Easter
Why do we celebrate with Easter Eggs?
Easter primarily is a religious celebration of Jesus’ resurrection. Nowadays we have come to associate Easter with chocolate and painted eggs and the Easter Bunny. Interestingly long before Jesus was born eggs were regarded as a symbol of new life in many Eastern European and Middle Eastern pagans. This theory is based on Pagan mythology that people believed that the earth was hatched from a giant egg while others thought that two halves on an egg made up heaven and earth.
The giving of eggs became a popular practice by Egyptians, Persians, Greeks and Chinese cultures. Eggs were dyed in coloured dyes at spring time and given to symbolise the end of the long winter and the start of new plants, crops and life. The first Christians chose the egg as the symbol of the re-birth of Jesus and to this day it is symbolised and celebrated as the start of spring.
People of wealth in the middle ages wrapped eggs in gold leaf and gave them as gifts but poorer people made dyes from flower petals and leaves to colour their eggs. Nowadays we are more inclined to give chocolate eggs as a gift of friendship and you’ll find every conceivable shape size and colour wrapping imaginable in shops across the UK.
Easter is celebrated in many different ways by different countries; here are just a few non religious ways that children like to celebrate this festive time:
UK: Happy Easter
People living in the UK celebrate Easter by giving eggs made of chocolate filled with sweets. Shrove Tuesday marks the beginning of Lent and on this day every year pancakes are cooked and served traditionally with lemon juice and sugar. Flipping pancakes is a lot of fun.
USA: Happy Easter
Traditionally American children rolled eggs down a steep slope or hill the aim being that the first to roll the furthest without breaking. The White House in Washington D. C hosts such a game on its lawns and children search for brightly coloured eggs which they fill up baskets with and start the roiling game hoping that the President is watching them have fun.
Norway: God påske
In Norway small children dress up as witches collecting candy door-to-door, in exchange for decorated pussy willow stems, this is symbolic ritual dating back hundreds of years. Another game played by Norwegian kids is the Egg-Knocking Game where children pair up and each chooses one egg, next, taking turns to tap one another eggs until the first egg cracks – this is the loosing egg! The winner continues until there is just one egg left.
Finland: Hyvää Pääsiäistä
Finish children plant rye-grass seeds in little pots before the Easter holidays as the sight of green grass represents the start of spring.
Germany: Frohe Ostern
In Germany children have to search for coloured eggs that have been hidden by the Easter Hare either in their homes or gardens. The Chocolate Kiss game is played with Marshmallows covered in chocolate the object of the game being to eat up as many marshmallows as possible without letting others cover your face with the chocolate. The person with the cleanest face is the winner.
France: Joyeuses Pâques
Children in France wake up on Easter Sunday to find eggs strewn about their bedrooms. Nests are made and placed in gardens and once awake children go outside to see how many eggs have been left, another Easter game for children to play is to throw eggs up in the air and catch them – the first to drop their egg is the looser. In some regions, children look for four white horses pulling a chariot full of eggs
