Easter
1-hour lesson
Today you will read a funny Easter story, share ideas, learn a few Easter facts, write a tiny spring poem, and build a class story together.
Good talk sounds like this:
“I think… because…”,
“I agree with…”,
“I am not sure yet…”,
“Can you explain?”
What is Easter?
Work with a partner. Talk about these questions.
• What words or pictures do you connect with Easter?
• Is Easter more about spring, family, religion, sweets, or something else?
• Which Easter tradition do you like best?
Word power
Read the words before the story. Then try to use two of them in your own sentence.
The Easter Thief
Easter was my favourite time of year.
Not Christmas. Not my birthday. Easter.
It meant spring light, yellow flowers, silly paper chicks, and more chocolate than any sensible person needed.
When I was eleven, my mum looked across the kitchen table at me and my sister and said, “I’ve decided something. You are both too old for Easter eggs this year.”
I laughed. She did not.
“Too old?” said my sister.
Mum nodded. “This year you can have fruit.”
Fruit. At Easter.
I stared at her. She buttered her toast as if she had said something perfectly normal.
For two whole days I was in a bad mood. My sister kept saying Mum was joking. I did not think it was funny enough to be a joke.
Then, about a week before Easter, I was hunting in the dining room cupboard for batteries.
And there it was.
A huge box of chocolates at the back, hidden behind some napkins.
I pulled it out. It felt heavy.
I shook it very gently.
Shuffle, shuffle.
Definitely full.
My heart started thumping. Had Mum bought it for our cousins? Were they getting chocolate while we got apples?
The house was empty. No voices. No footsteps. No chance of being caught.
I looked at the lid. Too risky.
Then I turned the box over and saw a label stuck across the bottom.
Slowly, very slowly, I peeled up one corner.
I made a tiny gap. Just enough for two fingers.
I slid one chocolate out. Then another.
Then one more, because now the box was already open, so what difference did one more make?
The chocolates were amazing. Soft caramel. Crunchy nut. Dark chocolate. Orange cream.
I lost count at first.
Then I counted.
Eight. No, nine.
Definitely ten.
Maybe eleven.
I pressed the label back down, smoothed it flat, and put the box exactly where I had found it.
From the front, it looked perfect.
From the back, I was not so sure.
On Easter morning, I came into the kitchen and nearly fell over.
The box was on the table. Right in the middle. Next to two bright foil eggs.
Mum smiled. “I was joking about the fruit, Kimmi. Easter needs chocolate.”
My stomach dropped all the way to my shoes.
Don’t open it, I thought. Please don’t open it.
Mum lifted the lid.
She frowned.
She looked inside again.
Then she said, “What? There are hardly any chocolates in here.”
My sister leaned over. “That’s terrible.”
Terrible, I thought. Yes. Me.
Mum counted them. “Twelve. Twelve! In a box this size?”
I could feel my ears burning.
Then Mum said the worst thing of all.
“I’m taking this back to the shop.”
To this day, every Easter, my mum tells the story of the ridiculous chocolate box that was nearly empty when she opened it.
She still says the manager looked shocked.
She still says she won the argument.
And I still haven’t told her the truth.
Not because I am scared.
Well. Not only because I am scared.
Mostly because every Easter she laughs so much she can barely finish the story.
And every Easter I sit there, eating my chocolate egg, feeling just a tiny bit guilty.
Think and talk
Answer in full sentences where you can.
1. Why was Kimmi upset at the start of the story?
2. How did Kimmi get into the box?
3. Why did Kimmi feel guilty on Easter morning?
4. Find one line that you think is funny. Explain why.
5. What one word fits Kimmi best: greedy, curious, tempted, silly, or unlucky? Explain your choice.
6. Should Kimmi tell the truth now, years later? Why or why not?
Big class question: Is a joke still funny if somebody feels upset at the start? There is no single perfect answer. Listen. Build on other people’s ideas. Be ready to change your mind.
Easter facts: Sweden and beyond
Read the facts. Put a star next to one fact you already knew and a question mark next to one fact that surprises you.
• Easter is a Christian festival that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus.
• In the Northern Hemisphere, Easter happens in spring, so many people connect it with new life, light and growth.
• The date changes every year. In Western churches, Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after 21 March.
• Eggs are often used as symbols of new life.
• In Sweden, many children dress up as påskkärringar, or Easter witches, and visit neighbours with drawings or cards, hoping for sweets.
• Swedish homes are often decorated with påskris: birch twigs with colourful feathers.
Now talk with your partner. Which part of Easter feels biggest to you: religion, family time, food, craft, spring, or sweets? Give a reason.
Write a tiny spring poem
Write 4 to 6 short lines. You do not need full sentences.
Use sounds, colours, smells, feelings, or small details.
Try a model
Yellow feathers
A bright paper egg
Cold days nearly gone
Chocolate on my fingers
A small laugh in the kitchen
Spring at last
Challenge: Can you include one surprising detail from the story or from Swedish Easter traditions?
Egg story hunt
• Take a paper egg. On the front, draw or colour an Easter design.
• On the back, write one Easter word. It can be funny, serious, spring-like, or about food.
• Your teacher will mix or hide the eggs.
• Work in a small group. Find or collect 3 eggs.
• Use the 3 words to make a tiny Easter story together. Make it funny, strange, or heart-warming.
• Read your story to the class.
Helpful story words: egg, feather, clue, bunny, witch, spring, cupboard, laugh, secret, yellow, moon, basket
Exit ticket
Finish these two sentences.
• One idea from today that stayed with me was …
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• One question I still have about Easter is …
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