L.O.: To understand how Easter is celebrated around the world. • Read the information on each slide about how Easter is celebrated across the world. • Read the detailed information about how Easter is celebrated in France (we have a partner school in France ) • Create a fact file about Easter and how it is celebrated in France and other countries. • Read the short text about Easter traditions and answer the questions. Easter around the World Easter is the other major celebration for Christians around the world. It celebrates the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem. Like Christmas, it is celebrated in many different ways around the world. In most countries, Easter is celebrated between the end of March and the end of April. Let’s explore these exciting traditions together! X Share with your partner how you celebrate Easter. Easter around the World Spain On Palm Sunday, children bring palm leaves to church. Then people decorate their branches with colourful flowers. Spain also has parades with pasos, floats or thrones, On Ash Wednesday, a cross of ash is drawn onto people’s illustrating the Easter story and foreheads to say sorry to God for the bad things they have done. marching bands. The parades are followed by cloaked people In some parts of Spain, on Maundy Thursday, also known as Holy seeking forgiveness from God. Thursday, men dress as skeletons and perform a dance of death, to symbolise Jesus’ death. “Penitentes del Nazareno” by Juan Sáez is licensed under CC BY 2.0 Easter around the World USA AtIn otherthe White parts House of the inUSA, Washington people play DC, a an game Easter called egg egg rolling-knocking. event isEach held player every is year. given a dyed, hard-boiled egg. They then make their way to each player, knocking the tip of their egg against the tip of Childrenanother person's push decorated egg. If a eggs player’s through egg cracks,the grass they with are long out-handled of the spoons.game. The The last President person withis there an uncrackedto help anyone egg iswho the is winner! struggling. In recent years, celebrities have turned up to entertain the rollers as well! DidX The Easter egg is the main symbol of Easter. Talk to your X You Egg partner,rolling represents what do you the think rolling the of egg the represents? stone away Know from the front of Jesus’ tomb. ? Easter around the World Greece In Greece, the festival begins well before Easter. On Maundy Thursday, Easter bread is baked and eggs are dyed red, symbolising the blood of Jesus Christ. On Holy Saturday, people attend midnight mass where they all bring a candle to light from the church’s Holy Flame. Easter eggs are decorated with beautiful patterns and designs. Easter Sunday is spent enjoying a roast lamb feast with friends and family. Easter around the World Germany In some parts of Germany, Easter eggs are hung on the branches Inof bushesthe northand treesof theto make Easter egg trees. They are called country,Ostereierbaumspecial. fires are lit around sunset on Holy SaturdayIn other parts,. Theeggsfire aremustused to decorate wells instead. then remain lit until the morning. Many people stay up all night keeping the fire alight. Easter around the World Italy In Italy, the Pope washes the feet of a dozenIn the citymen of atFlorence,a re-enactment a rocket shapedof the like a dove is Lastused Supperto set offon aMaundy huge fireworksThursday display!. On Good Friday, many people gather at Saint Peter’s Basilica to listen to the Pope’s mass at 5pm. The Pope leads a candle-lit walk to remember Jesus Christ. X Can you find any similarities between how you celebrate Easter and how other people celebrate Easter around the world? Easter Traditions Easter is a time of celebration for Christians, who remember when Jesus was crucified on Good Friday and rose from the dead on Easter Sunday. There are many Easter traditions, such as eating chocolate eggs, going on Easter egg hunts and making Easter bonnets. However, in France there are other traditional ways of celebrating Easter. Rolling Eggs In some parts of France, people join in the contest of egg rolling. This involves rolling eggs down a slope. The winning egg, which remains intact, represents the stone which was rolled away from the tomb where Jesus had been laid after his death. Easter Egg Hunts Many people in France join in with Easter egg hunts. In the grounds of the Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte, which is just outside Paris, the largest egg hunt in France is held. Tens of thousands of eggs are hidden for children and adults to find. Les Cloches de Pâques Les Cloches de Pâques, or ‘Easter bells’, is a popular tradition in France. No church bells are rung from Good Friday to Easter Sunday in mourning for Jesus’ crucifixion. It is said that on Good Friday, the bells in France fly to the Vatican in Rome where the Pope blesses them. They then return on Easter Sunday, bringing with them chocolate eggs which are dropped in gardens. Then, on Easter Sunday morning, children will run out into the garden to find their chocolate eggs, bunnies and chickens. The church bells ring again. Chocolate bells are sold in the shops, to remember this tradition. Omelettes at Easter Many years ago, church law banned Christians from eating eggs during Lent – the forty days and nights before Easter Sunday. This meant that hens carried on laying eggs but no one was using them. On Easter Sunday, people would make omelettes to use up the eggs. This tradition still continues today. Legend told that, if the first thing you ate on Easter Sunday was an egg that had been laid on Good Friday, you would be protected from illness until the next Easter. Napoleon and Omelettes In Bessières, near Toulouse in France, it is a tradition for the townspeople to make a huge omelette. This is because Napoleon Bonaparte and his army stayed for a night near the town. After Napoleon had eaten his omelette, made by the innkeeper, he ordered the people of the town to collect all the eggs they had and make an enormous omelette for his army. Easter Food The main Easter meal traditionally consists of lamb. Families gather together and share the meal. Lamb represents new life and spring. Sometimes it will be a joint of lamb or a stew. Pudding will usually include chocolate, with a traditional cheeseboard afterwards. .