How to Celebrate Easter During Coronavirus

Planning Family-Friendly Easter Activities

1. Keep as many of your existing traditions as possible. When you're social distancing, it can be very helpful to try to make things feel as normal as possible. This can be really hard—you may not be able to attend a sunrise church service, take the kids to Grandma's house, or take pictures with the Easter bunny. However, look for creative ways you can incorporate your own traditions to make this Easter feel special.^[1]

   1. For instance, instead of attending a sunrise church service, you might sit outside and read your Bible at daybreak.
   2. If you can't get pictures with the Easter Bunny, have your children write letters telling the Bunny how much they missed him this year.
   3. If you would normally have a meal with family members, you might plan to all eat at the same time, and set up a group video chat on a platform like Zoom.
2. Order Easter baskets online if you have children at home. Chances are, you're trying to avoid going into stores as much as possible. Fortunately, there are still options for snagging an Easter basket for your little ones. Try ordering from an online store that offers fast shipping, like Amazon Prime or Walmart. Just be sure to check the estimated delivery date to make sure it will get there before Easter.^[2]

   1. Use a curbside-pickup service from a store like Target or Walmart if you're worried a delivery won't get there in time.
   2. You could also try searching social media to find out if anyone is selling handmade Easter baskets in your area!
3. Dye eggs for a fun, traditional Easter project. First, hard-boil your eggs and let them cool completely. Then, lay a sheet of newspaper or paper towels over your work area to protect it from dye. Fill a container with enough water to color an egg and 1  tsp (4.9 ml) of white vinegar. Then, add about 20 drops of food coloring to each bowl. Use a slotted spoon to carefully lower an egg into the container. Let it sit for about 5 minutes, turning it occasionally, then remove the egg with the slotted spoon and allow it to dry.^[3]

   1. Make a separate container of water, vinegar, and dye for each color you'd like to use.
   2. Be sure to wear old clothes in case they get stained with the dye!
   3. These eggs will still be perfectly good to eat! Just store them unpeeled in the fridge for up to a week.
4. Call or video-chat any family and friends you're missing. If spending time with loved ones is a big part of your family's Easter celebration, it can be hard to feel like you're missing out on that time together. To help make things a little easier, set aside some time to call the people you miss the most. If it's possible, try to find ways to include them in your celebration, like video-chatting while your kids hunt for eggs or during your Easter meal.^[4]

   1. You can even start a new family tradition, like having everyone make the same family recipe.
5. Watch Easter-themed movies to get in the holiday spirit. Make a big bowl of popcorn, pile up under some comfy blankets, and turn on your favorite Easter movies. Just recognizing the holiday with seasonal flicks can help spread cheer and make the holiday weekend feel more special.^[5]

   1. For instance, you might opt for kid-friendly stories like Hop, It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown, and Rise of the Guardians.
   2. If you prefer a more religious celebration, watch movies that depict Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, such as The Passion of the Christ. You might also recognize Passover by watching The Ten Commandments.
6. Leave a trail of bunny footprints around the house on Easter morning. Pour some powdered sugar, cornstarch, or flour into a bowl. Then, dip your first two fingers and your thumb in the bowl, and hold your fingers press them to the surface where you want to make the trail. It will look like a little bunny has been hopping all over your home!^[6]

   1. Try adding glitter to add a little extra magic to the Easter Bunny's tracks!
   2. For a fun Easter-morning activity, make a trail leading from a window to wherever you've hidden your kids' Easter baskets.

   Variation: To make bigger footprints, cut a circle or oval shape out of a sponge. Use the sponge to make the foot part of the print, then use your fingers to make 3 toes on the top of each foot!

7. Hide eggs for your own Easter egg hunt. Whether you're dyeing your own eggs or buying the plastic ones you can fill with candy, you can still stage your own Easter egg hunt, even if it's only for one kid. Try to come up with creative hiding spots, and don't forget to take plenty of pictures of the fun!^[7]

   1. To make things even more interesting, try an Easter egg treasure hunt! Hide plastic eggs containing clues that will lead kids to a fun prize, like their Easter baskets or a 'secret' stash of candy.
8. Make a bunny cake for a sweet, on-theme treat! Bake two round cakes in any flavor you like, and place one cake in the middle of a cake board as the head. Make 2 curved, vertical cuts along the other cake, similar to the seams on a baseball. Turn the center, concave piece so it's horizontal, and place it under the head to make a bowtie. Use the 2 remaining convex pieces as the bunny's ears. Finally, decorate your cake with frosting and candies!^[8]

   1. Use your imagination to come up with other delicious snacks. For instance, you might use marshmallows to create fluffy bunny tails on the top of a cupcake, or you could pipe orange and green frosting in the shape of a carrot to top off your favorite carrot cake recipe.
9. Take part in a drive-through Easter egg hunt. Many communities are adopting new ways to stay connected through social distancing, including drive-by Easter egg hunts. To participate, fill your windows with Easter-themed pictures, like Easter eggs, bunnies, flowers, and more. Then, drive through your community and see how many eggs your family can spot!^[9]

   1. Check social media to see if anyone in your area is participating in something like this. If they're not, consider reaching out to your neighbors to organize it yourself!
   2. To make it even more fun, decorate your car with balloons, window chalk, and more!
10. Share a family meal on Easter Sunday. When you get your groceries in the week leading up to Easter, try to plan a special meal that you can prepare for the holiday. Unfortunately, limited supplies of groceries might mean that you can't make your Aunt Susan's legendary macaroni salad exactly the way that she did, but chances are, you can still find something to make a nice meal at home.^[10]

    1. Try to make the meal as special as possible. For instance, set the table with your nicest dinnerware and have everyone get dressed up for the meal.