How do Americans Celebrate Easter – Your Easter Vocabulary Feast!
Easter is upon us! This weekend will be Easter weekend for all Christians around the globe. Let’s celebrate Easter with ELSA by learning a bit more about this special holiday and how Americans celebrate Easter.
What is Easter?
Easter is a holiday celebrating the end of Lent and the resurrection of Jesus Christ after his crucifixion. Holy Week starts off with Palm Sunday the following Good Thursday the day of the Last Supper, Good Friday the day of Jesus crucifixion and Sunday the day Jesus rose which is now the celebration of Easter.
Is Easter a religious holiday?
Yes, but Easter is also a very popular cultural holiday in the United States.
Do all countries celebrate Easter in the same way?
No, around the world, different countries, cultures, and communities have different traditions to celebrate the Easter holiday.
So, how do Americans celebrate Easter?
Easter bunny! You can’t talk about Easter in America without talking about the Easter Bunny. The idea of the Easter Bunny originated in Germany. Rabbits are symbols of fertility and spring. The tradition of Easter Bunny is that the night before Easter, children would their build nests out of sticks and leaves (Easter basket) and leave those outside. Easter Bunny can then put eggs in (or chocolate eggs, or just candy) for the children to find the next morning
Every year, Easter is also celebrated by the President of the United States at the White House. It’s usually called “White House Easter Egg roll” – a visit by the Easter bunny, an egg roll, an Easter Egg Hunt, lots of fun and candy! Check out this video to see how Easter was celebrated at the White House in 2015
What are some of the fun facts of Easter in America? Hint: you can practice speaking these sentences on ELSA’s dictionary feature!!! 🙂
- Easter is the 2nd largest candy-consuming holiday, after Halloween
- More than 120 million pounds of candy are purchased for Easter every year. That’s enough to max out 4,615 dump trucks!!!
- Every day 5 million marshmallow chicks and bunnies are made to prepare for Easter
- 90 million Chocolate Easter Bunnies are made for Easter
- Do you know when people eat Chocolate Easter Bunnies, what do they most often eat first? The EARS!!!!
- 16 billion jelly beans are made for Easter. That’s enough to circle the globe three times!!!
Your Easter Vocabulary Feast!
Lent [lɛnt]
The 40 weekdays from Ash Wednesday to Easter observed by the Roman Catholic, Eastern, and some Protestant churches as a period of penitence and fasting
Resurrection [ˌrɛzəˈrɛkʃən]
The rising of Christ from the dead
Crucifixion [ˌkrusɪˈfɪkʃən]
The crucifying of Christ. If a person is crucified (“to crucify” is the verb), then he or she is hung on a cross and left to die a very slow, painful death
Holy Week [ˈhoʊli wik]
The week before Easter during which the last days of Christ’s life are commemorated
The Sunday before Easter celebrated in commemoration of Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem
The Friday before Easter observed in churches as the anniversary of the crucifixion of Christ and in some states of the U.S. as a legal holiday
The Last Supper [ðə læst ˈsʌpər ]
The supper eaten by Jesus and his disciples on the night of his betrayal
Easter Bunny [ˈistər ˈbʌni]
The tradition of easter bunny that bring children Easter egg, or candy, or chocolate bunnies
Easter Basket [ˈistər ˈbæskət]
A basket of candy, toys, etc., that is given to children at Easter
Easter Egg Roll [ˈistər ɛg roʊl]
A traditional game played with eggs at Easter
Chocolate bunny [ˈʧɔklət ˈbʌni]
A piece of chocolate in the shape of a rabbit, usually stylized, and generally hollow.
Jellybean [ˈʤɛli bin]
A bean-shaped candy with a jellylike center and a firm sugar coating
Happy Easter,
ELSA – your world’s smartest English pronunciation coach
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