"The Easter bunny gathers up all his magical eggs in a basket and steps out into the world, and if he sees his own shadow then there will be another six weeks of winter."

Or, more soberly, "Easter is a celebration of springtime. The exact celebration comes from a pre-Christian pagan religion, and every culture and every religion around the world has some kind of holiday to mark this time of year."

Go back to the pagan roots: celebrate spring, new beginning, fertility and preparing to plant.

The druids called it Oestre and it was a festival more about the returning cycle of a warming sun and a spring that promised a coming fruitfulness and good harvest with the buds devleoping - I am guessing that is where we get 'oestrogen' from - the druids were aware of the oneness of all nature.

Spring Equinox, feast of new beginnings

I just had this talk with my 4yo a couple of weeks ago. My family is also very religious, but we live in another state, not in the same house. We talked about the Spring Equinox and how when people don't understand something, they use magic to explain it. I didn't say anything about Jesus or Christianity. I told him about Ostara, the European Pagan goddess and the celebration in her name involving rabbits and eggs. It seemed to help. I'll explain more as he gets older.

An ancient, Pagan ritual celebrating Spring and rebirth. (Ishtar)
Eggs. Chicks. Rabbits. All symbols of FERTILITY.

After the dark winter and long nights without very much to eat except what they had stored, the peopel in olden days welcomed the warmer weather and the hens, coming in to lay , giving us fresh eggs and so they made a celebration and a feast - and now we can go to a store and buy pretty fancy chocolate eggs to remember, that the seasons change and life always begins afresh The grass always greens up and we can play in the warming sun. The change from harsh winter to the green shoots of spring and the warmer days makes us feel more energetic - so we all change a little when the seasons change

Equinox

Tell her that it's a marketing ploy to boost sales in an otherwise flat time of year when consumer spending is low as they await their tax returns.

Then throw in that Christianity is a bullshit collection of various ancient myths, all geared towards control and consolidation of power and wealth. Move into how Christianity launched numerous Crusades and Inquisitions against Infidels and Non-Believers.

Tell her the chocolate was likely not Fair-Trade and some child, roughly her age, has been slaving away for years to pick beans to make chocolate that they have no experience eating since they cannot afford it.

Launch into how the eggs were likely factory farmed, the chickens horribly mistreated, and likely dosed with a wide range of anitbiotics to that they can live, de-beaked, in mass pens where the dead pile up until removed.

The plastic grass in her plastic basket likely came from China and, as it's non-recyclable, will end up either in a landfill or the growing mass of plastic in the Pacific, where it chokes and kills sealife.

Start there. Let me know how it goes. Happy Easter!

Pagan Fertility ritual. And candy. Lots of candy.

The spring equinox.

I see two choices: first as a celebration of spring and rebirth, or second, the fairy tale "Easter Bunny", etc.

Its a very old festival held held at the Spring Equinox to mark the rebirth of life in nature and the joys of the coming harvest after the earth has nurtured the sown seeds. Chase the Easter eggs down the hill because they represents the egg from which Mother Nature gives to the land. Revel in the fun of the Easter bunny for his abundant ability to reproduce, just like Mother Nature.

Just another celebration of Spring in the northern hemisphere. Many traditional cultures celebrate their New Year around this time.

Annual celebration of spring, renewal, and fertility with roots and tradition in eary pagan religions. Appropriated by Christians for connection of this tradition to their own purposes.

Easter is a Pagan celebration, holy day or not. The Catholics grabbed every nature celebration that came their way and "incorporated" each into a pill to innoculate humans into believers

It should be no problem to explain the children's story of its light-hearted fantasy, being the Easter Bunny and egg decorations, Anything more (as like Christmas with Santa Claus) can either be avoided or if asked by a child - wait for an appropriate age when they can understand the various traditions that are religious affiliated. One thing that many don't actually know from ancient Greek history: the rabbit and decorated eggs were representative of Pagan symbols of sex and fertility.

My favorite youtube clip on religion...

It's a celbration of the new life of spring. show her new green grass, show her birds nesting.

It's as previously mentioned, the time of new birth and renewal. The name is derived from the Nordic goddess Oester, who heralded the beginning of the season.