Every year as Easter approaches I find myself asking the same question:
How do we make this holiday feel as meaningful as it really is?
How can I worship in a way that will take me closer to Jesus? How do I help my family do the same?
And maybe even more than that—how do we hold onto that meaning as our family changes?
Because over the years, everything shifts. The little kids who were once lined up together in their matching Easter outfits, eyes aglow with delight, grow up. Let’s take a look at those littles for a minute…
I mean, look at this delighted little gang!
Since then so much just keeps changing!
Some Easters are spent together, some apart. There have been Easters when we were lucky enough to have kids home from college to celebrate with us. And some where I poured my whole heart into Easter packages to send whoever was serving a mission that year. There have been many Easters when this is the best we could get as far as family-togetherness:
And then, we added grandchildren to the mix. More shifting (and delight).
As this happens, traditions evolve.
But I’m realizing something lately: the right traditions don’t just create memories…they help hold us together.
Easter Traditions That Hold Us Together (Even When We’re Apart)
Ok but back to meaningful Easters. I’m realizing that over the years, even as things shift and change, we have a few constants. Traditions that have become part of our family identity and hold us together even when we’re physically apart.
That’s what traditions do so beautifully.
Some of those traditions are spiritual, some simple, some just fun. Each year I try something new that adds a little more depth and connection. I’m learning that traditions don’t lose their power when kids grow up—they just change shape.
Our Tried-and-True Easter Traditions
These are the traditions that have stayed with us through every stage.
Easter traditions with grown children have to evolve a bit.
I love sending them a box of Easter egg dye in a package. Hoping they will color those eggs and still feel part of “us.” I’ve sent them string before as well. I’m not sure they’ve used it, but maybe it helps them still feel home in their bones.
Spiritually it’s trickier to connect when we’re separated. But Dave and I do try to connect any way we can about Holy Week activities. Whether we send thoughts in our family group text or share little moments throughout the week, we try to stay connected to what matters most. Those spiritual pieces are the heart of Easter after all.
I share more details about these traditions here → Easter Traditions We Love
Easter Books/Resources That Have Shaped Our Traditions
I have to include some good Easter books in this post because I’m realizing how many ideas I’ve gleaned from these special Easter resources over the years.
- An Easter Walk – an Easter walk realizing the beauty of new life
- A Christ-Centered Easter – all kinds of Easter ideas for families
- The Robe – a book that I’ve read a couple times leading up to Easter that has really brought me into this season more than ever
- Holy Week Guide – all my Holy Week ideas gathered into one spot, things that have made Holy Week so special for our family over the years
New Easter Traditions We’re Trying This Year
Easter traditions with grown children need to be modified from time to time, each year I like to try to work in something new. Of course, with working in new things, some of the old has to be left to the wayside. We all know you just can’t do everything! But each year I think it’s important to contemplate what’s most important at that moment in time.
So these are things I want to try this year, some of them suggested by blog readers in the past:
- Family Zoom meeting on Easter. Zoom calls are so easy to set up. This year our family will be split in two – a group in California and a group here. I’m hoping we can gather virtually to talk about our feelings this Easter. This could be a good time to also share our thoughts about General Conference which is happening on Easter this year.
- Put pieces of a Jesus puzzle in Easter eggs for the hunt. I ordered this puzzle, and I’m envisioning putting it together during conference sessions
- Get up at sunrise to bring in the holy day. I am so into my morning sunrise walks these days, so I’m extra excited to do this on Easter Sunday to commune with God a little better that morning. Hoping Dave and my adult kids will join me!
- Have a “Last Supper” one evening before Easter. A blog reader once told me about her family tradition of having their own “last supper” and I think it’s such a great idea. She said “We have different meats, fish, nuts, dried food, Lebanese bread etc, basically anything that is similar to the kinds of food they would’ve eaten back then. While at the table we talk about the last supper and what it represents as well as reading relevant scriptures. (everyone might have one scripture in front of their plate). I did something similar to this as a young teenager at a friends home and it was by far one of my more significant Easters!!” I’ll have to come back and report as to how it goes!
I love that Easter doesn’t have to look the same every year. This year feels different once again because our grand babies are coming to stay with us while their parents go visit Elle and Carson. Can you even believe how exciting that is? I can hardly stand waiting for them to get here.
Through all the changing each year, some traditions stay, some evolve, and some are just beginning.
But the heart of it—the gathering, the remembering, the feeling—somehow keeps growing.
And maybe that’s the real miracle of traditions—they stretch with us, growing right alongside our families.
However you celebrate, I hope you find a little bit of that this Easter.
More Easter Ideas for Every Stage of Family Life
- Easter traditions we love
- Holy Week ideas
- “Moving to the Bleachers” with adult kids at Easter
- Easter ideas for families
As you can tell, I love to gather Easter ideas so I’d love yours too! Please share, whether you have little kids or adults who have moved away.