Kids too Old for Easter Bunny

Easter is about to roll around once again and many children are excited about getting a basket from the Easter Bunny, coloring eggs and going on egg hunts. While parents excitedly agree to these fun activities, what happens when a child gets "too old" to participate any longer?

Most often, the transition from child to adolescent is more difficult on the parent than the child. It begins with the child refusing to take sit on Santa's lap in December, then refuses to take Valentine's Day cards to school in February and usually ends with the refusal to believe in the Easter Bunny come Spring. When this change begins, parents are left with two options. They can either accept their child is growing up and changing or they can refuse to accept the change and force them to participate. Parents of multiple children often choose the later, due to the thought if an older child doesn't believe, the younger children will be disappointed. However, the best thing for parents to do is accept their child's beliefs will change quite a bit throughout their teen years and prepare for the transition with grace and encouragement.

The truth is, many holidays are catered around the central thought and belief of a fictional character like the Easter Bunny. When a child realizes this information they often feel misled and can even be a bit angry at parents for "lying" to them about these characters. It's important for parents to explain the fun and fantasy of the characters and let the child know they went along with the tradition to allow the child to have childish fun.

If your child is now "too old" for Easter, here are some tips to help you still make it a fun holiday:

1) Even though the child doesn't believe an Easter Bunny leaves them a basket, you can still get your child an Easter basket of fun items each year.

2) Coloring eggs may seem boring to some children but others continue to love it throughout even adulthood. So, even if they don't "believe" you can still get in on the fun.

3) If there are younger children in the family, allow the older kids to hide the colored eggs for the hunt. This way they can still be a part of the action.

Truthfully, while much of the world focuses on the Easter Bunny aspects of the holiday, Easter is much more about the resurrection of Christ. Thus, families can still enjoy the holiday long after their little ones stop believing by focusing on the true meaning of Easter.