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Post by no yark shark on Mar 23, 2016 9:03:20 GMT 9
King Quailbee, I know you just did an Easter event and I wanted to ask for advice (but of course anyone else can contribute). So my event is this Sunday and I only have 7 or 8 kids. I'm worried that the activities I have planned will go by too fast because of the small number of kids. This is the schedule I sort of have right now: 1:30-2:00 check-in 2:00-3:30 making bunny baskets (this will take longer than past crafts because I will have to actually instruct everyone how to do it, but it's still fairly simple), egg dying. I will have everyone do the baskets first, and then we will move over to a kitchen to do the eggs so that volunteers can hide eggs in the main room while the kids are doing eggs. 3:30-4:00 egg hunt Anyone have any advice for an activity I can squeeze in at the last minute?
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Post by King Quailbee on Mar 23, 2016 9:22:37 GMT 9
I squeezed in two activities:
1. A picture book (about a bunny hiding eggs)
2. "Egg Egg Bunny" game. It's like Duck, duck, goose - but instead of running, the kids have to hop like a bunny (both feet together)
Another craft you can do are Bunny Hats - we made simple bunny hats at the very beginning. We prepared the paper beforehand and allowed them to decorate the ears.
Even though there are 7-8 children, I wouldn't worry about time going too fast. Even if there are three kids, there could be one kid that is hella slow. I was surprised to see how long it was taking for kids to get their bunny hats done, but their bunny paper plate baskets were finished with really quickly.
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Post by no yark shark on Mar 23, 2016 9:40:53 GMT 9
Hm, I do have an Easter picture book, so I could bring that along I guess. Oh I forgot to mention I was also going to do a presentation explaining some stuff about Easter.
The kids are kind of a range of ages, three 3 year olds, 4 5-6 year olds, and a 9 year old (older sibling of a 5 year old) and I'm kind of worried the 9 year old is gonna be pretty bored.
Maybe I should skip the presentation and just do the picture book since kids might be bored by a powerpoint? My logic was that parents would be there so at least they'd learn/can explain to the kids, but I dunno...
Oh, maybe I'll do that thing where they have to race while carrying an egg on a spoon!
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Post by King Quailbee on Mar 23, 2016 9:57:53 GMT 9
I wouldn't worry about their ages. I had a sixth grader and she was pretty interested. The picture book was awkward but that was mainly my fault because I didn't practice reading it... D: The egg spoon game sounds fun! You could use the eggs that you tested for dyeing.  Or just a plastic egg. I don't do powerpoints for my craft making events, but I do sometimes print out large images on A3 paper to show off whatever I'm talking about. |
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Post by telly on Mar 23, 2016 10:05:23 GMT 9
I have something similar this Saturday. We will have an egg race, where you have to transport an egg via spoon to your other team members. You can use one of those plastic eggs if you want, but you could use an empty real egg for the thrill.
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Post by Researcher Irish on Mar 23, 2016 10:21:09 GMT 9
Are you doing anything about the actual meaning of Easter?
Like you said the ages would make that difficult. I just get weirded out when countries take on traditions without knowing anything about them.
Even if its just a passing mention for the parents?
The whole eggs for Lent things and eggs for chocolate actually provides a nice transition from serious to light hearted.
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Post by no yark shark on Mar 23, 2016 10:28:36 GMT 9
Are you doing anything about the actual meaning of Easter? Like you said the ages would make that difficult. I just get weirded out when countries take on traditions without knowing anything about them. Even if its just a passing mention for the parents? The whole eggs for Lent things and eggs for chocolate actually provides a nice transition from serious to light hearted. I'd like to mention it if I can, was going to include it in the powerpoint if I go that route. |
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Post by CaptainSeery on Mar 23, 2016 10:38:08 GMT 9
The egg spoon game sounds good! Also, like Quail said, crafts often do take longer than you expect, especially for kids that young. You might be surprised. Also the nine year old is likely to help out with the younger kids (especially her sibling) if she finishes early.
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Post by no yark shark on Mar 23, 2016 10:40:55 GMT 9
The egg spoon game sounds good! Also, like Quail said, crafts often do take longer than you expect, especially for kids that young. You might be surprised. Also the nine year old is likely to help out with the younger kids (especially her sibling) if she finishes early. I suppose that's true but in the past, I've had free form kinda crafts where I just cut out a bunch of pumpkins/bats/christmas trees and and put them out with a bunch of glitter/markers etc. and let the kids decorate them and that always goes by quicker than I'd expect. |
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Post by telly on Mar 23, 2016 10:49:47 GMT 9
We only have about an hour planned for egg painting, but that is a bit flexible, depending on how fast the kids get bored.
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Post by no yark shark on Mar 23, 2016 11:32:18 GMT 9
Ugh...I feel very stuck about how to explain the religious side of Easter.
like, crucifixion is so violent...
is it enough to explain Jesus died without explaining how or why?
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Post by King Quailbee on Mar 23, 2016 13:36:28 GMT 9
Ugh...I feel very stuck about how to explain the religious side of Easter. like, crucifixion is so violent... is it enough to explain Jesus died without explaining how or why? I wrote out a paragraph that I had my soup check and she said that the wording of 殺された was maybe too spoopy for kids.
