Where did the idea for easter baskets & the Easter bunny come from?

EASTER JUST LIKE CHRISTMAS WAS MADE UP TO GET U TO SPEND MONEY, BIG MONEY ON THOSE DAYS. RABBITS CAN'T LAY EGGS

I would really like to know to.

Easter’s Origins It should not surprise us that Easter, a religious holiday closely associated with Christmas, is also rooted in pagan practices. For, as with Christmas, Easter’s pagan origins are often mentioned in newspapers. For example, this past March 29 the Newark Sunday News carried the heading “Easter Festival Tied to Pagans.” Giving some background to its paganism, the book Easter and Its Customs by Christina Hole observes: “It was in spring, in the season of new life and revival when, from time immemorial, the pagan peoples of Europe and Asia held their Spring Festivals, re-enacting ancient regeneration myths and performing magical and religious ceremonies to make the crops grow and prosper. Vernal Mysteries, like those of Tammuz [Babylonian god condemned in the Bible] and Osiris [Egyptian god] and Adonis [Greek god], flourished in the Mediterranean world when Our Lord lived and moved in it, and farther north and east there were others, less well-known but no less vividly alive. Inevitably, some of their cherished rites and symbols were carried forward into the Easter customs.”—Page 9; compare Ezekiel 8:13, 14. Did you know that those ceremonies often featured obscene fertility rites? As for the rabbit symbol and Easter eggs, a modern authority says: “This is not mere child’s play, but the vestige of a fertility rite, the eggs and the rabbit both symbolizing fertility.” Even The Catholic Encyclopedia says: “The rabbit is a pagan symbol and has always been an emblem of fertility.” Certainly, rabbits and eggs have no connection with the resurrection of Christ, do they? Do you care that Easter perpetuates memories of those immoral fertility rites of pagans? Do you want to participate in a holiday that features adaptations of ancient fertility symbols, such as the “Easter bunny” and “Easter eggs”? Do you believe that Almighty God would approve your doing so?—Deut. 7:5, 6. Think seriously: Is God pleased when people try to mix his worship with pagan practices? The answer is obvious. The question is, Do you care? Blessings Received by Those Who Care ‘But doesn’t that mean missing out on a lot of enjoyment?’ someone may ask. To the contrary, if you continue in pagan practices there is much that you will miss out on—the approval of God and the opportunity of gaining eternal life in his righteous new system. And even now, no genuine pleasure is lost by those who heed God’s Word. In fact, real blessings are received. Families can get together at any time of the year to enjoy themselves by eating and drinking in moderation and having pleasant fellowship. These happy times are not lost when Christmas is no longer celebrated. And persons can give presents to their friends and loved ones on these and other occasions if they wish. Spontaneous, uncompelled giving brings great happiness both to the giver and to the receiver.—Acts 20:35. At the same time, think of the blessing of being free from the pagan custom of gift exchanging, an obligation that is encouraged by the business world, not to honor God, but to make money. Is it not true that this pagan custom frustrates, causes financial burdens and robs persons of joy? ‘But others will expect gifts,’ you may say. ‘They will think I have forgotten them. What shall I do?’ Why not make a list of everyone with whom you have exchanged presents in recent years? Then, instead of sending Christmas cards, write a note informing them that you are discontinuing Christmas gift giving. Do this before they buy the gifts.. If you really care about God and what he thinks, there is no reason to fear the reaction of others to your note. (Prov. 29:25) In fact, they may well be delighted. For they, too, may feel caught in a trap, and be happy to breathe a sigh of relief in this time of economic pressure. What you do for them in this regard may be more precious than any other gift you could give them, for it might start them on the way to life eternal, if they, too, really want to please God. And as for Easter, is your enjoyment of spring going to be any less because you do not share in a religious celebration that has pagan roots? Do you have to tell your children that rabbits and eggs are connected with the resurrection of Jesus, when it is obvious that there is no such connection? Do you not think that your enjoyment of spring would be much greater if you truly gave honor to the Creator of all things? Spring is a beautiful time of year, so why mar it with a celebration that has its roots in immoral pagan rites? Abandoning the pagan festival of Easter is courageous action that one who really cares about God is obligated to take. Such action, properly motivated, will result in rich blessings from God. For soon now he is going to destroy this wicked system of things, but he will preserve alive forever those who prove that they really care about the doing of his will.—1 John 2:17.

