Most of us are accustomed to adding the Christ child into our Christmas celebrations.  We decorate with nativities and talk about all the symbolism surrounding the different parts of our Christmas traditions.  It is a natural part of Christmas.  However, as I started raising my family, I realized that it is much harder to add Christ into our children’s Easter traditions.  Decorating eggs, getting visited by the Easter Bunny, and Easter egg hunts are a lot of fun ways to celebrate the season, but it just wasn’t enough.

We decided we needed some special time that was separate from our regular Easter fun.  At Christmas time we take Christmas Eve to read through the Christmas story in the bible and play out the nativity and sing Christmas hymns.  Then Christmas day can be about their fun new gifts and all the excitement that brings.  We also needed a way to make Easter about the bible story and learn some Easter hymns.  Easter needed to be separated into two days as well.

We made a special request to the Easter bunny that he would come on Saturday for our family instead of Sunday.  If you didn’t know this about him already, the Easter Bunny is very accommodating.  He agreed to do that for us.  Our kids know that it is a special request and that most other families are visited on Easter Sunday.  That doesn’t bother them.  We decorate eggs before hand and leave the eggs to be hidden and baskets to be filled on Friday night.  In the morning the kids get to find the eggs and sometimes their baskets get hidden too.  It is hard to know what to fill their baskets with.  This isn’t a time for big gift giving for us, like Christmas is.  I have a ton of toys already, so dollar store toys are a no no around here.  I also don’t like giving my kids tons and tons of candy.  Luckily the Easter Bunny has opted to help us out by getting us ready for summer.  Their baskets usually have a new swimming suit, goggles, or sunglasses, and sunscreen.  There is a little candy.  The little plastic eggs get filled with coins.  It is just the right amount of stuff for our kids and not super expensive.

Sunday is our holy day.  We dress up in our Sunday best to attend a church service.  Sometimes we get new Easter dresses for fun, but sometimes we don’t.  It just depends on the year and the needs of our kids.  After the church service we have a special brunch that is prepared by the whole family as our new favorite tradition.  We learned about it from my brother, but I have since seen it on Pinterest from others.  You will love adding it to your family traditions.

We make resurrection rolls together and tell the bible story as found in St. John 10 and 20.

Ingredients needed: Marshmallows, Butter (melted), Cinnamon and Sugar, and Crescent Rolls

Begin telling the story of Gethsemane and the crucifixion.  We love the song Gethsemane by Roger and Melanie Hoffman as part of our Easter Hymns.

1. Melt butter and prepare the cinnamon and sugar mixture in separate bowls.  Preheat the oven according to the directions on the Pillsbury can.
2. Take a marshmallow and talk about how it represents the body of Jesus after he was crucified.  His friends took his body and anointed it with oil and spices.  Dip the marshmallow first in the butter and then the cinnamon and sugar.
3. Next his friends wrapped his body in linens and placed him in the tomb.  Wrap the marshmallow in the crescent roll and place on a cookie sheet and then into the preheated oven.
4. The cooking time represents the three days that Jesus was in the tomb.  While they are cooking we look at Easter videos or discuss more about the miracles and life of Jesus Christ.
5. Take them out of the oven and allow to cool a moment.  Let the kids bite into a roll.  It is empty (the marshmallow melted while cooking).  Talk about what happened when Mary came and found the tomb empty. ( P.S. The rolls are delicious and taste a bit like a cinnamon roll.)
6. Talk about what it means that Jesus has risen from the dead for our families.  We can be together forever and live again because Jesus broke the bonds of death.

My family has really benefitted from this new tradition.  I love that Christ’s resurrection represents a new beginning for all of us and spring time is a perfect time to celebrate that.   If you would like more info on Christ’s life and example please visit https://www.lds.org