Easter Traditions around the World

Easter Traditions Around The World

 

 

Procedure

P. 1 Dear guests!

   Winter has passed, the birds return,

   There is the end of winter’s reign.

   There is a way to the light!

   Easter is a festival of hope and joy,

   It’s a way of awakening life!

 

Song “Spring”

 

   Out of cave! Out of hole!

   Bear, rabbit, little mole,

   Hatch from egg in nest in trees!

   The birds are back and so are bees.

   The flowers are in blossom,

   The leaves are green,

   How do they know and do you know

   When it is spring?

   Build your web! The buds are back!

   Little spider dressed in black,

   Bears, rabbits, bids and bees,

   Flowers and grass, leaves and trees,

   Just like me they all have fun,

   That’s how they know spring has really come!

 

P. 2 No matter, what a person’s religion is Easter for everybody is a great festival.

   Come and join our festival saying together

   Christ has risen! He has truly risen!

 

P. 3                                           Poem “Easter”.

 

The brightest of the holidays,

The sweetest Easter day

Is hurrying to people

Who welcome it and pray.

We purified the souls

And filled the hearts with love.

Great Lent was before Easter

And Jesus Christ above.

He rescued sinful people

And rose from the dead

We worship God in heaven,

We thankful are and glad.

So try to be sincere

And merciful to all

God blesses, it’s quite clear,

Only those, who come to a call.

 

P. 1 Easter is much fun for children as there are egg games and egg contests. Players may role hard-cooked eggs down a slope, each trying to have his/her own egg reached the bottom unbroken.

 

P. 2 Though the egg itself has a deeper meaning the games are played mostly for fun. They express the joy of Easter. In families with children parents hide chocolate eggs on the front lawns or in the garden, and in the morning it’s always much joy for children to find and put them into their Easter baskets.

 

P. 1 Besides Easter eggs other Easter symbols are chickens, rabbits, lambs, beautiful flowers—lilies and hot-cross buns. Have you ever tried them? Surely, you wonder why rabbits are other Easter symbols. Let’s listen. 

 

P. 4 Little rabbits are usually called bunnies. As you know rabbits have large families. Certainly you know how fast little bunnies grow up and then have babies of their own until there are more and more and more. And most people believe that the hare or rabbit of Easter is a symbol of new life as it probably was in religions far older than Christianity.

 

P. 5                                        Poem  “Funny Bunny”

   Little Easter, the comedienne bunny,

   Tried too hard at being funny.

   He juggled and he dropped the eggs

   They fell and smashed between his legs.

 

   Poor Easter left the stage in shame

   And thought that he might change his name.

   But then that bunny read this ad,

   “This Sunday we need help real bad.”

 

   So Easter bunny kept his name

   And through the years has gained much fame,

   When Easter’s Sunday comes each year,

   He delivers eggs and we all cheer.

 

(Somebody is knocking at the door.)

 

P. 2 Can you hear it? Somebody is knocking at the door. Let him in, please. Wow! How lucky we are! How happy we are! Look here! We are having a special guest today! Who is this?- This is Easter Bunny. Welcome, dear friend! Let’s invite Easter Bunny to our festival! Kids, say together once more – Welcome, Easter Bunny! Glad to meet you!

 

Easter Bunny: Hi, guys! How are you? I am so happy to meet you too! I see you are celebrating Easter, a great holiday! I have brought you a magic basket full of different things: presents and hot-cross buns, delicious spicy buns with raisins inside and shiny brown tops decorated with crosses of white icing. My dear friends, help yourselves!

 

Children: Thanks a lot, Easter Bunny! They are really fantastic and smell so sweet! Please, tell us more about Easter.

 

Easter Bunny: OK, with great pleasure! Easter is the time for giving and receiving presents. Traditionally these presents take a form of an Easter egg, a new hat for Easter Parade or a hot-cross bun. Children usually get chocolate Easter eggs or Easter rabbits. They are either hollow or have a filling and are usually covered with brightly coloured silver paper. One can buy them at any sweet shop in the weeks before Easter. Kids, do you know the colours most often used in Easter decorations are different? They are white, yellow or gold, green and purple, they are wonderful!