Easter Bunny, colored eggs, jelly beans, and lot's of chocolate. He (or she, as we are never quite sure about this) comes on Saturday night leading to Easter Sunday morning. He brings lots of chocolates and other candies. That's one meaning to Easter, especially if you are a kid or a "Chocolaholic". A second meaning is the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The Lenten season leading up to Easter Sunday is a time of fasting, sacrifice and prayer. It is the christian way of replicating in a small way what Christ sacrificed for us, both in his fasting and his final death on the cross. There is a famous Easter game called the Easter Egg Hunt. Early morning kids go outside to find the many colored Easter eggs that the Easter bunny has hidden the night before. The Easter Egg Hunt was the first game ever invented. It is said that the reason this tradition started was because of the Easter Bunny dropped the eggs on the way to deliver them and they hide themselves. That is how the Easter Egg Hunt was supposedly invented. For more information see the Easter Egg Hunt page. Most of us will celebrate both parts of this spring holiday. Upon awakening Easter Sunday morning, the children will hunt for the Easter basket left by the Easter Bunny. Then the family will dress in their finest new spring clothes, and go off to church to celebrate Christ's resurrection. From there, the holiday tradition varies. Some have a big breakfast of brunch feast. Other family will have a big main meal with baked ham being the most common meat. Brightly colored hard boiled eggs will also be popular. It is not a day for high cholesterol diets. It is a day to feast as the long lenten season is over and Christ has arisen.

wow, never really thought of it myself... good question!!! why is it that we forget the real meaning of holidays these days???

The basket of eggs symbolizes fertility and lots of children. The Easter bunny is a rabbit and rabbits - well, umm, - breed like rabbits. These are very ancient symbols, thousands of years older than Christianity. Easter is a springtime festival of renewal of life, of a new generation arising from the ending of a previous one. It is a promise that life is eternally renewed. Easter, being a fertility festival, emphasizes on sexuality. The woman's hormone estrogen is named for Oestre, the Saxon goddess of fertility, and so is the holiday Easter, also from the Babylonian goddess Ishtar.

My Father once told Me that the idea of Easter baskets came about as the result of Egg hunts in the garden so the little children could get as many eggs as possible. Probably not a true story. But a nice idea. Happy Easter.

The Easter Bunny is a traditional holiday character in the form of a giving rabbit which is said to leave gifts, usually Easter baskets for children at Easter (or at springtime). It originates in Western European cultures, where it is a hare rather than a rabbit. The Easter Bunny is an example of folklore mythology which children are sometimes taught to believe. Some people don't approve of teaching of an existence of the Easter Bunny. Not everyone believes in the Easter Bunny, and most, if not all, eventually "grow out of" their belief. Other prominent examples of this are Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy. Many families participate in the roles of this myth without believing in it literally as a form of play or tradition. The precise origin of the custom of coloring eggs is not known, although it too is ancient; Greeks to this day typically dye their Easter eggs red, the color of blood, in recognition of the renewal of life in springtime (and, later, the blood of the sacrificed Christ). Some also use the color green, in honor of the new foliage emerging after the long "dead" time of winter. Other colors, including the pastels popular in the United States and elsewhere (possibly symbolizing the rainbow, another seasonal sign of luck and hope), seem to have come along later. The act of eating colored eggs at the Spring Equinox can be considered a form of sympathetic magic or prayer for increased fertility, and for a bountiful harvest later in the year.

Peter Cottontail of course!! lol