This file has things about the bunnies and baskets as well as the spiritual aspect of the holiday.

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Page Toppers

Songs about Easter

• Chocolate Bunny, The - Fern (2004)
• Easter Parade - The Hit Crew (2002)
• Eggbert the Easter Egg - The Hit Crew (2002)
• Mister Easter Bunny - Jimmy Wakely (1950)
• My Choc'late Rabbit - The Easter Tales (2008)
• Peter Cottontail - Jimmy Wakely (1950)
• She's My Easter Lily - Tommy Sosebee (1951)

Here Comes Peter Cottontail

Here comes Peter Cottontail
Hopping down the bunny trail,
Hippity, hoppity, Easter's one it's way..
Bringing gifts to girls and boys,
Baskets full of Easter joys
Hippity, Hoppity Happy Easter Day.

He's got jelly beans for Tommy
colored eggs for sister Sue,
There's an orchid for your Mommy
And an Easter bonnet too.

Oh . . .
Here comes Peter Cottontail
Hopping down the bunny trail
Hippity, hoppity
Happy Easter Day!

Hop and Stop

The first little rabbit went hop, hop, hop.
I said to the first rabbit, "Stop, stop, stop!"
The second little rabbit went run, run, run.
I said to the second rabbit, "Fun, fun, fun!"
The third little rabbit went thump, thump, thump.
I said to the third rabbit, "Jump, jump, jump!"
The fourth little rabbit went sniff, sniff, snuff.
I said to the fourth rabbit, "That is enough!"
The fifth little rabbit went creep, creep, creep.
I said to the fifth rabbit, "It's time to sleep!"

The Bunny Wiggle

Some Things That Easter Brings

Easter duck and Easter chick,
Easter eggs with chocolate thick,

Easter hats for one and all,
Easter bunny makes a call!

Happy Easter always brings
Such a lot of pleasant things!

Easter Parade

(Marchette Chute)

My button gloves are very white,
My parasol is new,
My braids are braided nice and tight,
And there are very few
Of all the people that I see
Who are as beautiful as me.

Meeting the Easter Bunny

(Rowena Bennett)

On Easter morn at early dawn
Before the roosters were crowing,
I met a bob-tail bunnykin
And asked where he was going,
"Tis in the house and out the house
A-tipsy, tipsy toeing,
Tis round the house and 'bout the house
A-lightly I am going."
"But what is that of every hue
You carry in your basket?"
"Tis eggs of gold and eggs of blue;"
I wonder that you ask it.
"tis chocolate eggs and bonbon eggs

And eggs of red and gray,
For every child in every house
On bonny Easter Day."
He perked his ears
And winked his eye
And twitched his little nose;
He shook his tail-
What tail he had-
And stood up on his toes.
"I must be gone before the sun;
The East is growing gray;
"Tis almost time for bells to chime."
So he hippety-hopped away.

All I Need to Know I learned from the Easter Bunny!

• Don't put all your eggs in one basket.
• Walk softly and carry a big carrot.
• Everyone needs a friend who is all ears.
• There's no such thing as too much candy.
• All work and no play can make you a basket case.
• A cute little tail attracts a lot of attention.
• Everyone is entitled to a bad hare day.
• Let happy thoughts multiply like rabbits.
• Some body parts should be floppy.
• Keep you paws off other people's jellybeans.
• Good things come in small-sugarcoated packages.
• The grass is greener in someone else's basket.
• An Easter bonnet can tame even the wildest hare.
• To show your true colors you have to come out of the shell.
• The best things in life are still sweet and gooey.
• No matter how mature and sophisticated you may become...you never outgrow your need for chocolate bunnies!
• Happy Easter!

Easter ABC's

(by Nora Tarlow)

A is for April, the heart of the Spring.
B is for bunnies and the Baskets they bring.
C is for Cart, with eggs piled upon it.
D is for Daisies we pick for our bonnets.
E is for Eggs, each a bright color.
F is for Family, sister and brother.
G is for Garden, hiding a treat.
H is for Hopping on quick bunny feet.
I for Indoors, after egg hunting ends.
J for the Joy we share with our friends.
K is for Kindness that makes the day bright.
L is for Lilies, lovely and white.
M is for Music we gather to play.
N is for Nest, filled with eggs the birds lay.
O for Outdoors, where we hunt by the hours.
P for the Puddles that follow a shower.
Q is for Quiet in the soft morning light.
R is for Rabbit, dressed up just right.
S is for Spring, when the world is in bloom.
T us for Tulips we place in each room.
U for Umbrella in sunshine or rain.
V is for Violets found in the lane.
W is for Water where rabbits are gliding.
X marks the spot where the eggs are hiding.
Y is for Young ones, happy at play.
Z is for Zeal as we greet Easter Day.

