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A Meaningful Easter: Tips, Ideas & Traditions

April 3, 2011 | Filed in: Easter & Resurrection | by Amanda

easter traditions for kids

On Good Friday last year, Lydia and I took a round baking dish outside and filled it with dirt…we were making a mini-garden. Then we found rocks, sticks, plants, moss and leaves to cover and plant in our new garden. The final piece was a giant potato. Yup, like from Idaho. We chopped the bottom off and carved out a little hole in the middle. We placed it cut-end down and suddenly, it wasn’t any garden. It was the tomb and garden where Jesus was buried.

Lydia was so proud of our garden. I was impressed at how beautiful it was. A great reminder of what Jesus did for us–but also a pretty decoration for our Resurrection Sunday celebration. By Good Friday evening, the leaves started to look a little dingy. By Saturday night? They were looking downright pitiful. That night before Lydia went to bed we looked at our garden again and talked about how Jesus’ friends must have been feeling. Thinking back to when we made our garden–it seemed like a long time ago! This whole time Jesus had been dead and his friends were so sad–and scared and confused. After Lydia went to bed I did a little doctoring to our garden…

And when Lydia woke up she was shocked to see our garden alive with beautiful flowers and growth and LIFE! I loved seeing her little face staring at the flowers in amazement (instead of greedily looking through her Easter basket). I loved the waiting we did from Good Friday to Resurrection Sunday. I loved the gorgeous picture of LIFE and beauty the flowers gave us. I want my kids to know and understand what Jesus did for them on the cross. I want Easter to be as big and as exciting and (dare I say?) magical as Christmas. This is just one way we’ve decided to help impress the greatest gift and miracle onto our children.

How do you make Easter about ‘The Lamb’ and not ‘The Bunny’?

If you have a post on your blog (new or old) about the REAL meaning of Easter including traditions, activities, games, crafts or even just conversations you’ve had with your kids, please place the URL in the linky below! If you don’t have a blog, please leave your story in the comments. I want this post to be a giant treasure trove of great ideas to impress our kids with the resurrection!

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And if you know of another post from another blog or site, feel free to ask them to link up—or do it for them. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind a few extra clicks!

bible craft

lamb photo by essjay, text by me

44 Comments so far
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Love how you added the flowers! We did a resurrection garden last year – but I think I’ll have to copy your idea of sprucing it up on Sunday morning!
Kristi Stephens´s last [type] ..Preparing for Easter – Links and Resources!

What a wonderful idea!
Krissa´s last [type] ..The Ultimate Blog Party 2011

That’s such a clever and relatively easy idea! I’ve got some things scheduled this week that I’ll have to come back and post here.
Sara @ Happy Brown House´s last [type] ..Rebecca St James CD Review &amp Giveaway!

What a sweet idea! You may have stumbled on a whole new marketing campaign for those Idaho potatoes!

SO glad that you linked this up over at (in)courage! Thanks so much for joining in!
deidra´s last [type] ..Potluck

love love love this idea! I’m doing this for sure. Did you link the resurrection rolls last year? The ones with the marshmallow inside. I really want to do those with my girls. I can’t remember where the link is. Can you help?
kate´s last [type] ..Lily gets married

Great idea! My daughter will have so much fun with this! She loves to make things and play in the garden so this is like two in one!
Scarlet of Family Focus Blog´s last [type] ..3 Tips for Taking Fantastic Photographs of Your Kids

Kate: I replied to your comment earlier so not sure if this is a duplicate. But yes, I did do resurrection rolls last year.

http://impressyourkids.org/good-fridayeaster-food-craft/

That reminds me: I need to link all my old posts up there!

What a great idea!!

What a sweet idea. Fun but centered and I like the linky so I can check out more. Thanks!

Thanks for the heads up friend! Although, many of the ideas in my post were from you We love Impress Your Kids!
Erin @ Home with the Boys´s last [type] ..Exhausted and Happy Multitude Monday

What a lovely way to remember Easter! We loved our summer garden last year. Must do that again.

This week’s show I share 4 different perspectives about Easter from mothers. They tell Easter in their own words.

Easter without the bunny is a struggle for some and easier for others. Thanks for sharing your ideas.
Melitsa´s last [type] ..54 Easter play perspectives

We don’t celebrate “Easter” at all. We celebrate Resurrection Day. I love your activity/centerpiece idea. Very pretty!
Jimmie´s last [type] ..Winner Chosen for Heaven Revealed Giveaway

I love the garden idea! Very cool! Thanks!!

LOVE LOVE LOVE THESE!!!!!
Thanks for sharing!!!!

We’re so blessed to be able to share ideas so easily. I appreciate everyone’s inspiration! Here’s the link to what we’re doing, with the pinnacle being gifts in the empty tomb rather than a bunny basket.
juliea´s last [type] ..Easter Bunny vs Jesus Jesus is Winning!

I love this! Your garden is beautiful. I have linked to this idea in my new post about keeping Easter about the real message. Thank you!
anna´s last [type] ..At Pampas Allotment

[...] has a brilliant Easter craft/activity. Of course she [...]

[...] this post – tons of ideas for traditions you can start with your family to have a “meaningful [...]

I love the garden revival idea! and enjoyed your easter basket idea as well…

Off to check out some of the many links here – I don’t think we’ll be missing the bunny at all!

