Easter in the classroom is a lot like Christmas in the classroom: there is an unavoidable religious element, but it is also a holiday celebrated as a secular day of fun in the United States, and there are a lot of enjoyable things you can do in your classroom if you decide to go with it.
Here are some great online resources:
- The Toymaker’s Easter page has wonderful toys, games, boxes, and cards.
- An Easter bunny envelope to draw, cut, fold, and paste. Write a friendly letter or fill with treats.
- A cheerful Easter bunny coloring page is just for fun.
- Comparing Easter and Songkran, a Thai holiday celebrated about the same time, makes an interesting social studies lesson. Have students research both holidays and create a Venn diagram.
- Pysanky is an excellent craft for Easter.
Easter Parade by Irving Berlin is one of the most famous secular songs for Easter, and it has been made into a wonderful picture book by illustrator Lisa McCue. The song was the centerpiece of a film with Judy Garland and Fred Astaire in 1948. You can find recordings or show the clip from the DVD, but you can also sing the song yourself — McCue’s book includes sheet music and guitar chords as well as all the lyrics.
Begin your classroom Easter parade by having each student make him or herself an “Easter bonnet,” just as it says in the song. You can find directions for newspaper hats at these sites:
Overachievers can make an origami baseball cap:
Next, grab a thesaurus and look at all the words there are for “walk.” If you have shown the film clip or read the picture book, discuss whether the folks in the parade were just walking, or whether perhaps they were sauntering, strolling, or sashaying.
Now crank up the music and have the parade!
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