So instead I just said that Jesus died and came back to life two days later and Easter celebrates that miracle.
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Post by telly on Mar 23, 2016 13:49:08 GMT 9
As a non-Christian person, I will just ignore all that stuff and introduce Easter as a pagan tradition welcoming the Spring.
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Post by Researcher Irish on Mar 23, 2016 14:41:03 GMT 9
As a non-Christian person, I will just ignore all that stuff and introduce Easter as a pagan tradition welcoming the Spring. How is that any better? Like you are just replacing one sky god with another sky god. I feel like if you are going to tie it to something its better to tie it to the thing that its actually famous for. Thats my opinion anyways. |
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Post by no yark shark on Mar 23, 2016 14:45:30 GMT 9
I'm definitely covering both, because I want it to at least be a little relatable for Japanese people and they love their 四季
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Post by King Quailbee on Mar 23, 2016 14:50:56 GMT 9
Even though I'm from a Christian family, we didn't really go into detail about the meaning behind Easter that much (I only found out that the eggs represent Jesus's tomb). We didn't go to church either. I know a lot of American families celebrate Easter as a fun spring day for children as well as a time to gather wtih relatives.
It is good to bring up the background, but I know that growing up, we didn't focus on that at all.
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Post by Researcher Irish on Mar 23, 2016 15:00:55 GMT 9
Even though I'm from a Christian family, we didn't really go into detail about the meaning behind Easter that much (I only found out that the eggs represent Jesus's tomb). We didn't go to church either. I know a lot of American families celebrate Easter as a fun spring day for children as well as a time to gather wtih relatives. It is good to bring up the background, but I know that growing up, we didn't focus on that at all. Ｉve never read that the eggs represent Jesus' tomb. I thought the egg origin was that way back when the Church forbade the eating of luxury foods like eggs during the 40 day period of Lent leading up to Easter. Therefore the day before Lent (Shrove Tuesday) is now known as pancake Tuesday where everyone would use up their eggs to make pancakes (that tradition is still massive in the UK and Ireland) and then because you couldnt have eggs during Lent everyone would be looking forward to eating them on Easter Sunday. Obviously with the changes in Church doctrine the egg thing isnt a huge deal anymore so the eggs became chocolate eggs. Now I feel as though my whole life has been a lie. When I was a kid in Ireland the Easter Bunny was bearly a thing and we didnt paint eggs or have Easter egg hunts or anything.......... Maybe other families did but it was definitely a religious thing for us (or a chocolate egg thing). |
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Post by telly on Mar 23, 2016 15:02:03 GMT 9
As a non-Christian person, I will just ignore all that stuff and introduce Easter as a pagan tradition welcoming the Spring. How is that any better? Like you are just replacing one sky god with another sky god. I feel like if you are going to tie it to something its better to tie it to the thing that its actually famous for. Thats my opinion anyways. Well, I would have to read up on Christian history and I do not have time to learn all this new information. |
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Post by no yark shark on Mar 23, 2016 15:09:55 GMT 9
Even though I'm from a Christian family, we didn't really go into detail about the meaning behind Easter that much (I only found out that the eggs represent Jesus's tomb). We didn't go to church either. I know a lot of American families celebrate Easter as a fun spring day for children as well as a time to gather wtih relatives. It is good to bring up the background, but I know that growing up, we didn't focus on that at all. Ｉve never read that the eggs represent Jesus' tomb. I thought the egg origin was that way back when the Church forbade the eating of luxury foods like eggs during the 40 day period of Lent leading up to Easter. Therefore the day before Lent (Shrove Tuesday) is now known as pancake Tuesday where everyone would use up their eggs to make pancakes (that tradition is still massive in the UK and Ireland) and then because you couldnt have eggs during Lent everyone would be looking forward to eating them on Easter Sunday. Obviously with the changes in Church doctrine the egg thing isnt a huge deal anymore so the eggs became chocolate eggs. Now I feel as though my whole life has been a lie. When I was a kid in Ireland the Easter Bunny was bearly a thing and we didnt paint eggs or have Easter egg hunts or anything.......... Maybe other families did but it was definitely a religious thing for us (or a chocolate egg thing). OH is that why there are Easter pancake kitkats? This is not a thing in the US. The Tuesday before Lent is Mardi Gras but that's only big in New Orleans. I only read the egg/tomb thing while looking at stuff for this event. |
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Post by songbanana on Mar 23, 2016 16:45:46 GMT 9
Even though I'm from a Christian family, we didn't really go into detail about the meaning behind Easter that much (I only found out that the eggs represent Jesus's tomb). We didn't go to church either. I know a lot of American families celebrate Easter as a fun spring day for children as well as a time to gather wtih relatives. It is good to bring up the background, but I know that growing up, we didn't focus on that at all. Ｉve never read that the eggs represent Jesus' tomb. I thought the egg origin was that way back when the Church forbade the eating of luxury foods like eggs during the 40 day period of Lent leading up to Easter. Therefore the day before Lent (Shrove Tuesday) is now known as pancake Tuesday where everyone would use up their eggs to make pancakes (that tradition is still massive in the UK and Ireland) and then because you couldnt have eggs during Lent everyone would be looking forward to eating them on Easter Sunday. Obviously with the changes in Church doctrine the egg thing isnt a huge deal anymore so the eggs became chocolate eggs. Now I feel as though my whole life has been a lie. When I was a kid in Ireland the Easter Bunny was bearly a thing and we didnt paint eggs or have Easter egg hunts or anything.......... Maybe other families did but it was definitely a religious thing for us (or a chocolate egg thing). I always thought that the eggs and bunny were part of the pagan spring equinox traditions Easter came from. BUT wikipedia tells me a lot of easter stuff comes from Passover (GO FIGURE) and the eggs are the empty tomb in early Christianity and the easter bunny is even more convoluted in origin and is mostly a US thing so I learned something today too! As much as Easter may be a cultural holiday more than a religious one, families that aren't (nominally) Christian do not celebrate Easter. I painted easter eggs for the first time last year! And I learned what goes in an easter basket this past weekend! So I don't think it's right to introduce it as something that all Americans celebrate. |
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Post by no yark shark on Mar 23, 2016 17:01:01 GMT 9
What are you considering "nominally Christian," though? My grandparents and one of my aunts don't go to church ever, wouldn't call themselves christian, and aunt is even kind of against religion to a certain extent I think. But they all celebrate Easter.
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Post by songbanana on Mar 23, 2016 17:24:45 GMT 9
What are you considering "nominally Christian," though? My grandparents and one of my aunts don't go to church ever, wouldn't call themselves christian, and aunt is even kind of against religion to a certain extent I think. But they all celebrate Easter. Hm this is an interesting question. I am especially interested in why your aunt celebrates Easter. I guess what I mean is "culturally" Christian, like maybe some people don't practice the religion anymore, but older generations did, so there is a history and tradition of it in the family, even if it's mostly or entirely a "family" holiday more than a religious one. (Like 初詣!) Like the Jewish side of my family celebrates July 4th and Thanksgiving but they don't do anything for Easter vs. I think even my atheist but culturally Christian hulemdos will paint eggs with their kids someday. |
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Post by CaptainSeery on Mar 24, 2016 8:51:57 GMT 9
I think songbanana's distinction of religiously Christian vs. culturally Christian is a good one.
I'm atheist, but I grew up in a Christian family. Not hugely so, but for Easter we always went to visit my Grandma and would go to church with her (as well as dye eggs, eat lots of chocolate, etc.) Same thing with Christmas. We did do the religious stuff for both of those holidays, but we did just as much non-religious stuff. And I have a lot of fond memories of them and would be very sad if I didn't celebrate it in the future. So I imagine I will keep celebrating it despite not being Christian. For Easter I'm happy with just the eggs and bunnies and stuff, but for Christmas I still like the religious music and would probably like to have a manger and stuff when I end up somewhere more permanently.
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Post by snell_mouse on Mar 24, 2016 9:02:15 GMT 9
My family is not culturally or religiously Christian, and we don't celebrate Easter but we do celebrate Christmas. (For what it's worth)
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Post by Researcher Irish on Mar 24, 2016 9:17:12 GMT 9
Things I learned today
A loooooooot of Americans do the painting eggs thing.
Im glad we dont have that tradition because I cannot paint.
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Post by no yark shark on Mar 24, 2016 9:23:03 GMT 9
Things I learned today A loooooooot of Americans do the painting eggs thing. Im glad we dont have that tradition because I cannot paint. idk why everyone keeps calling it painting, because the way I do it you buy these little tablets of dye and mix them with water and vinegar and then dunk the eggs in. No skill required. |
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Post by Researcher Irish on Mar 24, 2016 9:37:14 GMT 9
Things I learned today A loooooooot of Americans do the painting eggs thing. Im glad we dont have that tradition because I cannot paint. idk why everyone keeps calling it painting, because the way I do it you buy these little tablets of dye and mix them with water and vinegar and then dunk the eggs in. No skill required. Ive definitely seen actual painting (on TV, therefore 100% accurate) |
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Post by no yark shark on Mar 24, 2016 10:37:19 GMT 9
Another Easter question: I bought plastic eggs for an egg hunt that I'm going to fill with candy. Should I let the kids take them home (kind of a pain because if I do the event again next year, I'll have to buy more and you can only get them on amazon, also they were a bit expensive), or do you guys think it's okay to have the kids take the candy out and leave the eggs?
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Post by snell_mouse on Mar 24, 2016 10:40:35 GMT 9
I think it's reasonable to ask them to leave the eggs, but you will probably have to make an announcement or two to make sure they don't just take them haha. Like, make a time during the event where they open the eggs (so it's natural to just take the candy), rather than handing out eggs at the end and asking them to open them, dump out the candy, and go home or something.
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Post by Researcher Irish on Mar 24, 2016 11:00:22 GMT 9
Thats what peeps do with がちゃ so you should be ok.
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Or just a plastic egg.
