Dear Basket Case:
You are not alone in your Easter struggle. We want our children's faith to be impacted at Easter just as it is at Christmas. Unlike the joy of the birth of a baby, death and resurrection are much more difficult concepts for children to understand. Be patient. Your Easter traditions will take on deeper meaning as your children grow older.

In choosing family Easter traditions, it is important to avoid mixing the cultural meanings with the faith meanings. Young children in particular are struggling with separating reality from fantasy, and we do not help them by putting resurrection symbols in eggs and cooking bread in the oven to symbolize resurrection. Adults can reflect on the symbolism of new life through eggs and butterflies, but children do not develop that mental process until late childhood or early adolescence.

You still can search for hidden eggs, plant spring flowers, eat chocolate bunnies or even have a visit from the Easter bunny (perhaps on the Saturday before Easter Sunday). However, when you present and discuss the death and resurrection of Jesus, use the Biblical account - what a great story! Young children will not understand the miracle of resurrection because they do not understand the permanence of death, but they will "catch" your excitement and joy over such a special event. As children grow older, they will begin to discover the miracle.

Anticipation is much of the fun of Christmas, so you could anticipate Easter by celebrating the Lenten season that begins about six weeks before Easter. You might construct a family Lenten wreath, somewhat like an Advent wreath, that can be displayed on a table. Instead of adding a lighted candle each week as you do at Christmas, you would begin with six lighted candles and extinguish one each week prior to Easter. On the Friday before Easter, the Christ candle in the middle of the wreath is extinguished and on Easter Sunday, it is re-lighted. For your family devotions, you might read, tell or act out stories from the life of Jesus, leading up to the last week of Jesus' life just before Easter.

Some families make a "Celebrate Jesus" tree by securing a small tree branch in a flowerpot. As they read stories about Jesus' life each week, the children draw small illustrations, glue them in painted jar lids, and hang them with yarn from the limbs. Your family could take the tree to someone on Easter and the children could tell the stories. And don't forget to sing for joy! Your family could write words to a favorite hymn or chorus and have your very own Easter song, adding a verse during each week of Lent.
Anticipating Easter,
Mama J.

(EDITOR'S NOTE-"Ask Mama J." is written by Janice Haywood, team leader of the preschool and children ministry team of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina's General Board.)