Easter

Where can I find information about Easter?

(Years 5-8)

Colour photo of a stack of hot cross buns sitting on a white tea towel. — Image: Hot cross buns - fig and pecan by jules on Wikimedia Commons. CC BY 2.0. Image cropped.

Entry last updated: 9/03/26

Introduction

Easter is one of the most important religious events for Christians. It goes over a weekend and includes Good Friday and Easter Sunday. In some countries the following Monday is included in the holiday. Christians may fast (go without food or other things) in the weeks before Easter. This period of time is called Lent.

Although it has Christian origins, many people around the world now celebrate Easter with different traditions, like Easter egg hunts and Easter bunnies.

General sites

These sites have facts and information avout the meaning of Easter, its origins and Easter traditions.

BBC Bitesize

This school work website is from a well-known organisation in the UK, a country overseas. It has some great facts about Easter and the history behind it (note that the videos on this site won't work for us here in New Zealand).

Find the search box at the top right of the page.
Search for your keyword 'Easter'.
Check out What is Easter?
And others like Easter Sunday.

Tips: Search words are sometimes called keywords. We can leave out small words like ‘the’ and ‘of’ and choose the main ones. We can always change our keywords or add more if we need to.

Britannica School Primary

Britannica School is one of the EPIC databases. EPIC is a collection of reliable databases covering lots of different topics. You will need a password to access it.

Enter the keyword ‘Easter’ into the search box.
Select the Easter (holiday) article to know more about the meaning of Easter.
The article Lent (Christianity) explains what Lent is and how it is linked to Easter.

Elementary (Gale In Context)

This is another EPIC resource that has some great facts about Easter.

Go to the Social Studies link.
Find the link, World Holidays.
Easter explains the celebration of Christianity and Easter.

Tips: To use the EPIC resources you will need a password from your school librarian. Or you can chat with one of our AnyQuestions librarians. Your public library may have some EPIC databases too.

WhyEaster.com

This site is from a web designer in the United Kingdom who wants to share information on the story, customs, traditions and important days of Easter.

The Easter Story has a link to the Full Story about what happened at the first Easter.
Easter Customs and Traditions is about how some customs came about and their meaning.

Tips: Websites that have .com or .co in the address can have good information, but you need to assess how reliable it is. Check the About us link on the website, if you can find one. That can tell you what the company’s mission and values are.

New Zealand sites

Aside from religious holidays, many New Zealanders enjoy eating hot cross buns or going on an Easter egg hunt. These sites have information about how Easter is celebrated here.

Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Te Ara is an excellent starting point for all questions about Aotearoa New Zealand.

Search for 'public holidays' in the search box.
Select the link called Public holidays.
Then select Easter, Christmas and New Year.

Tips: Sites that have .govt.nz or .ac.nz are from NZ government or educational organisations. We like sites like this because they’re reliable and relevant to us.

DigitalNZ

DigitalNZ searches online resources from New Zealand libraries, museums, universities and government sites. It has lots of picture and videos about New Zealand.

Search for 'Easter' and then choose the tab Vidoes.
Check out videos like TP+ Easter Weekend 2017, about different ways of celebrating Easter, or
How do people have their tasty Easter treats?

Tips: This search brings back lots of results and some might not be what you're looking for. Ask an adult to help you look through them, or chat with one of our AnyQuestions librarians.

Books

There are lots of great books about Easter, including the story of Jesus and also Easter craft and cook books. Check out your school or local public library. A few recommended titles are: