Have you ever wondered what eggs have to do with Easter? Or why we hunt for Easter eggs? (Why not painted rocks or marbles instead?)
Many centuries ago, Christians began celebrating a special time in our church calendar called Lent—the 40 weekdays before Easter Sunday. Millions of Christians today still honor this sacred season.
During Lent the early Christians stopped eating (fasted from) foods like meat and eggs. Any eggs that chickens laid during Lent were boiled and stored away.
On Easter Sunday, Christians cooked special dinners to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and the end of the Lenten season. They served eggs and meat as part of these elaborate feasts. Some parents hid the eggs for their children to find throughout the home. Some even boiled the eggs with certain flowers and plants to give the eggs a special color. These festivities eventually became the Easter traditions we observe today.
—information from www.theholidayspot.com/easter
World’s Largest Easter Egg Hunt
What do 9,700 children plus 510,000 candy-filled Easter eggs equal? If you answered 519,700, think again. It really equals the largest Easter egg hunt in the world!
According to www.guinnessworld records.com, Cypress Gardens, a theme park in Winter Haven, Fla., hosted the world’s largest Easter egg hunt in 2007. Nearly 10,000 kids and their parents ran around the lawns of the park searching for more than a half-million brightly colored Easter eggs. One thousand of those eggs contained special prizes from local businesses. One egg even held a scholarship (money) to attend a community college!
Did You Know?
The word Lent comes from the word “lengthen,” which refers to spring—when the days get longer. Fasting means to give up something important for a length of time in order to pray to and think about God instead. Many Christians today still choose to give up something of value during Lent (certain foods, television, video games, etc). What are you willing to sacrifice?
Happy Hunting!
Looking for candy-filled eggs is tons of fun. The same way we eagerly search for Easter goodies, we can also search for God. He doesn’t hide from us. If we want to know who God is, all we have to do is search in his Word to us, the Bible. In Jeremiah 29:13, God tells us, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
Try This
Plan an Easter egg hunt with your friends and family. Fill plastic eggs with lots of goodies, but set aside four special eggs to be prize eggs. Write the following verses on strips of paper, and put a verse along with a special prize in each egg. Hide the all eggs in your home or yard and enjoy the hunt. Invite those who found the Scripture eggs to read the verses to the whole group. Remind everyone that the best prize we can ever hunt for is Jesus!
“I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.” (Psalm 34:4)
“Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.” (Psalm 105:4)
“Blessed are they who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart.” (Psalm 119:2)
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7)
What’s Cookin’?
Circle the foods that have
eggs as a main ingredient:
- chocolate cake
- meatloaf
- bean soup
- spaghetti
- sugar cookies
- pancakes
- eggnog
- pepperoni pizza
- french toast
An Eggsellent Treat
Try making these delicious Easter “eggs”!
What You’ll Need:
½ stick of butter
1 10-ounce bag of regular marshmallows
6 cups of Rice Krispies cereal
small bowls of colorful sprinkles
small tubes of colorful frosting (optional)
What to Do:
Ask a parent to help you make Rice Krispie treats using the following instructions:
Melt ½ stick of butter in a large pot on medium heat. Pour the bag of marshmallows in with the butter and stir until melted and smooth.
Stir in six cups of Rice Krispies.
Butter your hands, then take handfuls of the cereal mixture and shape them into egg shapes. Place each “egg” on a plate.
Roll each egg in a small bowl of colorful sprinkles. (Make sure to do this while the eggs are still warm!) Set the eggs on a plate until cool.
When your eggs have cooled, you can decorate them with frosting or just wrap them in colorful sheets of plastic wrap. Happy Easter!
Answers: chocolate cake, eggnog, meatloaf, sugar cookies, pancakes, french toast
