What do you get when you pour hot water down a rabbit hole?

There's a story quite funny,

About a toy bunny,

And the wonderful things she can do;

Every bright Easter morning,

Without warning,

She colours eggs, red, green, or blue.

Some she covers with spots,

Some with quaint little dots,

And some with strange mixed colours, too

-- Red and green, blue and yellow,

But each unlike his fellow

Are eggs of every hue.

And it's odd, as folks say,

That on no other day

In all of the whole year through,

Does this wonderful bunny,

So busy and funny,

Colour eggs of every hue.

If this story you doubt

She will soon find you out,

And what do you think she will do?

On the next Easter morning

She'll bring you without warning,

Those eggs of every hue.

Hot Cross Buns! Hot Cross Buns!
One a penny,
Two a penny,
Hot Cross Buns!
If you have no daughters,
Pray give them to your sons!
One a penny,
Two a penny,
Hot Cross Buns!

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Many Easter customs come from the Old World. The white lily, the symbol of the resurrection, is the special Easter flower. Rabbits and coloured eggs have come from pagan antiquity as symbols of new life. The Easter rabbit, a symbol of fertility, and in coloured Easter eggs, originally painted with bright colours to represent the sunlight of spring, and used in Easter-egg rolling contests or given as gifts. Easter Monday egg rolling, a custom of European origin, has become a tradition on the lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C. During the Octave of Easter in early Christian times, the newly baptised wore white garments, white being the liturgical colour of Easter and signifying light, purity, and joy.

The name Easter comes from Eostre, an ancient Anglo-Saxon goddess, originally of the dawn. In pagan times an annual spring festival was held in her honour. Some Easter customs have come from this and other pre-Christian spring festivals. Others come from the Passover feast of the Jews, observed in memory of their deliverance from Egypt. The word paschal comes from a Latin word that means belonging to Passover or to Easter. Formerly, Easter and the Passover were closely associated. The resurrection of Jesus took place during the Passover. Christians of the Eastern church initially celebrated both holidays together. But the Passover can fall on any day of the week, and Christians of the Western church preferred to celebrate Easter on Sunday the day of the resurrection.

Cardboard (pink, white and/or brown)

Glue

Cut out bunny ears with the white and pink paper (pink should be slightly smaller) or use two tones of brown for a chocolate bunny. Glue the pink on white to make ears. (or brown). Make a 5cm band long enough to go around your child's head. Staple in place. Attach bunny ears to band.

Straw Hat Artificial flowers, ribbons, bows and such Glue and Glue Gun Elastic thread or ribbon  

Purchase a plain straw hat from craft or department store. Purchase artificial flowers, Easter decorations, ribbon, bows and other fun stuff. Using a glue gun, attach various items around the brim of your hat. Parental supervision with glue gun is advised. Attach ribbon to sides of hat for a tie.

Easter Egg  Stands

Toilet Tissue Rolls Paint Stickers 

A very easy Easter craft idea! Cut the toilet tissue rolls so you have 4 fairly equal circles. Paint the circles and let dry. Once dry you can decorate them with festive Easter stickers! Your Easter eggs now have a fancy place to sit.

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This is a fun game to play outside. You can change the name to suit any theme. The children all line up against a wall or fence. And one child, (Easter Bunny) or the teacher faces away from the children, a good distance away from the children. The children yell, what time is it "Easter Bunny", Easter Bunny answers 1 o'clock, and the children all take one step toward Easter Bunny. The children yell again, what time is it "Easter Bunny", Easter Bunny answers (fill in the blank) o'clock, and the children all take same number of step toward Easter Bunny. This continues until all the children are very close to Easter Bunny then Easter Bunny will answer it's midnight, and Easter Bunny chases the children back to the fence or wall that they started at. The first person Easter Bunny touches will be the new Easter Bunny

Tie 3 feet of string to a wooden spoon. Attach a magnet to the end of the string. Cut and laminate many different coloured, and Easter Shapes (eggs ducks and bunnies) from construction paper (not too big though). Attach a paper clip to each shape. Spread the shapes on the floor and let your child try to catch the shapes. Have them try to catch the red shape, or the biggest shape. For a twist, label the shapes with letters or numbers. Ask the children to catch a specific shape, or ask them which shape they caught.

Have the children cut out oval shapes from various colours of construction paper. They may decorate these with paint, markers, glitter, stickers, or any other materials that you wish to provide

We have an Easter Egg Hunt in the dark with flashlights for adults.

We have been doing it for the past five years and it's a blast!