This is a great idea!! I’m going to use it when my son gets old enough to understand Easter. He’s only 15 months now and is less than concerned about anything that does not have to do with playing outside.

My mom used to do Resurrection cookies(Also another idea i’m saving for my little man) with me and my brothers when we were younnger. They’re a great way to help kids realize th etrue easter meaning. I could go on and on about them, but I’ll just post the link and let you see for yourself. (There’s also a great link for grandparents who want to do resurrection cookies too)

http://annieshomepage.com/resurrectioncookies.html

So there’s the link, I hope you enjoy it! I love all of your ideas!!!

Love the garden idea!

On Facebook, I saw this great idea: a dad would make a papier mache pinata, sort of tomb-like. On Friday the kids would stuff it with candy and a representative of Jesus (small plastic doll), on Sunday morning, the pinata would be broken apart and the candy and “Jesus” hidden around the house. The person who found the “Jesus” got to read the Easter story aloud to everyone.
Claygirlsings´s last [type] ..Musical Monday – This Is The Stuff

How creative! I love when people do fun stuff to make stories come alive!

Thank you, Jennifer! I have seen those resurrection cookies but haven’t done them yet! Thanks for the link!

I love this one! Nora & I will do this we she gets off the bus today!

This is beautiful! I have so much to look forward to as my daughter gets older! Thanks for all the great ideas’

[...] then put vibrant flowers in the garden on Easter morning, so the kids wake up to LIFE!Amanda said:If you had a big box labeled SIN and when you opened it there was another box and so on [...]

[...] and Impress Your Kids Meaningful Easter. [...]

[...] though, she wanted to place them in groups on tables or other areas around the house. I do love this idea to do with her next [...]

[...] Treasuring God in Our Traditions by Noel Piper (which you can also download for FREE at Desiring God) Love the idea of a Resurrection Tree…may be adding this to our traditions. *Disclosure* I am an amazon.com affiliate. If you click on and buy from these links I receive a very small percentage of your purchase. Linked up with (in)courage Easter Stories and Impress Your Kids Meaningful Easter. [...]

Hi Amanda,
My two children (girls) and I have been very blessed and inspired by your blog (activities/crafts/ideas).:) Thank you so much! I was wondering if you had a series of crafts/activities leading up to Easter in the similar fashion as you created for Christmas in your “Truth in Tinsel” ebook.
thanks again,
Helene

Helene: I don’t. After Truth in the Tinsel I thought/prayed about it but I just couldn’t get my mind/heart around anything so quickly. The reason I loved Truth in the Tinsel (and it worked so well for others) is that I’d done it 3 or 4 times w/my own kids. I didn’t feel right about writing something I hadn’t really done w/my own kids.

However, I am going to be doing a few days worth of countdown activities w/my kids before Easter (I’ll start a few days before so y’all can follow along!) and of course, I’m scouting through all our past posts and others that were linked here.

Thank you so much for your kind words! Maybe 2013 will be the year of Truth in the Tinsel: The Easter Edition!
a

We have made the Easter Garden for a few yrs. A little different then yours. We make a tomb out of modling clay. We use succulent/jade plants…. we love it.

We do the resurrection rolls too, with the marshmellows inside. This yr I am taking colored eggs and putting random things we are thankful for… and the kids open them each day and read them outloud.

I love Easter!

Love how you added color. Yesterday I found some butterly gummies and thought about adding them on Easter Sunday.

Grace…
Teena´s last [type] ..Around the World…

Love it! I’ve seen so many cool Resurrection Gardens around the internet lately. So cool!

I love Easter, too!

I love your resurrection Garden!!! I will make one for sure this year. I found out about yout link up through mu friend Elisa, and I just posted about it in my blog:http://familiacatolica-org.blogspot.com/2012/03/tienes-ideas-para-celebrar-pascua-en.html
Thank you!!

I love your resurrection garden and links to so many great ideas! I’m including it in my “Top 10 Easter Ideas” @ http://www.cheapcraftymama.com today! Feel free to stop by and grab a button!

Thank you so much, Xhonane!

Thanks Kate!

Great Top Ten list!
a

Great Idea! We need to start asking ourselves why we do what we do. Why do the bunny thing at all. We do have a choice. I had a thought years ago is it okay to eat a torture device made out of chocolate?? It is the same thing as eating a chocolate whip or electric chair???

[...] [...]

Love the Easter Garden….Featuring this on my blog today: http://estherscardcreations.blogspot.com/2012/03/easter-fun.html

I love your cute resurrection garden. I have posted it among my favorites on my blog. Thanks for sharing it. You have a great site!
Christine´s last [type] ..The Easter Miracle!

[...] Lots of ideas from other bloggers (check out the linky tool at the end of her post) [...]

Thanks Amanda! Did this today with my 3 yo non-crafty boy and he LOVED digging in the dirt and finding rocks and we had a REAL conversation about Jesus and the garden where he prayed, the tomb where he was buried, and the fact that on Easter he won’t be there anymore! He did add on to the activity by wrapping a toy man in tissue to bury as part of our Resurrection Garden.
Thanks for your great idea!

Anne! How fun! My kids wanted to put a little man in the tomb, too! So glad yall had fun.

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