This Sunday is Easter Sunday, due to the current situation with COVID-19 and the Shelter in Place order, it may look a little different and that is okay.  Take off the pressure to make it perfect and just  make it special.  Special can be a family lunch picnic style in the living room.  Special can be making Easter pancakes, either with sprinkles, or shaped as a cross or bunny or egg shaped pancakes.  Special can be getting dressed in your Easter best, using what you have.  Special can be baking an Easter treat together.  Special can be going around the table and saying what you are thankful for and saying a positive you love about each person in your house.

 For us we typically have new Easter outfits and enjoy celebrating the Resurrection surrounded by friends and family at our church.  Over the years I have taken my children to Good Friday services and we have experienced some pretty neat, interactive walk through experiences at churches that make Easter come alive.  There are plenty of Easter lessons on YouTube, you can also create your own.  Have your kiddos act out the Easter story or read from a book or from scripture.  Many churches are streaming their Easter services on-line, including Good Friday services, I hope you will partake of this great service.    

 We typically have quite a few Easter Egg hunts, one at home, one with cousins at my in-laws home and one at my parents home, one at church, we usually go to a park and it really is a week long time of celebrating.  We are definitely going to miss our family egg hunts, this year will just be the boys

 I did not already have new Easter outfits, and did not have a lot of Easter Basket items.  I had gone to the Dollar Tree and have some miscellaneous items like bubbles, chalk, coloring books, Peeps, candy and small gift items.  This year we will still get dressed in a outfit for a family picture although it will not be a new outfit, I still want to document this Easter Sunday, we are living in a historic moment.  This year our Easter Baskets will have basics and snacks from my pantry.  

Although Easter may look different this year when it comes to outfits, Egg Hunts, and celebrating with friends and family.  Celebrate how you can.  

 One of our annual traditions is going over Resurrection Eggs, while you may not be able to go out and buy them, I found a free printable version on TeachingHeart.net as well as more free Easter printables.  I used this printable with my church Sunday School class and my own children over the years.  You could also make your own Resurrection Eggs, I will list out what they come with and some DIY Options below.  You could have your children help and make it like scavenger hunt to help build the Resurrections Eggs.
DIY Resurrection Eggs:
Egg 1 Donkey (Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a Donkey) 
Read Matthew 21:1-9
DIY Option use a toy car, to symbolize our mode of transportation, or a plant leaf to symbolize how the people cried out Hosanna and spread out Palm leaves as he entered Jerusalem.

 Egg 2 Coins (Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 silver coins)
Read Matthew 26:14-16, 46-50, 27:1-5
DIY Option use three silver coins of any kind (quarters, dimes, nickels.

 Egg 3 Cup (At the Last Supper with His disciples, Jesus used the cup of wine to explain His death.  We still take communion in remembrance of Christ's blood poured out for us.
Read Matthew 26:17-19, 26-28; Exodus 12:23
DIY Option, use a piece of bread or cracker.

 Egg 4 Praying Hands (Remind us that Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray with His disciples).
Read Mark 14:32-42
DIY Option, use a flower to symbolize the Garden, or something to symbolize sleeping as His disciples fell asleep a great reminder that we are not strong on our own.  

 Egg 5 Leather Whip (Roman soldiers used leather ropes to ship Jesus leaving 39 deep gashes).
Read John 19:1-15
DIY Option, use a piece of leather, or rope to symbolize the whip.

 Egg 6 Crown of Thorns (The soldiers who crucified Jesus placed a crown of thorns on His head).
Read Matthew 27:29-31
DIY Option, use a thorn from a rose bush, make a crown from twigs.

 Egg 7 Nails (Three large nails were driven into Jesus hands and feet to nail Him to the cross).
Read John 19:16-22
DIY Option, nails or a small cross/crucifix.

 Egg 8 Dice for Gambling (The Roman soldier used dice to gamble for Jesus's robe).
Read John 19:23-25
DIY Option, a dice from a game, or a piece of cloth symbolizing the robe.

 Egg 9 Spear (Roman soldiers used a spear to pierce Jesus' side when He was on the cross).
Read John 19:31-37
DIY Option, a sharp flat pointed rock, a small stick, a toothpick.  

 Egg 10 Linen (Joseph of Arimathea wrapped the body of Jesus in a linen cloth after He died on the cross).
Read Matthew 27:57-61
DIY Option a piece of white cloth or napkin.

 Egg 11 Stone at the Tomb (A huge stone that had covered the tomb was found rolled away).
Read Matthew 28:1-3
DIY Option a rock or stone.

 Egg 12 Empty Tomb (Jesus tomb was empty because He rose from the dead).
Read Matthew 28:5-8
This egg is simple because it is empty.  
Here is a Scavenger Hunt FREE Printable I created.   Although I listed some DIY options above, if you want to create Resurrection Eggs as a family you could also not offer any suggestions print out these clues and let your kiddos get creative for DIY options or offer some hints if they need help with ideas.
If you wanted to make it a little easier you could gather all the DIY options and hide them in the living room and have the kids find them.  You could number the eggs with a sharpie marker.  You could cut the 12 clues into strips and place in the eggs or just hand them the full printed paper.  Click the image below to download a FREE PDF version or click here https://bit.ly/2yxO2IO.
I hope Easter comes to life for my children right from home.  The resemblance of the Passover that we are experiencing right now makes for a great teaching moment.  You see the Passover time in the Bible, great plagues were coming to Egypt as Pharaoh would not release God's people.  The last plague was coming and God instructed His people to take the blood of a precious lamb and place it over their doorpost and the plague would not visit their home, they would be protected.  Makes me think of what the Israelites experienced as the many plagues spread throughout Egypt similar to what we are experiencing now.      

 I plan on keeping it simple this year, but still enjoying the little things.  We will still dye eggs, make some Easter cookies with Easter M&M's and discuss the Easter Story all week long.  
We will enjoy snack time out of Easter Eggs, this is a favorite for little ones.  

 Here are some easy fun Easter Treats I have shared on the blog in years past.
Easter Peep Fruit Kabobs
https://bit.ly/39BUMCs

 Easter Peep Treats
https://bit.ly/39M7VsC

Easter Rice Krispie Treats
http://bit.ly/2u65Hp0
Easter Egg Carton Craft
https://bit.ly/2V5LsBq
Tips for Making Easter Eggs
https://bit.ly/39JYr19
Thank you for reading if you’ve enjoyed the content you’ve read above please share with your friends. Remember to download this FREE Printable Resurrection Egg Scavenger Hunt below. 
https://bit.ly/2yxO2IO