Easter is one of my favorite holidays. I love the joy and the promise of new life that comes each spring, and I love dressing my kids in cute outfits and hunting for Easter eggs. As a young family with little kids, starting new traditions for our little family can be a challenge as we unite those of our families of origin with what we want for the future. My goals for our family Easter traditions are that they would be three things: memorable, special, and simple. I don’t want to add stress to an already hectic time of year, and I don’t want to get caught up in trying to make things too perfect while forgetting about what is really important. Today I’m sharing four simple Easter traditions we’ve started with our family to make the holiday special while keeping it stress free.
1) Decorate with your kids. Let go of Pinterest perfection and let your kids help you string plastic eggs to make a garland. Have them fill a mason jar with more plastic eggs and stick a few faux flower stems inside for a festive centerpiece. Paint baking soda dough ornaments for an Easter Tree. My kids get so excited about decorating for holidays with us, and all perfectionism has to go out the window in exchange for sweet memories.
This centerpiece was so easy to make. My three year old stuffed the mason jar full of plastic eggs, then I arranged four faux hyacinth stems inside. I think it turned out to be such a pretty, simple, and fun project done together.
2) Talk about what the holiday means in your family. For our family, this is the most important tradition. We want the holiday to be about more than just what the Easter Bunny brings on Easter morning. We talk about the joy of the season and how we can spread that joy to others. We talk about the promise of new life that comes with spring time and Easter. We attend church together during Lent and on Easter. We teach our kids about the true meaning of Easter through books and DIY Resurrection Eggs.
3) Celebrate with service. Rather than have Easter become one more holiday that is all about us, we are trying to turn the focus outward and help our kids to think of others. We stuffed eggs for a charity egg hunt to teach our kids about giving. We are working on more fun ways to celebrate by bringing joy to others.
4) Host friends and family for a festive Easter meal. Hosting holiday dinners can be majorly stressful. We love to host Easter dinners with family and friends, but don’t always have the time or energy it takes to prepare a big holiday feast. My parents have always included a HoneyBaked Ham as part of our holiday meals, and I’ve brought the tradition home to my own little family. You just can’t beat the taste. This year we decided to pick up a few of their delicious sides to accompany the ham and simplify our meal prep. It was SO easy. You can call in the order in advance or order online, then pick it up at your local store. We had the bone in half ham, and it was far more than enough to feed all 7 of us at dinner and gave us leftovers for a week. We picked up the broccoli rice casserole (the hands-down favorite), garlic mashed potatoes, and sweet potato souffle. They were all delicious and so easy to heat and serve. It took all the stress out of the meal prep.
Grab this limited time only offer: $5 Off Any Purchase of $50 or More at any HoneyBaked Ham Store. Find a store near you here.
What are your favorite family Easter traditions?
*This post is sponsored by HoneyBaked Ham. All opinions are my own.