Happy Easter everyone!

EASTER

Hi children!

Well, Easter is coming and I'd like to share with you a poem about chocolate bunnies and what it means...

Chocolate Easter bunny

In a jelly bean nest,

I'm saving you for very last

Because I love you best.

I'll only take a nibble

From the tip of your ear

And one bite from the other side

So that you won't look queer.

Yum, your'e so delicious!

I didn't mean to eat

Your chocolate tail till Tuesday.

Ooops! There go your feet!

I wonder how your back tastes

With all that chocolate hair.

I never thought your tummy

Was only filled with air!

Chocolate Easter bunny

In a jelly bean nest,

I'm saving you for very last

Because I love you best.

Bobbie Katz

                             NOW YOU CAN ENJOY READING A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW PEOPLE CELEBRATE EASTER AROUND THE WORLD...

EASTER IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

On Mothering Sunday, which is always the Sunday in the middle of Lent in the U.K., special services are held in churches to thank God for Mums. Flowers such as Daffodils and Primroses are often given to mums to say thank you for all the hard work they do! It is also traditional that Mums get the day of house work and might even have breakfast in bed! 

Decorating Easter Eggs is a common tradition in the U.K., particularly in the North of England, Scotland, the Isle of Man and Ireland. Decorated Eggs are sometimes called 'pace eggs' in these areas. The word pace comes from the word 'pasche' meaning Passover.

Also on Easter Monday, lots of people take part in egg-rolling competitions. The rules are often different from place to place. At Preston, in Lancashire, children roll coloured hard-boiled eggs down the grass slopes in the local park. The winner is the person whose egg is the first to the bottom that is unbroken. On the island of Harris, in Scotland, you are supposed to get good luck for the rest of the year if your egg gets to the bottom of the hill unbroken. In some places it's the egg that rolls the farthest that is the winner.

EASTER IN BRAZIL

            One of the biggest carnivals in the world happens in Rio de Janeiro at the Mardi Gras or Shove Tuesdaycelebrations to start Lent. The streets are filled, over several days leading up to Shrove Tuesday, with large processions of people marching, singing and dancing. People taking part in the parade dress up in very bright exotic clothes. Sometimes the costumes are made on large wire structures so the people wearing them look very big, like butterflies or birds. There are big floats, with stands for singing and dancing on built into cars or lorries that take part in the parade, they are decorated as brightly as the people and help make the procession look amazing!

             The most popular place to watch the parade is on the Marquês de Sapucaí Avenue, often called the 'Sambódromo' or 'Avenida do Samba' that mean Samba Avenue (the samba is a popular Brazilian dance). Apart from the main organised carnivals, there are small groups of people who go round the streets singing and dancing known as 'blocos' or 'bandas'. People from the local streets will often join the processions until a party starts!

               The Rio carnivals started over 250 years ago when the Portuguese settlers bought form of carnival called 'entrudo' with them. It consisted of people throwing flour and water over each other! In 1856 the police banned entrudo carnivals because they were becoming violent and lots of people were getting hurt. This is when the carnival, like it is today, started. From the turn of the 20th century, people started to write fun marching songs to be sung during the carnival processions. When cars started becoming more widely available, they were made part of the carnival as away of displaying the performers. These grew into the large carnival floats that take part today.

EASTER IN SPAIN

              Easter is a very important celebration in Spain. The whole of Holy Week is often a holiday. A lot of Spanish Catholics fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

          On Ash Wednesday, people have a cross made of ash put on their foreheads. This is a way of saying sorry to God.

             On Palm Sunday, most people go to mass in the morning. Children bring palm leaves and branches to be blessed by the priest. Sometimes the branches decorated with sweets, tinsel or have other decorations hanging from them.

          On Maundy Thursday, there is a special 'Dance of Death' celebration in Verges, Gerona. A scary dance is performed, at night, by men dressed as skeletons.

           Many towns and cities in Spain celebrate Easter with processions through the streets at night. Floats called 'tronos' are carried through the street. Each float has incredible decorated figures representing part of the Easter story on it. The floats and statues are often covered in gold, silver and fine cloths. They are also decorated with lots of fresh flowers. Forty or fifty people carry each trono on their shoulders on the procession, which can sometimes last between between four or five hours!

        In Murcia, a tronos, telling the story of the Last Supper has real food on on the table. On Easter Sunday the twenty-six men who have carried the table in the procession around the town sit down and eat the food!

           In southern Spain, the processions are often accompanied by drums being beaten by the local boys. In the village of Hellin, between eight and ten thousand drums are beaten at the processions between Holy Wednesday andEaster Sunday.

           The most famous and biggest processions are held in Seville. Each one is organised by 'Co-fradias', or 'The Brotherhoods'. The Co-fradias try to put on the biggest and best procession and there is a lot of competition among them as to who has done so.