I made a mistake the other day. “What are you going to ask the Easter Bunny for this year, Greenlea?” I said, mainly in a desperate attempt to distract her from whacking her brother with a pillow for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. She stopped and looked at me, eyes wide. “You can tell the Easter Bunny what you want???” she said, her entire face lighting up. Um…no? I distracted once again with, “hey, let’s make Rice Krispie treats!” It worked.

We’ve never really discussed much of the traditions of Easter, mainly because we don’t really have one we stick to. It’s nothing like the idyllic childhood traditions Shana and I grew up with, where we would religiously (pardon the pun) dye eggs the night before Easter and put them out in our special baskets–the same ones we used every year. The Easters since we’ve gotten married have been marked by not following any set tradition at all. I think we’ve dyed eggs with the kids exactly once. I’ve used toy buckets for their Easter baskets. We’ve gone to church with my parents, sometimes with Zack’s, sometimes to our own church and sometimes not at all. (OK, Dad, that was one time and it was pre-kids…he’d be rolling in his grave.)

Crafts, Music & Online Church: How We’re Celebrating Easter During The Pandemic

But seriously, we’re craving tradition right about now, if not just some sense of normalcy during this crazy time. So as I was thinking about Easter, I was wondering how we were going to celebrate this year. So I put together a playlist (see below), scoured the internet Pinterest for fun (and easy) crafts to do with the kids, and rounded up a bunch of churches that will be streaming an online Easter service this Sunday.

And if nothing else, you should definitely bake this amazingly delicious lemon cake. It starts with a box, the kids can help, and the microwave-frosting hack is pure genius. YUM.

10 Easy Kids’ Easter Activities (For People Who Don’t Craft)

I don’t know about you, but when I see “100 easy crafts for kids!” I instantly feel overwhelmed and hate having to scroll through 100 ideas, half of whose links are broken–ain’t nobody got time for that. Except, I do have time for that because–quarantine. So I searched for easy crafts that don’t require extra trips to the store or a lengthy list of instructions. (Hey, we all have our strengths–and crafting is not one of mine.) So if you’re anything like me, you’ll love this list of quick and easy crafts that you can do with your kids. Today. With things you already have in the house (glue gun not required).

1. Easter Bingo – SUPER-easy (just print out) and free. This would last longer (especially with a baby) if I could laminate it…but…does anyone own a laminator? Is it worth it to get one for things like this?? Please let me know!
2. Easy Painting Hacks – This is an easy way to “paint” chicks with plastic forks. (I think regular forks would work just fine, depending on how nice your silverware is, too.) Or you could paint flowers with those forks, or using cut up toilet paper rolls or q-tips. So easy it doesn’t require instructions.
3. Footprint Bunny Craft – This involves dipping a foot into paint and making a bunny out of it. I especially love this idea for little ones who may not be able to do much painting themselves.
4. Making Chicks & Bunnies – This is an easy way to “paint” a chicken using your hand and fingerprints, but if you’re not into using paint (I get it–the MESS), you could use paper plates and construction paper to make these bunny masks or gather up some craft sticks to make these little baby chicks.
5. Peep Houses – Make “houses” for Peeps (or any little toy, really) using graham crackers and frosting. I’d give up on attempting not to eat them.
6. Bunny Slime – As G will tell you, our house is a “slime-free zone” (best decision I’ve ever made), but desperate times, people . . . and this activity is pretty cute.
7. Bunny Washcloths – This is an easy way to fold washcloths into “bunnies” to hold eggs or a small gift. You can choose to glue eyes, a nose and a tail on, but I think it would work just as well if you don’t (plus then you aren’t ruining any of your washcloths!).
8. Bunny Cups – Here’s an easy way to make bunnies out of any foam or plastic cups you may have (they use craft foam for the ears and feet, but I think construction paper would work just as well) to hold Easter candy or chocolate eggs.
9. Nature Bunnies – This bunny-decorating idea is a great way to get kids out into nature (if not just only in your backyard). For $1.99 you get instructions and multiple bunny printables, but you could also make your own if you wanted. (There’s a cute video of this activity if you follow the link!)
10. Here’s an easy idea for tin foil egg decorating using Sharpies – they suggest using the Sharpies with the lid on first to design their eggs, so littles could even participate (as long as they can’t pull off the lids like Ozzie figured out).

And if you’re not opposed to scrolling through a ton of ideas, this is a great list of easy Easter crafts to do with your kids.

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An Easter Music Playlist to Sing Along To

I grew up going to an Episcopal church with my parents, so I love listening to (and singing along with) the traditional hymns sung during Easter services. They also make me incredibly weepy (memories of my Dad singing loudly and off-key, of my mom and I singing the harmony together–she’s a straight tenor, I swear) so I also included more contemporary songs that we sing at our current church (NORTHIRON in the UP). We’ll sometimes put the YouTube lyric videos up on our tv and sing along. These playlists don’t necessarily make sense altogether (organ hymnals don’t really lend themselves to a shuffle playlist that well), but I wanted to gather all of my favorites together for celebrating Easter from home. You can find my Easter Playlist on Spotify, and the lyric videos to most of the same songs on Youtube.

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Online Easter Church Services

I hesitated to include this because religion can be a very polarizing subject, but I wanted to put together a list of online church services in case anyone is searching for one. I’ve narrowed things down to a general Christian theme here as the focus of this post is celebrating Easter, but if you would like to share any of your favorite online church services (from any religion, any belief set), please don’t hesitate to do so in the comments below! The Mom Edit does not discriminate–ALL are welcome here.

Non-Denominational Online Church Services

• Elevation Church – A church with a number of locations in the U.S. with online services on Sunday at 9:30, 11:30, 5:00, 8:00, 10:00, EST (read more about their beliefs here). There’s also a bunch of groups to join and options for kids as well.

• One Church – Kat’s favorite church of all time (Tiarra also attends) is offering online services Sundays at 8:30, 10:00 and 11:30 am, EST (more about them here).

• Northiron Church – My own local church is streaming an online service (with a special service just for the kiddos to follow) at 10 am (EST) on Sundays.

LGBTQ-Affirming Online Church Services

• Woodside Church – out of Flint, Michigan, Woodside Church is “a progressive Christian community committed to nurturing freedom, honesty and diversity, where members and friends live Jesus’ way of social justice.” They have a number of options for online worship including an adult service streaming at 9:30 on Sunday, followed by worship at 11am and fellowship starting at noon. They also have morning and evening Zoom Cafes during the week. (All the links are here on this page.)

• Episcopal Church – I grew up going to an Episcopal church and still attend services occasionally with my mom, especially when I’m craving a more traditional service. Our local church suggests watching online Episcopal services from the Washington National Cathedral (broadcasting services on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday).

*If you’re looking for a local church that supports the LGBTQ population, gaychurch.org is a great resource!

Catholic Online Church Services

• EWTN – there are a TON of resources on this site. From radio to television to online services, this site is full of information for Catholics.

Unitarian Online Church Services

• First Unitarian Portland – The church Laura attends in Portland is offering an online service at 10:15 am (PDT).

I hope this was helpful and brought you some new ideas on how to celebrate Easter in such a weird time. I wanted to share one last tip with you guys that I got from my in-laws…if you have plastic eggs, hide coins inside instead of candy or small toys inside them. Then when you do an egg hunt, the kids can collect money and save up for something they actually want–and you won’t have to deal with them eating too much candy or having a bunch of toys everywhere. Plus they can learn to count it…math and fun all in one!

Happy Easter, you guys. Hold your loved ones tight. And enjoy these gems from our idyllic childhood–how come I never got a bunny cake, Mom??

XOXO,

Scotti