It's merely about the Spring season. Rejuvenation and the start of the earth providing us once again with more sun, food, and warm weather outdoor recreation.

A celebration of rebirth, when winter passes and plants start to grow again.

It always meant a paid holiday for me.

I would just teach her both sides. This is what you’ll learn at church and this is what others believe. These are the origins. & such. But I agree, 3 is a little young to worry about that. Maybe when she starts asking questions about it, then talk about it

[nobeliefs.com]
You can tell her the truth. Religion coopted this holiday like it does most everything else.

Peter cottontail

Just tell her not to worry about all the religious stuff (but also to be respectful towards her grandparents' belief, of course) and to instead concentrate on the real meaning of Easter - that is, the celebration of chocolate!

Thought it was about chasing an egg laying bunny around.

I would not try to explain at this point. Go heavy with the plastic grass and the colored eggs, there will be time enough to give your own explaination.

You could say that he came out of his tomb and saw his shadow, indicating 6 more weeks of basketball

Money grabbing bullshit

The first Sunday after Passover.

The history of where it came from.

Esotre the celebration of spring solstice. Christians stole it for easy conversion. The rabbit was the symbol. I don’t know where the egg came from. Maybe the breeding season.

I taughter my daughter Eostre.... The bringing of new life... Plants, animals, a new beginning of life.

I told my kids easter was a celebartion of spring. that we clebrated with chocolate bunnies. Which is what we did.

Celebration of welcoming spring and a cool way to get presents and candy until you're like 12 or 13. Haha

At 3.5 years old, you'll have to keep it pretty simple, but it's good that you can work on a strategy for upcoming holidays as she gets older. You might explain that Easter is a time for telling lots of different kinds of stories about being energized by spring time. Your parents like stories they learn in church, you might like to tell stories about baby animals and flowers coming into bloom, or feeling happy about all your favorite things you like to do outdoors, or what have you. Hopefully you can find in your library or order some secular easter books to read to her?

When I was explaining holidays to my kids I used this approach. We hung easter eggs from the trees in our yard, planted flower seeds, had a feast to celebrate spring. We did have easter egg hunts with relatives religious and not.

I think if any religious folks complain about celebrating in a more secular way, you've got the facts behind you that Oeaster was historically before Easter and they should be glad you're not calling them on that nor complaining about the way they are celebrating in church.

4 days of public holidays and all the damn tourists turn up and clutter our beaches making lots of mess and noise as if they own the place. But some people worship the chocolate gods.

Eating chocolate because some people thought they saw a friendly zombie.

Talk about the easter bunny and the colored eggs. That makes more sense than the nonsense of a man rising from the dead.

Spring equinox, changing of the seasons, a celebration of fertility of the natural world around us. Going on a natural level, its the celebratrion of the return of the germination time of the year and the the time to be well into planting and breeding seasons. I mean honestly, bunnies and eggs? Hello....

I think it’s called spring. Explain the shifting of the seasons and how ancient people’s came up with different ways to explain it. And how we’re lucky to have science to know what’s really happening.

Oops. New phone + fat fingers = "yur"

Easter Bunny, Jelly Beans and colored eggs