Computing Corner

The Easter holiday is one of the most celebrated of calendar holidays in America. This children’s holiday has tons of fun ways to celebrate it.

Those followers of the Christian faith celebrate Easter Sunday as the resurrection of their savior Jesus Christ two days following his death. Many Americans attend Easter holiday mass or Easter holiday services. Easter Sunday is always a time for family gatherings. Within the religious setting and history of Easter, however, are largely secular celebrations with a recurring central theme of resurrection and rebirth. This calendar date holiday is one of spring and represents the revitalization and rejuvenation of the Earth itself. Easter holiday is a time of growth and celebration for all Americans, no matter their faiths.

The calendar date for this holiday is always on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25 each year, following a complex lunar equation system of its determination. Its celebration will often begin the Saturday prior to its marked celebration for the largest recognized traditional celebration: Easter eggs. The actual day of Easter is on a Sunday because of its religious history and meanings as a day of sacrament and holy rest, worship, celebration, and family gathering.

Easter, no matter the American, has set traditions within a family of celebration. Here are the most common ways Easter Sunday is generally celebrated as a US holiday.

Easter Eggs are hardboiled to be painted, usually using ingredients such as vegetable based dyes and vinegar, which places a sight and a smell with Easter. Easter is synonymous with many things such as the Easter bunny and Easter eggs, but also with Easter baskets, Easter egg hunts, and the colorful pastels and bright hues of the spring celebration of rebirth.

Children are generally given baskets on Eastern Sunday morning that are filled with fake grass made of plastic that comes in as many colors as the woven baskets. They are filled with candies and sometimes small toys. Usually Easter eggs inside are made of plastic and have trinkets inside. Jelly beans, chocolate bunnies, chocolate eggs, and fluffy and sugary Peeps are the most common on the edible goodies to be found in these baskets. Clothes, cards, and novelty toys such as cards or yoyos can often be found inside the Easter holiday basket.

Easter eggs, hard boiled and colored the night before, are hidden by the parents as the children look at the many toys and goodies found in their Easter baskets.

The Easter eggs are hidden in what is termed an Easter egg hunt, of which families may have their own or communities sometimes come together in common areas such as a park to host them. Businesses, charities, and other organizations often host Easter egg hunts as well. The children are challenged to find as many Easter eggs as they can, to usually win a prize. Sometimes there is no competition, but the fun of hunting for each Easter egg is the considered prize.

Once children have had their frolicking fun to find the Easter eggs hid by the Easter bunny, the supposed giver of all the gifts, family celebrations usually take place. Families feast, often after Easter church services.

Families feast on various things, and usually serve brightly colored dishes or many dishes involving eggs, to get rid of extra Easter eggs. Many feasts / family dinners will include both varieties of foods, and family favorite dishes. Often, comfort foods are served. A large emphasis of family is placed on Easter holiday.

Decorations aren’t limited to the baskets, and the Easter bunny is often seen in costume and decorating the house and the yard.

The Easter bunny itself has origins in pre Christian pagan holidays and animal representations of the deities they represented. The Easter bunny serves as a reminder of the vivaciousness of our spirits and the season.

Although historically a religious holiday, some stick to celebrating strictly with the Easter bunny, the Easter egg, and the candy filled baskets.