From The Pagan Family by Ceisiwr Serith, which is probably one of my favorite books on incorporating paganism into the family.
Prepare an outdoor fire, either a bonfire or in a barbecue. Gather around it in daylight with noisemakers. These can be drums (put right on the ground, even if frame drums), rattles, horns, and any of the little noisemakers sold for parties.
The father has the sun candle and matches. He holds them up and says:
“We are here to wake up the spring.”
He then lights the candle and holds and holds it up to the sun. Then, from it, he lights the fire (using intermediary tapers or matches), saying:
“Here in front of us the fire leaps up,
reaching from us up to the sky
up to where the sun is shining
the sun in the sky that is looking down
looking down here where our fire is burning.
Fire of the Sun,
Burn in our midst.
Fire of the Spring,
Burn in our midst.
Warm us and the world
as the season turns to spring.”
Everyone joins in with “Burn in our midst.”
Then everyone makes noise, using their noisemakers and pounding on the ground. While they do this, they repeat:
“Wake up, Earth.”
Continue the noisemakers until you want to stop. If it is warm enough, you can stay outside around the fire. If not, go inside for a meal.
Pass the bread around, each person taking a pieces and eating some. Then eat your meal. Afterwards, hang the corn on your front door, saying:
Hang here till Samhain comes
and the world grows darker still.
Hang there and bless our house
and all our coming in
and all our going out.
You may actually want to leave them there at least until Thanksgiving, the Harvest Home of American culture. In fact, the first, solar part of the ritual can be celebrated on the equinox, and the second, harvest part on Thanksgiving.
Save part of the bread for offerings to your household guardians and also for the spirits of the wild.
After the meal, blow out the sun candle, saying:
The sun has gone into the fruits of summer
and now it fades from the sky.