Easter Page Ideas

• Use an egg shape template and cut light pink, raspberry, lavender, purple and purple dot eggs. Use the scallop scissors to cut one or two eggs and separate to leave a space--place a little dot at each up point.
  Arrange on bottom of your page--some leaning, some straight--Then place some ivy stickers around the bottom. Use a purple dot bow on one of the raspberry ones along with a few purple flowers--draw some pink squiggly lines and add a few black dots around the eggs.
• For a more boyish page use red, green, yellow, light blue eggs. Use dot stickers and a few flowers and hearts to decorate eggs. Use little chick stickers around and on top of the eggs and sticker at the bottom.
• Another idea is to use pastel eggs (yellow, light blue, lavender and pink). Use daffodil, butterfly and bunny stickers. Use hearts and dots to decorate eggs. Use the floppy-eared bunny die-cut behind the eggs.
  Cut grass from green paper. Any of the eggs could be cut from scraps and if you place it behind another you can use a half. Each page has about 6-8 eggs on it.
• A variation on the 'front and center' idea. Use design lines for the box. The pages are for an Easter egg hunt, so I used the Easter design line with the grass, eggs, chicks and bunnies along the bottom, then used the colored strips from the design line for the top and sides.(mrg)
• Jiffy Border: Pale yellow strip of paper. Use purple or lavender letters to spell Hoppy Easter...can place an Easter egg in center of o in Hoppy. Decorate with Easter and design line stickers.
• Use the black page with Easter type photos with jelly beans cut from bright paper using the oval cutter.
• Cut all the photos into ovals; Then used the templates to draw more ovals on the page for journaling. Or how about oval flower petals on a page, like a daisy shape with a circle of paper in the middle with the title and a little stem of green? (countrymama)
• I had a Polaroid from my daughter's first Easter of her with the Easter Bunny. I cut a pink oval to resemble an Easter Egg, then cut a window in it (kind of like a capital "I" shape), and mounted the photo behind. I folded back the flaps on the window part and decorated them to look like shutters with pastel gel pens. It looks like one of those eggs with the scenes inside. (Marybeth)
• One of the cutest peek-a-boo layouts I saw was Easter. Page 2/3 had a large oval cut out of the center. Page 2 had flower stickers all around the opening and page three had Easter eggs stickers around the opening. The flowers framed a photo of a little girl in her Easter dress. The other side framed a photo of a child looking for Easter eggs.
• Silhouette a photo taken of your church--or just the steeple--at sunrise on Easter Day. Add other photos of your church, Easter program or minister.
• Put a photo of your children ready for church. Next to it put a contrasting photo of them after egg hunting with clothes messed up and faces covered with chocolate.
• Use a tulip die-cut in place of the 't' in Easter.

The Spiritual Aspect of Easter

Page Toppers

Songs about Easter

• Christ Arose - The Isaacs (2001)
• Crown of Thorns - Jim Eanes (2004)
• Hallelujah, He's Risen - Primitive Quartet (2009)
• He Arose - Blue Moon Rising (2005)
• He Carried the Cross For Me - Lewis Family (1997)
• His Love - Ricky Lee Phelps (2005)
• Jesus Had Rose From the Dead - Paul Williams (1997)
• Lord's Last Supper, The - Reno and Smiley (1957)
• Old Rugged Cross - Brad Paisley (2008)
• Remember the Cross - Bill Monroe, John Duffy and Mike Auldridge (1985)
• Scars in His Hands - Mountain Heart (2001)
• Three Rusty Nails - Ronnie Bowman (1998)
• Were You There? - Seldom Scene (1978)

Quotes

• Easter is a time of reflection and joy. When we emerge from our cocoon of doubt to fly freely on the wings of faith.
• Easter is not just the dawning of a new day...It's the dawning of a new life!
• May the spirit of hope that Easter brings,
  Help you find contentment in little things,
  And restore your faith in the Lord above,
  Who gave His life for the ones He loves.
• Shout for joy, all the earth,
  lift up your voice and sing!
  Christ the Lord is risen today
  He reigns on high as King!

On Easter Day

Celia Thaxter)

Easter lilies, Can you hear
What they whisper, low and clear?
In dewy fragrance they unfold
Their splendor sweet, their snow and gold.
Every beauty-breathing bell
News of heaven has to tell.
Listen to their mystic voice,
Hear, oh mortal, and rejoice!
Hark, their soft and heavenly chime!
Christ is risen for all time!

Easter Story Cookies

To be made the evening before Easter

You need:
1c. whole pecans, 1 tsp. vinegar, 3 egg whites, pinch salt, 1c. sugar;
zipper bag, wooden spoon, tape, Bible

Preheat oven to 300ºF.

Place pecans in zipper bag and let children beat them with the wooden spoon to break into small pieces.
Explain that after Jesus was arrested He was beaten by the Roman soldiers. Read John 19:1-3.

Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 tsp. vinegar into mixing bowl.
Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross he was given vinegar to drink. Read John 19:28-30.

Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life.
Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life. Read John 10:10-11.

Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers, and the bitterness of our own sin. Read Luke 23:27.

So far the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add 1c. sugar.
Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know and belong to Him. Read Psalms 34:8 and John 3:16.

Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Explain that the color white represents the purity in God's eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus. Read Isa. 1:18 and John 3:1-3.

Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper covered cookie sheet.
Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid. Read Matthew 27:57-60.

Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF.

Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door. Explain that Jesus' tomb was sealed. Read Matthew 27:65-66.

GO TO BED! Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus' followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed. Read John 16:20 and 22.

On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the first Easter Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty.

Read Matthew 28:1-9