I started pondering this question when I saw Kmart selling "Easter twig trees" for $15 (yes I bought one!). My Instagram friends then filled me in on the symbolism of this German tradition in which the decorated twig or branch represents new life.
I guess what I mean is; it feels like the commercialisation of Easter is what's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Easter themed products, decorations, gifts, cutlery, treats and hot cross buns have been flooding the shops since January - and I wonder if the main message of Easter is being forgotten in all the hype and sugar? (Not to mention, the popular TV show & movie themed Easter gift packs which are catching the attention of little eyes every time they go through the check out - why oh why to they make life hard for parents by forcing you to walk past these products to leave the store?).
Anyway, I do however think that it's a really positive thing that shops and small businesses are providing a lot of non-chocolate gift ideas; I recently shared some of my favourites over at Baby Hints & Tips.
As a child, the main thing that I remember about Easter was the chocolate eggs. I wasn't raised in a religious family, so the story of Easter wasn't really familiar to me until I grew up, and now work in a Christian school. Miss M will be introduced to it all next year when she starts school.
I believe it's important to find the balance. The balance between all the excitement and celebrating, but also take time to be thankful for the things that you have, appreciate the time to spend with family - whether you are religious or not.
So that's my thought of the day - meanwhile here are some Easter activities we've been up to at home and school...
For my latest article in Kid Magazine I shared this cute and easy Easter crafts. All you need for the bunny is two paper plates, and below is a simple basket made from an egg carton. Of course it's always fun to paint and decorate eggs!
I was trying to come up with a fun and unique way to use plastic Easter eggs that I've seen all over Instagram, and so we filled the sand & water play table with shaving cream and food colouring and hid the eggs for Miss M to find and wash. This was so great to develop her understanding of number - we kept count of how many she had found and how many more there were to find. Then when she found them all we had a 'practise' Easter egg hunt in the back yard, again keeping count and working out how many were left.
Much of the country is starting their school holidays (or already has been on holidays for a week) - but we here in SA still have a week to go. For my Year Twos at school, I found a range of activity sheets (all FREEBIES) from TpT and decided to give them some choice about which ones they want to do. Nice and easy for the last week is exactly what our class needs.
There's still a few more activities on my to do list - I really want to make up a few Easter themed busy bags for some long car rides we have over the Easter weekend, and I'm keen to try You Clever Monkey's idea of combing the plastic eggs with kinetic sand for some more sensory play fun!
What do you have planned for the Easter long weekend?
Lauren x
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