Polar Blair's Den- Easter: The Easter Bunny

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The exact origin of the practice of coloring eggs for the Easter holiday is unknown.
Eggs, along with rabbits/hares and chicks have been symbols of rebirth since pagan times.
In the very early days of egg-coloring, Christians typically dyed eggs all red in recognition of the blood of Christ.
Even today, many Christians of the Eastern Orthodox Church color their eggs all red. Some use green, in honor of the new foliage for the season.
One of the early coloring techniques for Easter Eggs was boiling an egg with some flowers. The flowers, in turn, would stain the eggs with pretty colors.
German Protestants wanted to keep the custom of eating colored Easter Eggs, but did not want to introduce their children to the Catholic practice of fasting. Eggs were forbidden to Catholics during the fast of Lent. This is why there was such an abundance of eggs for Easter time.
The idea of an egg-laying bunny came to the United States in the 18th century and was brought over by German immigrants.
Germans in the Pennsylvania Dutch area told their children about the "Osterhase". This has also been spelled as "Oschter Haws". In either case it meant "Easter Hare", not rabbit. The legend started basically as a play on the already established story of Santa Claus, also heavily-developed by the Germanic peoples of Europe.