 

P. 1 Please, show us a new game.

 

Easter Bunny: Then let’s play the game which is called “Guess what symbol I am”. The symbols are written on the slips of paper. I want you to come up to me, pick one of the notes, read it silently and then show the symbol through your gestures. The rest of the pupils should guess what symbol you are trying to show.

 

(Easter Bunny presents the participants with sweets and prizes.)

 

Easter Bunny: Do you have the same Easter traditions in Ukraine

 

P. 6 In Ukraine Easter has been celebrated over a long period of history and has had many rich traditions. The last Sunday before Easter is called Willow Sunday (Verbna Nedilia). On this day pussy-willow branches are blessed in church.

 

P. 7 It should be said one of the traditions is particular. Tapping each other with the branches of willow people repeat the wish. It sounds like that, “Be as tall as the willow, as healthy as water and as rich as the earth. Not I am tapping, the willow is tapping. Easter is in a week.”

 

P. 8 Traditional Easter breads- pasky, pysanky and krashanky (decorated or coloured Easter eggs) are blessed in church. People exchange Easter greetings, give each other krashanky and then hurry home with their baskets of blessed food. Easter is a feast of joy and gladness, it is celebrated for three days and spring songs (vesnianky) are often sung.

 

(A group of people dressed in national clothes sing Ukrainian vesnianky).

 

   Spring Has Come Again

 

  Spring has come again

  The sun is all aglow

  It’s melting all the snow

  For spring has come again

 

  Уже прийшла весна

  І сонце засвітило

  І сніг весь розтопило

  Бо вже прийшла весна.

 

  Spring has come again

  The trees are dressed in green

  And pussy-willows are seen

  For spring has come again.

 

  Уже прийшла весна

  Зелені дерева

  І розцвіла лоза

  Бо вже прийшла весна.

 

P. 1 Now, friends, get ready to take part in a special contest “The best painter”. Some volunteers are needed. We’ll blind you and then you’ll try to paint Easter symbols as nicely as you can.

 

(Pupils are engaged in this activity, after that they are given some sweets and prizes).

 

P. 2 There are different ways of celebration Easter in European countries and in the USA. They differ and have something in common at the same time. Certainly we invited some of our pen friends from Italy, Greece, Sweden, Australia, the USA, Norway, India, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Scandinavia, France and Germany. They are all smart with speaking English and are happy to visit our festival. They are going to share some information about their traditions with you. Let’s greet them, kids!

 

(The guests introduce themselves and tell their stories).

 

P. 9 In Italy Easter fireworks represent light coming out of darkness, bringing with it new hope and life. Italian families have several traditions and unique cultural customs. Like most countries, Easter starts on Good Friday, when the entire family comes together for a meatless meal of seafood misto—a combination of jumbo shrimps, scallops, calamari and mussels—on the table. Easter Sunday the typical Italian family gathers again for a feast of lamb, a special stuffed or layered pasta dishes.

 

P. 10 In Greece people eat a round, flat loaf of bread, marked with a cross and decorated with Easter eggs. The preparations for the celebration of the Resurrection start on Holy Thursday. On that day women traditionally prepare coloured eggs with special red dyes. On Easter Saturday morning preparations start for the festive dinner. On Easter Sunday it’s traditional to prepare lamb.

 

P. 11 In Sweden people light bonfires, shoot fireworks into the sky, paint crosses, stars and other holy symbols on their doors. In western provinces of Sweden there is still a competition of the biggest Easter fire.

 

P. 12 In Australia Easter is celebrated too. They play the game called “Egg Knocking Game”. In Sydney the agricultural show known as “The Royal Easter Show” is held every year.

 

P. 13 In the USA one interesting tradition is that every year in Washington DC children roll eggs down the grassy slopes of the White House lawn in an Easter contest. A band plays, there are prizes, and the President of the United States is there.

