The custom of giving eggs at Easter celebrates new life.
Christians remember that Jesus, after dying on the cross, rose from the dead, showing that life could win over death.
For Christians, the egg is a symbol of Jesus’s resurrection and, when the eggs are opened, they stand for the empty tomb.
No one actually knows when eggs were first used as symbols at festival times, but they were always thought to be special, because although they do not seem alive, they have life within them, especially in springtime, when chicks hatch out.
Long ago people gave gifts of eggs carved from wood or precious stones.
The first sweet eggs that were eaten were made in the last 100 years, from sugar or marzipan.
Since then chocolate eggs have become popular and these are given on Easter Sunday, brought by the Easter Bunny.
