Easter has always been one of the most meaningful holidays in our family—and one I’ve worked on for years to make both sacred and joyful.
Somewhere between Easter baskets, egg hunts, and the deeper story of Christ, I’ve found myself asking again and again:
How do we make Easter feel as meaningful as it really is?
Over the years, I’ve gathered our favorite Easter traditions along with simple, meaningful Easter ideas for families. Holy Week ideas, and Christ-centered ways to celebrate—some spiritual, some simple, some just fun.
Whether your children are little, grown, or somewhere in between, I hope you’ll find ideas here to help you create a more meaningful, Christ-centered Easter.
Christ-Centered Easter Ideas & Holy Week Traditions
If you want to focus more on Christ during Easter week, these ideas center around reflection, devotionals, and meaningful conversations.
- Holy Week ideas for families
- Our Holy Week yellow cards
- A Palm Sunday family/church lesson idea
- A “Stations of the Cross” walk
- What the Atonement Means in Real Life – my favorite quote from Cheiko Okasaki
- When Easter doesn’t go as planned – Good Friday


Meaningful (and Fun!) Easter Traditions for Families
These are the traditions that have woven themselves into our family over the years—simple, imperfect, and full of connection.
- Traditions that Make Easter Special
- Painting Easter eggs (with a twist)
- A family screen-time challenge for Holy Week
- Strings leading to Easter baskets – each year the Easter Bunny creates a web of strings leading from where the kids sleep to their Easter baskets. The more crazy things that string goes through (the garage, the fridge, etc.) the better!
- Easter egg hunt variations – there’s a bullet list of different variations listed in this post
- Our eggs Benedict Easter breakfast tradition


Easter with Older Kids & Adult Children – Evolving Traditions
Easter shifts as families grow. These posts are about navigating that change—holding onto what matters while learning to let go.
- “Moving to the Bleachers” with adult kids for Easter
- Letting adult kids lead at Easter – our family discussion last year
- How Easter traditions hold us together (even after kids are grown)
- Have grown kids be in charge of a family lesson, whether in person or gathered on Zoom. Give them assignments about what you want them to share (favorite Easter scripture/quote, how they feel about Jesus, etc.) It’s so good for kids to take ownership of their own spiritual progression. Every time we do this I’m amazed at what my kids teach me.


Easter Basket & Gift Ideas
Simple, meaningful ideas for Easter baskets for kids of all ages.
- I think these are the cutest little animals perfect for filling eggs, and Murphy is going to fall in love with them this year.
- Jesus puzzle pieces – I love the idea of getting pieces of a puzzle in Easter eggs and working together to put together the puzzle after all the eggs are found. There are some harder puzzles for older kids, easy puzzles for little kids and everything in between. Some of them can be colored which I think would be so fun for kids of any age.
- One year I asked my adult kids to pick out a painting of Jesus they loved and I’d get them a print of it for their desk or bedroom. Not everyone picked a favorite, so for some of them I guessed. But I loved the chance to buy them something they may not think to buy for themselves. And I love seeing those small prints in frames in their bedrooms/offices when I visit. There’s nothing like a good reminder of Jesus, right?
Simple Easter Ideas to Try This Year
If you’re looking for something simple and meaningful to add this year, here are a few ideas that don’t require a lot of preparation but can make a big impact.
- Easter screen-time challenge
- Sunrise Easter moment – we’ve never done this before. But I’m really loving my sunrise challenge, so I figured incorporating it into Easter morning will add some beauty to the morning.
- “Last Supper” style family dinner – This was an idea from a blog reader to create a family candlelit “last supper” with scriptures discussion around what that last supper may have felt like.
- “You’ve Been Egged” – This is a fun service idea. Get a bunch of plastic eggs and fill them with candy or nice notes, small prints of Jesus, whatever you want. Then hide them in a neighbor’s yard and leave a note on their porch: “You’ve been Egged.” Hopefully they’ll find all those eggs for a little extra love in their life.
- Have depictions of Easter events ready to go, and have children tell you what they think is happening in the picture. So good to hear what kids are thinking and this provides such a great way to clarify the story of Jesus.


Favorite Easter Books, Videos & Resources
Sometimes the simplest way to bring meaning into Easter is through something you watch, read, or listen to together.
- Favorite Easter books to help kids understand Easter: An Easter Walk & A Christ-Centered Easter
- My personal favorite Easter book: The Robe. This classic novel shares an amazing story from the perspective of a Roman soldier.
- Meaningful Easter videos
- My very favorite Easter video
- Church resources / devotionals
- Power of Families Easter guide
- My sister Saydi’s Holy Week guide
- An amazing Holy Week guide from Catherine Arveseth
However you celebrate, I hope your Easter is filled with connection, reflection, and moments that help you feel a little closer to the Savior and to the people you love most.