 

P. 14 In Norway yellow chickens are everywhere at Easter time. Drawn chickens, plastic chickens, cotton ones, chickens made of all sorts of materials can be seen in private homes, shop windows, newspapers and magazines, on television. It’s no wonder, yellow has become the colour of Easter in Norway.

 

P. 15 In India Christians all over the country make elaborate arrangements for Easter festivities. Worshippers throng the churches for special prayers and rituals. During Easter, Easter eggs and bunnies are sold in stores, and people exchange these items with each other. Good Friday is a compulsory public holiday declared by the government of India.

 

P. 16 Easter in Mexico is the most important day of the entire year. With church attendance at all-time highs, the Mexicans do not celebrate with bunnies, jelly beans but take vacation during this time.

 

P. 17 Holy Week begins on Easter Thursday, and at Cracow’s Cathedral bishops wash the feet of twelve elderly men in an echo of Christ’s gesture towards the apostles at the last supper. Easter Saturday is a festive occasion, there will be a constant trail of families coming to and from many churches.

 

P. 18 Easter in Portugal is celebrated with sweet bread called Folar da Pascoa. The bread is usually served at breakfast on Easter morning but  more often as a dessert after Easter dinner. On Easter Sunday Portuguese serve a meat plate at the dinner table as the feature dish. A popular sweet served during Easter is a candied almond dish. Our traditional greeting is Boa Pascoa—Happy Easter!

 

P. 19 Sweden’s Easter Traditions indicate that the family feast is on Easter Saturday not on Sunday. According to Swedish folklore, during Easter the witches fly to the Blue Mountain to meet the devil which has a big influence on today’s Easter traditions in Sweden. Norway’s Easter traditions are always good news for Norwegians: they have the longest Easter weekend in all of Scandinavia.

 

P. 20 In France Easter is one of the most important holiday celebrations for French children. They receive colorfully decorated eggs. The French begin their Easter several weeks before. Shop windows are decorated in a festive collection of white and dark chocolate rabbits, chickens, bells and fish. In keeping with the tradition, French church bells do not ring from Good Friday to Easter morning.

 

P. 21 German Easter traditions are very important, Easter along with Christmas is the  most important holiday in Germany. On this sacred day all Christians celebrate the resurrection of Christ from the grave. This is the greatest and most joyful event of the year for the believers, when the tragedy of Jesus’ crucifixion on Good Friday was healed by the message of the angel at the empty tomb “He is not here. He has risen!” “Easter” originates from Anglo-Saxon goddess of the dawn named Eastre” or “Ostara”.

 

 

P. 1 We would like to add some more information about Easter traditions in other countries.  For example, in Hungary painted eggs are hung from the twigs of trees, like decorations in a Christmas tree.

 

P. 2 In Iraq families make their homes beautiful decorating them with wild tulips called lilies of the field.

 

P. 1 In Panama children believe that a painted rabbit called the conejo brings them Easter eggs.

 

P. 2 In Spain mostly every city or town has its own traditions and there are thousands of processions throughout Spain.

 

P. 1 Now, our painters have finished their task and are ready to show their masterpieces to us.

 

(Students show their works).

 

P. 2 You were trying hard and we think that all of you deserve being awarded.

 

(Students are being awarded).

 

Poem “Easter”.

 

P.                                 Its Easter

And people all enjoy

The God’s Son’s resurrection

And wish each other joy

P.                                 It is Easter

And we all glorify

The wonders of the nature,

The life, the world, the sky.

P.                                 It is Easter.

And people all exult

For Easter is a holiday

For children and adults.

 

 

 

P. 1 Look! Such pretty girls are wearing lovely hats, unusual amazing hats! Oh, it seems I guess what it means. Do you guess too? Some women and girls in Britain decorate their hats, called bonnets. They put lots of spring flowers on them and wear them during Easter bonnet parades.

 

P. 2 Now we are having our Easter bonnet parade just here. Welcome, dear guests, join the parade and enjoy yourselves! Let’s greet our participants!

 

(Music is playing and all are dancing).

 

Easter Bunny: Have fun, everybody! Easter is a festival of hope and joy!