A point of perfect balance. As we reach Easter, night and day fall into perfect equilibrium; dark and light, masculine and feminine, inner and outer, all in harmony. But the world is not in stasis and from this moment onwards the year is waxing and the light defeats the dark. The earth is alive once more, and the Sun gains strength and warmth as each day gets longer. With smaller children we can tell stories of the seeds that lay dormant all winter and now return to life and the image of the caterpillar transforming into the butterfly provides a wonderfully tangible experience of the concept.
Just like Christmas, Easter usually falls within the school holidays. As well as the festival itself, the time leading up to Easter can be a wonderful opportunity to make decorations and tell stories to help children understand this moment and all our celebrations.
Bringing Easter into your home
Many Easter crafts involve eggs; a tradition that pre-dates the Christian festival. The egg is the perfect self contained promise of new life; symbolising the rebirth of nature, the Earth’s fertility and in some traditions, the universe itself. To blow eggs use a sharp needle to make a small hole at one end and a larger hole (around the diameter of a straw) at the other then blow firmly through the smaller hole as if to inflate a balloon. Blown eggs can be dyed with tissue paper and hung on branches around the house, while hard boiled eggs can be dyed for a colourful Easter breakfast. You might also like to make wind wands, kites or other ribbon fliers to celebrate the turn of the year towards the sun.