A time of darkness filled the land, but Resurrection Sunday is coming. Easter, a time of hope, life, and rebirth, is the perfect time to refocus our minds and celebrate His new mercies. Though it may look different this year, we can still celebrate Easter with our families and friends. Let’s look at a few ways we can observe the holiday, bring joy to the faces of our children, and even share it with others all while practicing social distancing.
Celebrating Easter While Social Distancing
Easter Worship
If you are a planner like me, then you have already purchased the perfect outfits for your children to wear to church on Easter Sunday. Go ahead and dress them up. Dress yourself up. Do it right. Most churches have moved online now, so stream a service and join with other believers as you had planned on doing anyway. We are the body, and we can still worship from home.
Easter Dinner
Just because you aren’t with extended family doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy your favorites for dinner. Take a little extra time to include your children in meal preparations if you are cooking. If not, order from your favorite restaurant and have a service bring it to your door with a no contact delivery.
You can also share the load and still have your typical Easter feast. Ask each member of your family to prepare their signature dish. It can be refrigerated or frozen and dropped at each other’s door. On Easter, everyone has a full dinner ready to pop in the oven.
Still Celebrating With Family
Put out that beautiful centerpiece. Set the table. But leave “room for Zoom!” Zoom has become a great platform for work meetings from home. Now is the time to use it to bring your family together. You can FaceTime, Skype–whatever works best for you. Just make sure to set a specific time and set that computer up so you can still have your large family dinner gathering.
Easter Fun
If you haven’t yet found all the perfect basket fillers, don’t fret. Local stores are preparing them for curbside pickup, and online retailers have plenty of choices, too.
Surprise your neighbors or friends with an Easter egg hunt! Hide eggs in their front yard, leave a note on the door, and text or call to let them know they’ve been “egged.”
Deliver a basket to the front door of an elderly neighbor. Amazon partners with Whole Foods and they have beautiful tulips that can be delivered without even leaving your home.
Have a family Easter egg hunt. Hide eggs in your yard and take a panoramic picture. Send the photo to family and friends and see who can find the most. You can even tailor this to age groups or specific people by assigning a specific color egg to each person.
Area neighborhoods will also be doing drive through egg hunts and everyone can participate. Tape a large Easter egg in one of your windows for all to find.
Celebrating on a Budget
So many people have lost their jobs recently, so let’s explore ways to fill those Easter baskets on a budget. Recycle those plastic eggs from years past and fill those babies up with candy. Print coloring pages and roll and tie them with a pretty ribbon and crayons. Make DIY Easter bunnies, slime, or even masks.
Get creative and make a book of coupons for things your child enjoys. It could be things like dessert before dinner, staying up thirty minutes past bedtime, family game night where they pick the game, no chores for one day, and so on.
You can also give them the gift of fantastic memories by putting the first clue of an epic scavenger hunt in their basket. If you plan on buying things to keep the kids busy throughout the following months, hold off a few more days and add those to the basket as well.
Though Easter is bound to be quite different this year, we can all still find ways to celebrate with the ones we love. Keep hope alive. The light is coming.