by 
Easter (and the preceding “Holy Week”) is a Christian holiday remembering the death and resurrection of Jesus, with traditions dating back to pagan springtime festivals. Since it is celebrated in so many countries, we thought it would be interesting to look at Easter around the world. We asked our member bloggers- multicultural families who live in all corner of the world- to share how they will celebrate Easter this year. What an incredible response we got!
European Traditions:
Natalie from Planet Smarty describes how her family makes a Northern European Easter tree every year.
Becky from Kid World Citizen shared a video she took in Andalucía, Spain during the Holy Week processions. Though the video is in Spanish, anyone can enjoy the impressive statues, costumes, and scenes.
Stephanie from InCulture Parent has a sweet Easter recipe for Italian cookies, and a Polish Easter craft called Palma Wycinanka (cut paper palm). She also shares the interesting Czech Easter tradition of “whipping” girls and women with a special braided pussy willow in an attempt to keep them healthy and fertile!
Anna from The Multicultural Kitchen shows us how her family celebrates their Spanish and Russian roots during Easter, with vytynanky, Juan Miro inspired eggs, and Spanish almond cake (yum!). She also writes about how Holy Week in Spain is celebrated.
Olena from Bilingual Kids Rock shared a nice description of Ukranian Holy Week, starting at Willow Sunday, and ending on Easter with pysanky eggs, special paska bread, baskets and egg battles.
Carrie at Crafty Moms wrote a very detailed and well-researched post on Easter traditions in Ukraine and Russia, with some excellent books that illustrate these two cultures. Both practice beautiful egg-decorating technique called pysanky in Ukraine and pisanki in Russia.
Carrie also wrote a great piece on Easter in France, Spain, and Portugal, who share similar traditions.
Mary from Busy as a Bee in Paris shows us how her family celebrates Easter traditions in France. Phoebe shares a French recipe for brioche (a sweet bread) made specially for Easter and found mainly in the south of France.
Latin American Traditions:
Frances of Discovering the World through my Son’s Eyes created a twist on traditional cascarones for her Easter playdate. See pictures here of their fun day at the park celebrating Easter and spring!
I love Mari’s post on Mexican Cascarones (eggs filled with confetti) on Inspired by Family! She also has a delicious recipe for capirotada- Mexican Bread Pudding– traditionally enjoyed on Easter.
Jennifer of Spanish Playground created a fun, interactive Spanish game with plastic Easter eggs to get our kids speaking Spanish during the Easter egg hunt.
Carrie at Crafty Moms shared another insightful post on the Easter traditions (specifically Holy Week) in Guatemala. Guatemala is famous for its “sawdust carpets:” amazing decorative designs made of sawdust, flowers, fruit, and more in the streets; they take hours to make.
Check out this incredible photo essay of pictures from these “alfombras” from Antigua, Guatemala posted by Becky of Kid World Citizen (as seen in photo at left).
Asia Easter Traditions:
Amanda (also known as Miss Panda Chinese!) shares some Mandarin language lessons to use during Easter.
United States/Canada Traditions:
Valerie from Glitter Muffins made these adorable bunny rabbit and Easter egg pancakes (English version). She also posted them in French!
Mari from Inspired by Family shared some cute Easter-inspired egg recipes, and a fluffy, feathered bunny and chick craft.
Lessons, Egg-Dyeing, Books, and more!
Carrie at Crafty Moms shared a great Easter book list with multicultural characters.
Kim at Educator’s Spin On It shared a nice list of baby time Easter activities, and her co-creator Amanda shared a list of toddler Easter activities.
Frances from Discovering the World through my Son’s Eyes had an Easter playdate of crafts and egg-dyeing for her son, that would be perfect for preschoolers and kinders.
For kids a little bit older, Jody at Mud Hut Mama has a lovely Easter lesson plan for preschoolers, including math, science, and play. My favorite part has to be the creative way she decorated her eggs (see below)!
For kids in elementary school interested in reflecting on the meaning behind Easter, Mari from Inspired by Family has a great family Easter project.
Speaking of decorating eggs, Mary Anne from Mama Smiles has several posts: simple eggs, eggs decorated with melted crayon shavings. She also shares a fun shaker egg craft.
Giselle of Kids Yoga Stories has some great yoga poses related to springtime and Easter.
Christi from Learning to be the Light discusses how her family celebrated the Hindu festival of Holi, on Easter Sunday.
Thanks for sharing everyone- I love seeing the different cultural aspects of Easter. Does your family have a special tradition? How do you celebrate Easter where you live? Share in the comments!
You can also follow our and Easter Around the World board on Pinterest!
Becky Morales shares activities to teach kids global and cultural awareness at KidWorldCitizen.org. She also recently co-authored a book for parents and teachers called the Global Education Toolkit for Elementary Learners, with hundreds of activities and resources to expand young minds and go global. She is the mother of 4 active, multicultural, and bilingual kids who keep her busy and laughing.
by 
Latest posts by Becky Morales (see all)
- Malawi: 8 Fun Facts + Books to Learn More! - November 15, 2018
- MLK Day of Service - February 2, 2018
- 10 Fun Facts about the Maya - November 17, 2017
Marie-Claude says
April 14, 2014 at 8:46 amWhat a great resource! Thanks for putting it all together.
Jody says
April 14, 2014 at 11:54 amSo many fun ways to celebrate Easter!! Thank you so much for putting this together.