. An estimated 1.5 billion marshmallow peeps are eaten during the Easter season. Around 180 million eggs are purchased during Easter, with around 16 billion jelly beans and 90 million chocolate bunnies. When asked, 89 percent of Americans said chocolate bunnies should be eaten ears first, six percent said bunnies should be eaten feet first, and five percent said that they should be eaten tail first. Remember, candy is fun to eat, but be sure to not overdo it. One of the best parts of any holiday is enjoying time with family and doing nice things for others. So think about how you can spend time with your family and sharing the fun with others this Easter season.