We all wait for Easter eggs competition! But have we ever thought why do we boil eggs on Easter and why do we decorate them? Is it a simple Easter tradition, a legend, a myth, or just a symbol used by Christians to celebrate Easter?
The egg is used as a symbol for the start of a new life. It was used by the ancient Persians who painted the eggs for the King Nowrooz, to celebrate their New Year that falls in spring equinox. The egg was used by Christians as a symbol of resurrection. It was dyed with red to represent Jesus blood and its hard sealed shell represented the sealed tomb of Christ. Cracking the egg on Easter represents for the Christians the resurrection of Jesus from death.
During years, Easter eggs tradition has evolved and games where invented around it. Cracking hard boiled eggs against each other is a traditional competition where the winner is the one whose egg lasts till the end. Another game for the kids is “Egg hunting”. Parents hide boiled eggs, chocolate eggs and candy eggs in the house or the garden. Kids will try to find all hidden eggs. The child who collects most eggs wins a prize. Another game that involves adults is the “Egg roll”. People gather and try to roll their eggs with the help of a spoon on the floor. Whoever reaches the final line wins the game!
Easter eggs are also decorated and colored in many ways. Some uses food coloring to dye the eggs, other uses paint to decorate the eggs after boiling them and some still use old natural methods to color the eggs as using the onion skin to give the eggs the dark brown color, the fig leaf to color it in green, tea to color it in yellow, and beetroots for the red color.
Share this information with your kids and let them help you in decorating these wonderful Easter Eggs.
Happy Easter!
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