8 Epic Ideas to Help Families Celebrate Easter in a COVID-19 World
/Whether you attend church services regularly or have a family tradition to go for major holidays, missing out on Easter services again this year feels especially sad. Easter is a celebration of hope and new life that we look forward to each spring! And of course, it's always a joy to watch a crowd of children eagerly hunting for Easter eggs. I think we all had hoped the pandemic would be over by now! Thankfully, Easter can't be cancelled or postponed. Easter comes whether we are ready or not. Easter is a reminder that death and despair do not have the last word! Even under our current restrictions, we can rejoice in the hope that Easter brings. Here are some ways you can celebrate Easter with your family while social distancing.
Attend a fun Easter Event
Get up early on Sunday, watch the sunrise and enjoy your pastries with coffee and hot chocolate while you read one of these fun Easter book recommendations from Book Passage. Or read the Easter story together from the Bible. There are various accounts, pick your favorite to read: Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, or John 20. If you don't have a Bible at home, go to biblegateway.com and type the scripture in the search bar. Sausalito has some great places to watch the sunrise: either Swede's Beach in Old Town or Yee Tock Chee Park right on the water at the foot of Princess Street. And of course Mt. Tam has beautiful spots to view the sunrise too!
If you normally attend an Easter service at a local church, look on their website for updated information. Some churches may be holding outdoor, social-distanced services or others may be holding theirs online via livestream. Mt. Tamalpais United Methodist Church in Mill Valley streams their service every Sunday (including Easter) at 10:30am on Facebook. They hope to hold an outdoor service on Easter if it is allowed and safe to do so (bring your own lawn chairs or blanket) and would stream the outdoor service simultaneously. Even if you don't have a Facebook account, you should be able to view the livestream on their page. Go to facebook.com, @mttamchurch. You can dress up in your best Easter attire, come casual or watch the livestream in your PJs!
Hide your child's favorite goodies in containers or dye your own for your own egg hunt. No fancy kit needed.
There are lots of ideas on the internet, from using construction paper for the little ones to decorate to full on sewing a bonnet (would be a great opportunity to teach older children how to sew). Here is one site that has several examples and links: tipjunkie.com/easter-bonnet.
Going to church on Easter morning and being in that sacred space - mixed with alternating moments of stillness and joyful trumpet sounds and choir, along with beautiful wood and stained glass windows - it's certainly a special feeling. So bring the feeling home and share it with your neighbors. Here's a great example of how to make your own stained glass window with painters tape, Crayola washable paint, water and dish soap: craftymorning.com/paint-your-own-stained-glass-windows.
Go on an Easter scavenger hunt.
Recreation Department, is holding a city-wide Easter scavenger hunt. Visit the Chamber's blog to keep your eyes open for more info: enjoymillvalley.com/-blog. Or hold your own scavenger hunt! Color your own paper Easter eggs and tape to your window so others can see. Ask neighbors to color paper eggs too and kids can take a walk to "hunt" for the eggs they see in the windows. There are lots of templates online. Here's one that lets you click on which template you want and print the pdf of it: timvandevall.com/easter/easter-egg-templates. You do not need to create an account to download the templates.
OK...we all might be tired of Zoom, but it has been nice to be able to connect with extended family and friends who live elsewhere in the country or even around the world. You could create a challenge to each have something on your table made with jello, or something that's green (my family always made a lime jello salad with marshmallow, my husband's family often makes a pistachio dessert). Hide a few eggs in the frame of your video and let the kids hunt for them in the different screens. You could take turns sharing something you saw that day that gave you hope, that was beautiful, or for which you're grateful. Or you could have a contest for the best tie or the fanciest Easter dress or the best Easter bonnet. Or skip the fancy meal and just play games. Scattergories is a fun game that works for older elementary aged kids, teens and adults. Here's a free online Scattergories generator if you and your guests don't have the game at home.
Love, blessings and hope to you and your families!!
Tricia Wiig is Director of Children, Youth and Family Ministries at Mt. Tam Church in Mill Valley. In addition to her passion for working with children and spirituality, she enjoys hiking, foreign languages, doing crafts and more recently has spent way too much time researching ancestry for herself and others. She lives in Sausalito with her husband and teenage son.
