Easter hunt at home!

This year I decided to surprise my family with Easter baskets.

Here they are!  David's basket is in the middle.  I also decided to make them hunt for their goodies.  And hunt for their basket, too.  Grace had such fun searching for her "pot of treasure" during Saint Patrick's Day, I just knew she'd enjoy another treasure hunt at Easter.

So I made a little egg shaped book for David, Grace, and Faith.  The covers of the books are made from paint samples courtesy of Home Depot.  Aren't they pretty?  Blue for David, pink for Grace, and green for Faith.  Of course, as soon as Grace saw them, she claimed the pink one for herself and wanted to know where mine was.  She's such an observant little girl!

 Inside each book were pages with specific locations on them.

 And each specific location held a toy, candy, or some other goody.

 Both Faith and Grace received Little People to add to their collection.

 And light up egg flashlights.

 Rubber duckys.

 Reese rubber duckies to be precise.  Meaning those ducks came with chocolate Reese cups.  Yum!

 I also got matching tutu-ruffled bathing suits for the girls.

And bubbles, and candy, and whatnot.  And after Grace helped everyone complete their search, we sat down with the girls and told them that while Easter is a fun time to receive presents, Easter is a time to celebrate the greatest gift ever given - that of Jesus Christ giving His life so that our sins would be forgiven.  And that while Jesus died on the cross for our sins, He rose again on the third day and that is the real meaning of Easter.  We try to keep our explanations simple and direct due to Grace's age.  As both Grace and Faith grow older, we plan to go into further detail and incorporate the corresponding Bible verses.  But with Grace only 3 years old and Faith just 9 months old, their attention span is still limited, to say the least.

Regardless, we really enjoyed our Easter celebration this year.  I especially like taking a fun activity like the Easter hunt and putting a Christian twist on it to remind our children about God's love for us and the sacrifice that Jesus made.  And for once, I wasn't rushing around last minute to get everything finished.  I think that our little scavenger hunt will become a cherished family tradition.  And next year, I hope Grace will be better able to grasp the understanding of what Easter truly means for us.