10 Easter Family Traditions that Honor Christ

If you're looking for some Easter family traditions that honor Christ and the true reason behind the holiday, these 10 ideas will help bring the spirit into your home throughout the Easter season and will help prepare your hearts and minds to worship Christ through Lent.

Easter Family Traditions that Honor Christ:

While celebrating Easter often looks like Easter baskets, Easter candy, Easter bunny, egg hunts, and those other pleasantries around the season, I think we can all agree they're not the real reason for the holiday. Those things have a time and place, and our family participates in those things to some extent, but for us, the real focus is on Christ and His death and resurrection, so we're always looking for easy ways to put Him at the focus of our season.

I am by no means trying to suggest that you do all of these things leading up to Easter, BUT, I am suggesting that you try adding in a few that fit well within your natural family rhythm and explore what it means to grow closer as a family toward Christ during this season.

If you're looking for some family Easter traditions that cost very little money, but help your family to celebrate Easter, and make a new Easter tradition, these ten ideas are really easy to put together with minimal time and effort, and can help elevate your Easter holiday.

Do A Daily Easter Devotional:

Doing a daily devotional together as a family is a great way to bring the Spirit into your home during the Easter season. I have created a 30-day Easter devotional for families that includes a scripture for each day, discussion prompts and questions, and a daily prayer prompt to guide your family prayer time. It's available to purchase as a digital download which you can access here.

Read the Resurrection Story:

If you're not in the season of life where a daily devotional is practical for your family, then simply reading the resurrection story as a family is a great way to learn about the miraculous event that is Easter. You can read it in the New Testament, Matthew 28: 1-10.

Easter Scripture Memory:

Find some bible verses as a family within the Easter story that you want to memorize during the season. Some great bible verses to consider memorizing this time of year are:

John 11:25-26 (ESV):

"Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?'"

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 (ESV):

"For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures."

Matthew 28:6 (ESV):

"He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay."

Luke 24:5-6 (ESV):

"And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, 'Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.'"

Colossians 3:1-2 (ESV):

"If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth."

Romans 6:23 (ESV):

"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

1 Peter 1:3 (ESV):

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."

Acts 2:24 (ESV):

"God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it."

1 Corinthians 15:20 (ESV):

"But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep."

Romans 8:11 (ESV):

"If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you."

Observe Holy Week:

Another great alternative to doing a complete family devotional is to just focus on Holy Week. Last year I created this printable that you can access for free, that takes you through each of the days of Holy Week with an image to hang on the wall, and a bible verse to correspond with each day of the week. It's a great way to countdown to Easter as a family.

Good Friday Service:

I love attending church on Good Friday to set the tone and the scene for the entire Easter weekend. I think there is definitely something to be said about attending church more than just on Easter Sunday, and adding Good Friday to your routine really sets the stage for the reason behind why Easter Sunday truly is so miraculous. Try to find some christian churches near you with a God Friday service, and pick one to check out as a family.

Easter Sunday Service:

This one is a given, but going to church on Easter just puts the true meaning of the holiday into perspective and helps you come to reality each year with the weight of Jesus's death and resurrection. While it is something we can be reminded of each week when we attend church, specifically worshiping and attending church on Easter Sunday just makes it all the more impactful.

Easter Prayer Time:

One family tradition you can try is to set some time aside on Easter morning praying and thanking God for the glorious gift of new life that is possibly through Jesus. Thank God for the gift it is that His son lives and provides a way for us to all do the same.

Christian Easter Eggs/Crafts:

Crafts are a great way to get kids engaged in any holiday season. There are so many great Easter crafts you can purchase and assemble from Amazon, but my favorites are these bible bookmarks that kids can color and use long after Easter is over.

Resurrection Rolls:

Resurrection Rolls are a super fun treat to make with kids where you can talk about the resurrection of Jesus and the significance of the empty tomb. Simply take come crescent rolls, put a marshmallow on the inside, roll them up, dip them in melted butter, then a cinnamon/sugar mixture, then bake in the oven. The marshmallow melts and essentially disappears in the oven, and you can correlate it to the story of Jesus. You can find a great recipe here.

Discuss What Easter Means to Each Family Member:

Lastly, when you're all gathered around the dinner table on Easter, you can take turns going around the table and discussing what Easter means to each family member. You'll get varied responses depending on the ages of your children, but it will be a great way to hear what Jesus means to each person and to hear testimonies, no matter how small.

What are some Easter Family Traditions that Honor Christ that you do with your family? I'd love to hear in the comments below!