easter.pdf

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¨ 2003, www.FunLessonPlans.com

Background Information for Teachers and Parents

Easter

People have always celebrated the coming of spring, the

time in the year when days finally grow longer than

nights, animals and plants burst into life, and everything

is new. Eggs are one kind of new life. In ancient Persia

and Egypt, people found eggs and colored them to

celebrate spring. Eggs also became a special gift from

landlords to their tenants and parents to their children to

celebrate the end of the Lenten fast. People held contests

for rolling eggs, just as they do every Easter on the White

House lawn in Washington, D.C.

Easter and the Jewish Passover. The name Easter itself

comes from the Teutonic goddess of spring, Eastra.

Nothing represents the new life of spring better than

rabbits, which are a kind of hare. One legend tells of

EastraÓs friendship with a hare and how she eventually

grew angry with him and banished him to the heavens

where he became the constellation Lepus , but she also

gave him the power, once a year, to lay eggs. Perhaps

from this tale has sprung the Easter bunny, who regularly

appears with a basketful of eggs and new spring flowers.

New clothing is also part of springtime. People once

believed that not wearing something new at spring

festivals was very bad luck. Perhaps thatÓs why many

people liked to show off new clothes in a parade on Easter

Sunday, which always comes within a week of the first

full moon of spring. The Easter season is when Christians

celebrate the resurrection of Christ. It is close to the time

for Passover, when Jews celebrate the liberation of the

Jews from Egypt. In Spanish this period in spring is called

Pascua , which refers to the time of both the Christian

The Easter bunny made his first appearance about 500

years ago in Germany, and a couple of hundred years

later he made his way to America along with the

Pennsylvania Dutch. But Easter as we know it was not

much celebrated in the United States until Civil War

times, when it became a time for consoling those who

had lost loved ones. A flower called the Bermuda lily

became so common at such ceremonies that it became

known everywhere as the Easter Lily.

¨ 2003, www.FunLessonPlans.com

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Instructions for Assembling the Pop-Up Easter Card

Materials:

Copy of the pop-up Easter card printed or photocopied on 8 1/2Ñ x 11Ñ heavy white or yellow

paper. 24 lb. works well.

Yellow, pink or pastel colored construction paper for the backing, 9Ñ x 12Ñ size.

Crayons or markers - Children can color the pictures and write names on the Easter cards.

Scissors with sharp points.

Glue stick or paste.

Ruler - Can be used as a straightedge to hold against the folding line when making folds.

After the children have colored the pictures, an adult or older

children will need to handle the cutting and folding. Sharp

pointed scissors are used to cut all of the heavy, solid lines,

which are shown in blue on the pop-up card picture.

For pop-up pages, the folded lines are always of two kinds.

The first kind is folded up like an A. This is a ridge fold like

the ridge pole of a house. The second kind is folded down

like a V. This is a gutter fold like a drainage gutter. The key

below shows the A-Ridge fold as square red dots while the

V-Gutter fold is shown as green rectangular dots.

Cutting Lines

Ridge Fold - Fold up like an A.

Gutter Fold - Fold down like a V.

When all the pop-up folds have been made, fold the con-

struction paper in half to be used as the backing. Put a little

paste around the edges on the back of the pop-up. A glue

stick works well for this. Press the pop-up firmly against the

backing. Carefully fold it all down flat and then open it to

watch it POP-UP.

You can free hand cut the edge of the construction paper back-

ing to follow the border at the top and bottom of the pop-up

picture. See the cut border of the pop-up card on the left.

Since adult help is required, this is a good project for small

groups or for older brothers and sisters in an after-school

daycare center.

You can also use the Easter cards as a sample to devise your

own pop-up projects.

¨ 2003, www.FunLessonPlans.com

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