The last few days, we have been busy making a mess out of painting Easter eggs! Loads of fun for the kids (although the clean-up afterwards is less exciting)!

What doe eggs have to do with Easter anyway? And why do we paint them? Well, here's an explanation you can offer in case the kiddos ask:

Eggs are traditionally connected with rebirth, rejuvenation and immortality. This is why they are often associated with Easter. On a more practical level? In the early Christian calendar eggs were forbidden during Lent. This made them bountiful and exciting forty days later. Easter eggs are sometimes decorated with bright colors to honor this celebration. Russian pysanki is one of the most elaborate forms. Conversely, the abstinence of eggs is associated with Lent.

"Eggs were colored, blessed, exchanged and eaten as part of the rites of spring long before Christian times. Even the earliest civilizations held springtime festivals to welcome the sun's rising from its long winter sleep. They thought of the sun's return from darkness as an annual miracle and regarded the egg as a natural wonder and a proof of the renewal of life. As Christianity spread, the egg was adopted as a symbol of Christ's Resurrection from the tomb. For centuries, eggs were among the foods forbidden by the church during Lent, so it was a special treat to have them again at Easter.

It is likely this is just one of the many theories to the advent of colorful egg. Now, does anyone knows a plausible explanation to the Easter bunnies bringing the Easter eggs?!?