Published · Updated · Christian Søndersted, founder of Flipr
The Easter break with children becomes easier when you have a story ready for those moments when the kids get bored: the long Easter lunch, rainy weather at the summer house, the wait before the Easter eggs, and the journey there. Let your child be the hero and use Easter traditions as part of the adventure.
The Easter break with children becomes easier when you have a story ready for those moments when the kids get bored: the long Easter lunch, rainy weather at the summer house, the wait before the Easter eggs, and the journey there. Let your child be the hero and use Easter traditions as part of the adventure.
| Moment | What the child often experiences | Idea for the story |
|---|---|---|
| The Easter lunch | A long time at a table where the conversation is for adults | The child is the Easter Bunny's secret assistant and must find three clues while the adults eat |
| Rainy weather at the summer house | Boredom in a house you've been looking at for two days | The summer house has a hidden workshop, and the child and the dog help paint eggs |
| The Easter egg hunt | The eggs are found in just a few minutes | The Easter Bunny has hidden an egg in a fairyland, and the child follows a trail to find it |
| Gækkebrev (snowdrop letter) | The child wants to send something but can't think of a rhyme | The story contains a riddle about who sent a secret letter |
| The trip to see family or to the summer house | A long drive with many questions about when you'll be there | The child is a messenger and must deliver an important letter to the Easter Bunny |
| The night before Easter morning | Excited children who can't sleep | The child and the dog sneak around the house and fall asleep satisfied while the Easter Bunny does his work |
Monday of the Easter break. The day is long, the weather is grey, and your child has already asked three times what you're going to do. Tomorrow is the Easter lunch, where the kids have to sit at a long table with adults talking about things no one under ten understands.
You want a cozy Easter. Your child wants something to do. And those two things don't always align.
Flipr is an app where your child and your family become recurring characters in personalized stories with pictures and narration. You write what the story should be about, and it's ready in under 2 minutes.
This post is part of the guide How to prepare your child for something they are unsure about.
Easter is a busy time in Danish holiday homes, and overnight stays reach a peak around Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, according to Statistics Denmark. The Easter lunch can stretch across both afternoon and evening, and in a 2015 YouGov survey, two-thirds of Danish parents of children aged 2 to 12 planned to spend Easter at family dinners. Here are six moments where children often need a little help, and what you can ask for when creating the story.
The table above shows the six moments and story ideas.
Write about what you are going to experience, and Flipr creates the story. Include the child, siblings, and the pet so they appear in all your Easter stories.
The 'gækkebrev' is a Danish Easter tradition. The recipient must guess who sent it, and the name is often written as dots, one for each letter. If the recipient cannot guess it, they must give the sender an Easter egg. According to a researcher from the Royal Library, the first Danish 'gækkebreve' date back to the 1700s, and it was only in the 1900s that children started sending them. The tradition is still popular among children.
In many places, the Easter Bunny hides eggs for the children on Easter morning, as Aarhus University describes in an overview of Danish Easter traditions.
Both traditions can be turned into a story. Let the Easter Bunny be involved, and give the child a riddle to solve, for example, who sent a secret letter. Use the dots as clues and let the child guess along the way.
A story cannot replace a real 'gækkebrev' or an egg hunt in the garden. But it can make the wait before Easter more exciting and give the children something to do while they wait.
You don't have to invent anything during the Easter break. It takes just a few minutes:
Tuesday at the Easter lunch, your child sits with a riddle in their head and whispers: "I need to find the third clue." Grandma looks at you. You smile. You were the one who gave the child a mission.
Want to see it first? See examples of stories
Read also our guides on skiing holidays with children and travel fever and long drives.
Make a 'gækkebrev', hide Easter eggs, go on a trip, and read a story together. Also, think about the moments where children typically get bored, like rainy weather or a long Easter lunch, and make sure you have a plan ready.
A 'gækkebrev' is a small paper-cut letter with a rhyme, where the sender's name is written as dots. The recipient must guess who sent it, and if the recipient cannot, they must give the sender an Easter egg.
Give the child a task or a story to follow along with, and plan breaks where the child can move around. A story with a riddle can give the child something to think about at the table.
Easter falls on different dates from year to year. In Denmark, school Easter holidays are centered around the Easter days, but the exact holiday dates can vary between municipalities and schools. See this year's holiday overview at Calendar Center via the source link below, and confirm the dates in your school's or municipality's holiday plan.
Yes. Write what the story should be about and include the child, siblings, and pets as main characters. You can ask for a riddle or a clue that the child can solve.