How was your Easter Sunday? Did you go to church? Hang out with your family? Eat good food? Do an egg hunt? Give Easter baskets? Wear new clothes? Dye eggs? We’d love to hear what you did. Why not tell us in our forums? You can even leave a link to your blog so we can all see what you did!
As an incentive, I’m giving away a free copy of the The Parable of the Lily
{I’ll pick a winner on Friday—so you’ve got all week to reply!}
Sweet Spring Garden by Christine at From Dates to Diapers {fun spring-y cakes for the kids to decorate! see photo above.}
Make an Easter Garden: A Visual Parable at the Holy Experience {such a beautiful idea!}
Intentional Parenting from My Cup Overflows {smart tips for parents!}
Easter Chick Food from Little Food Junction {your kids will LOVE to eat this!}
Thriving Family from Focus on the Family {this is the link to their facebook page, it’s a new magazine I just subscribed to!}
Resurrection Day Craft at ItsCome2This {an easy paper plate craft!}
more fun links at itscome2this Saturday Stumbles
Last year, I heard about Resurrection Eggs for the first time – and I thought it was a neat idea, but that my boys were too young to understand the Resurrection of Christ, even with the visual aids that the eggs supplied. This year, I saw this post, and I thought it was time to revisit the idea of resurrection eggs.
There are several ways to use Resurrection Eggs to help tell your children the Easter story – you can buy a set online or at a local Christian book store or make your own (our set is pictured above). If you make your own, you can fill the eggs with visual aids from the actual story from the Bible or from any number of Easter books… I chose to use the book Benjamin’s Box: The Story of the Resurrection Eggs
I love this little book – it is the Easter story told from a child’s viewpoint, like Easter in the Garden, one of the books Amanda reviewed here. I love how Benjamin knows Jesus before the book starts, and how his path keeps crossing with Jesus’s during the last week of His life. During that week, he picks up small things that remind him of Jesus and what is happening, and he puts them all in a box that he has (they all correspond with an object in one of the Resurrection eggs). It is a very sweet book, appropriate for younger children.
Reading this book and using the Resurrection eggs have led to a lot of questions and discussions in our house – Elias is letting the big questions fly! I was hoping to find some more ways to talk through his questions in the next book…
The Very First Easter by Paul Maier is a detailed book about Jesus’s last week – I like the way it is written as a dialogue between a child and his parents, with the child asking some tough questions, and the parents answering them and going to the Bible for the answers. There is a lot of Scripture in this book – in fact most of the Easter story is told in the Scripture that the parents quote to their son. However, this book is a bit too much for my kids. The pictures are not terribly graphic, but they do show Jesus carrying the cross, on the cross, and dead, before the resurrection. The details are pretty descriptive, too – and this book will be perfect for Elias in a year or two.
Here are some more posts that we’ve written with Easter book reviews and activities – this year and in the past:
What are your favorite ways to share the miracle of the Resurrection with your children?
As part of my keep-the-eggs-and-the-resurrection-celebrations-separate idea, I decided I needed to come up with something fun to do with Lydia to help her learn about Jesus’ death and life. And today I think I got a great idea!
It started when I read a great slogan at my favorite online store, C28 that said, Easter: A Lamb. Not a Bunny. It’s tongue-in-cheek and kinda funny but it was absolutely perfect for an Easter theme for kids! Why focus on bunny stuff when we can focus on the Lamb?
So, I looked up some “Lamb of God” scriptures today. The one that was in my head before I even looked it up was when John the Baptist sees Jesus and says, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!” But the one that stuck out to me as I began to read was the lamb in the story of Abraham and Isaac. Yeah, like Old Testament.
The parallels to the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection in Abraham and Isaac’s story are glaringly obvious. Even Lydia guessed them: a father sacrificing his son, a son obedient to his father, obedient to the point of death, a son carrying wood on his back and a lamb dying in place of another.
I told Lydia the story as we changed into pajamas. Then I read it to her from (any guesses?) The Jesus Storybook Bible. Here’s a quote:
And as they sat there on the mountaintop, watching the embers of the fire die in the cool night air, the stars above them sparkling in the velvet sky, God helped Abraham and Isaac understand something. God wanted his people to live, not die. God wanted to rescue his people, not punish them. But they must trust him…
Many years later, another Son would climb another hill, carrying wood on his back. Like Isaac, he would trust his Father and do what his Father asked. He wouldn’t struggle or run away.
Who was he? God’s Son, his only Son–the Son he loved.
