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One of the things that I enjoy most about Catholic celebrations is that they don't just last one day. There is always so much build up and anticipation towards a particular feast day that it can come and go in the blink of an eye. How could we possibly celebrate the greatest accomplishment of our salvation for just one day? The covenants have been fulfilled, God has kept his promises, Jesus Christ has proven that He is Lord, the just souls have received their reward, darkness and death have been defeated, and the gates of Heaven are open to us! ALLELUIA ALLELUIA ALLELUIA! My soul cannot hold or comprehend the magnitude of this, I need more time for meditating, rejoicing, and immersing myself in depth of what has been done for me. Thankfully, the major feasts that we celebrate in the Church aren't over in one day, and for Easter we have a full fifty days of proclaiming Christ's resurrection. We must keep this reality alive in our homes and our communities by continuing to proclaim that He is Risen through prayer, scripture, activities, and food. Engaging in these things helps us in a more tangible way to experience the true, physical, and real resurrection of Christ.
I am going to throw out 50 activities (even though a couple of days have passed) to help get you going. You don't have to do them all, but there is a good mix of things to be done with family members of all ages so as to keep our hearts focused. For me, the fun stuff is just a means to engage ourselves in calling our hearts and minds back to the meaning of what we are celebrating. Read all 50, the list gets pretty good as you get down to the bottom, if I do say so myself!
50 Activities for the Easter Season!
Adaptable for All Ages
1. Make resurrection cookies.
2. Plant an Easter garden.
3. Dye Easter eggs.
4. Go to Mass another time this week.
5. Pray one of the Liturgy of the Hours at home, maybe once a day, or once a week.
6. Make an ALLELUIA banner to hang in your home.
7. Make and send cards to grandparents or godparents.
8. Plan a Pentecost party.
9. Celebrate a few saint's feast days within the Easter season. Check the USCCB liturgical calendar for feast days.
10. Plan an Easter egg hunt every Sunday. Change it up, do one inside, or maybe just hide one egg that has $$, try it in the dark with glow in the dark eggs!
11. Begin meal time prayer with one person saying "He is Risen" and have the rest of the family respond with "He is Risen Indeed". (We started this and I have been enjoying it more than what may seem normal.)
12. Go to confession on Divine Mercy Sunday.
13. Read the story of the resurrection from each Gospel account, pick one to do per week, compare and contrast the accounts.
14. Display a resurrection scene, this can be made out of paper, peg dolls, clay, items found outside like rocks and sticks, or order one online.
15. Pray the Resurrection prayer together as a family as you close out your day. https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/resurrection-prayers
16. Bake bread together, use it as a teaching tool to exemplify how in the breaking of bread, Jesus reveals Himself to us. You could also make the connection between bread rising and Jesus rising.
17. Read the road to Emmaus and go on a family walk.
18. Keep white flowers in your home throughout the season.
19. Butterflies are a symbol of Easter, order a butterfly kit to grow at home.
20. Go on a picnic for the Ascension and fly kites! See more ideas for the Ascension and Rogation Days here.
21. Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet.
22. Make a resurrection cross, for children this could be done with Popsicle sticks or other craft supplies, but for teenagers perhaps this could be an opportunity to learn how to build something!
23. The Regina Caeli is an antiphon that is used during the Easter Season, learn to sing it together.
24. Make an Easter playlist on spotify to listen to while cooking or going about your daily tasks at home.
25. Bring home blessed water from your local parish and bless your home.
26. Keep a holy water font by your front door filled with blessed water from the Easter vigil.
27. Use painters tape and washable paint to create stained glass windows by your front door.
28. Create Easter sidewalk messages for your neighbors/community to see as they drive or walk by.
29. Once a week have a nice meal together, set the table with nicer linens, and make dessert.
30. Play this fun Jelly Bean Prayer Game- https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%21APb%2D%5FfTgtKf6qws&cid=47D78E23512A8BBE&id=47D78E23512A8BBE%219493&parId=47D78E23512A8BBE%219436&o=OneUp
31. Renew your baptismal promises.
32. Make an Easter candle and light it for dinners or prayer time.
33. Watch an Easter movie together, we chose "The Easter Parade" this year.
34. Print and color these Easter coloring pages. - https://www.saintanneshelper.com/printable-easter-coloring-pages.html
35. Help your children begin an Easter journal by using these writing prompts from Ave Maria - https://www.avemariapress.com/engagingfaith/2010/04/dying-and-rising/
36. Create an Easter calendar together, have them decorate it, write down feast days, and traditions that you would like to start or keep going as a family.
37. Create a social media challenge to share a positive message about Jesus' resurrection every day.
38. Teach your kids about redemptive suffering, "offering it up". Just as Christ died for our sins, we can accept suffering for a greater good. We can do that by saying a small prayer when something is hard and then doing a small good deed.
39. Begin a novena, St. Joseph the Worker and St. Catherine of Siena both fall within the Easter Season.
40. Read about doubting Thomas and talk about how we should deal with times when our faith is difficult for us to understand.
41. Learn about a Saint that had stigmata! St. Rita bore a wound from the crown of thorns and her feast day is within the Easter Season.
42. Make Italian Easter Bread, save your dyed eggs for this.
43. Create "upper room" time in your home. Designate a quiet space for reading, praying, coloring, listening to chant, etc.
44. Visit deceased family members, those who are anticipating their resurrection.
45. Pray for the souls in purgatory, we do this at the end of every meal prayer.
46. Create a sacrifice Jelly Bean container to use until Pentecost.
47. If you buried the Alleluia, dig that up and display it in your home.
48. Read an Easter book.
49. Honor Mary in the Month of May and through the Easter season by praying the Angelus together at noon.
50. Display a crucifix or statue of Jesus along with an image or statue of Mary in a prominent place in your home with flowers.