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All about eggs

Eggs around the world

This lesson explores how different beliefs and cultures around the world involve eggs in their celebrations and festivals. Pupils must be careful not to make judgments about other religions and people's beliefs.

Begin the lesson by asking pupils:

  • When is springtime? How does the climate change in spring?
  • Do pupils celebrate the arrival of spring? Do they celebrate Easter, Passover or a different holiday?
  • Which traditions and celebrations do people carry out at Easter or spring e.g. eating chocolate eggs, rolling boiled eggs down slopes?

Many cultures all over the world celebrate spring as it is a time when crops start to grow and new livestock are born. The appearance of new food has been celebrated by humans for thousands of years all over the world in different ways.

The springtime appearance of new crops is often celebrated using eggs because eggs are a symbol of birth and rebirth. For example, in China eggs are used to celebrate new babies.

Use Worksheet 1 to teach pupils about the diverse cultures and religions around the world, and the many festivals and celebrations that they enjoy.

Eggs can be decorated in a variety of different ways. Shapes can be cut out and stuck on the eggs, or patterns can be drawn on the eggs in wax, then the eggs can be dyed using commercial or home-made dyes such as beetroot juice, ink or coffee. Alternatively, the eggs can be decorated Fabergé-style with sequins, feathers, and tissue paper, stuck on with either glue or the white of the egg itself.

One way of using an eggshell as a decoration without wasting the food inside is to blow the egg. Use Worksheet 2 to find out how. Younger pupils might find blown eggs too fragile to work with - boiled eggs can be substituted instead.