Easter egg hunts, hats & bunnies: where’d it all come from?

April 21, 2011

Almost here. Are you ready?

Despite the religious significance of Easter in the Christian world, our Easter traditions are quite secular. And there’s some interesting history behind them, mostly related to celebrating SPRING.

Like coloring eggs. Which I love.
In ancient Egypt, Rome, Persia and Greece eggs were dyed
as part of spring celebrations.
That could be why dyeing eggs has persisted as an Easter tradition.

Would you believe the Easter Bunny was brought to us by the Pennsylvania Dutch settlers and comes out of German, pre-Christian fertility lore? What better time to celebrate fertility than spring, when the earth begins to renew its own fertility? Actually, the expression “mad as a March hare” refers to crazed hares fighting over females in the spring mating season.
Who knew?


The bunny female above is looking a bit askance at her mate.
And he is gripping her neck rather possessively.

{Oh, those wild & crazy Pennsylvania Dutch!)

When I was a kid, we always had a new Easter hat.
Some say the Easter bonnet is a longtime rite of spring.
After a long, dark winter, women emerged at Easter
in hats decorated with fresh flowers.
After the day’s egg hunt, when the kids are nice and wired on Easter candy,
you might need to give them something calm to do.
Maybe you want to sit them down in front of the computer for a few minutes.
And if so, here are some fun online Easter games they might enjoy:

http://www.akidsheart.com/holidays/easter/egames.htm

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