The Lamb of God.
This story is the perfect human example of what Jesus did and who He is. Of course, Lydia still had lots of questions (so do I!) but I could hear in her responses and see in her eyes, that it was connecting.
We did a simple activity for this one–I found a coloring sheet online via Clementine’s Corner. It included the altar and the ram. (And, yeah, they look a little sad, but this was the best of the bunch! Bible character coloring sheets can be scary!) But we just colored and cut out Abraham and Isaac then glued them together in a hug.
We talked about Abraham and Isaac being a father and son just like our Heavenly Father and Jesus. We talked about how Abraham and God were sad to sacrifice their sons. Then we talked about the obedience of Jesus and Isaac and their trust in their fathers. Lydia really enjoyed this and even asked to hold Abraham and Isaac while I was reading her a bedtime story!
I’m hoping we’ll do an activity every day. Here’s my plan, I have a little wooden cross and every day we’ll make a crafty-type thing we can attach to the cross:
Today: Abraham and Isaac: Jesus is God’s Son
Tuesday: Jesus is the Lamb of God {we’ll do a lamb craft & sing The Lamb of God from the Donut Man! more interesting reading on “the lamb of God”.}
Wednesday: Crown of Thorns: Jesus is the King {we’ll make a crown of thorns and talk about the crucifixion…sorta.}
Thursday: {i want to do something with Liz Curtis’ Higgs The Parable of the Lily
Friday: Good Friday: The Tomb {we’ll make the resurrection rolls and talk about Jesus being placed in the tomb}
Saturday: Nothing. I want to focus on the silent and closed tomb. I’m thinking about putting a cloth over the cross so we can’t see any of the things we worked on.
Sunday: Jesus is Alive!: Before Lydia wakes up, I’m going to take off the cloth and all our little crafts. Then I’m going to attach fresh flowers all over the cross! It will be a flowering cross to remind us of the new life Jesus brought us when He came back to life!
I’ll keep you updated on how this goes. And if you decide to do something similar, let me know! I’d love to see what you do!
Free Easter Printables from Living Locurto {where were these during my Spring Party?!}
Today Is Fun {a new to me blog with lots of fun activities for kids and parents!}
Frugal Family Fun Blog {there was so much fun on here, I didn’t know which to feature!}
Easy Easter Matching Game from Imagination Station {more fun for leftover plastic eggs!}
Lenten Lights from Little Llamas {such a visual way to celebrate Jesus’ death and resurrection!}
The Choice To Be Unpopular by Diaper Diaries {a great parenting reminder!}
I’ve found some Easter books that are actually about Jesus’ resurrection! I looked through every single book at the Christian book store and even the ones that had pictures of Jesus on the front started off with “Easter isn’t about eggs and bunnies” and would have a huge Easter basket on the inside. Kinda defeats the purpose, huh? Anyway, I found two that I absolutely love!
The first is The Story of the Easter Robin
Apparently the legend is an old Pennsylvania Dutch tradition and to go along with it, people dyed eggs blue and decorated them as birds to hang in the trees on Easter morning! This would be such a great tradition to go along with the Resurrection without being too easter-bunny-ish!
Because it is a legend within a story, it could be confusing to younger readers. But Lydia and I really liked it because it was like a story within a story!
The next book is Easter In The Garden by Pamela Kennedy. It is the cutest book about the son of the gardener…you know, the gardener that tended the garden where Jesus’ tomb was. The little boy loves to climb trees in his father’s garden. And while in the garden he observes two events: a nest of eggs hatching and Jesus’ resurrection!
This book is probably the best one for sensitive or younger readers. Because all though they deal with the crucifixion, you never see it. You only experience the little boy’s sadness. Lydia was wide-eyed the entire time.
I highly recommend both of these books. They will be sweet and meaningful additions to the celebration of Jesus’ death and resurrection!
For more great book suggestions see Feed Me Book Friday at The Adventure of Motherhood.
You know I have a thing about Santa. You probably noticed we we only posted once about Saint Patrick’s Day. We don’t really do Halloween, so if you’re wondering about how we do the Easter Bunny, dying eggs and Easter baskets, you’ve come to the right post!
I don’t get into the word “easter” at all. It’s not in the Bible. It has nothing to do with Jesus and honestly, it’s just confusing. Have you ever noticed that stores say “Happy Easter” all the time? But not “Merry Christmas”? Even though both holidays are central to Christianity and focus on JESUS, they feel free to say EASTER because it’s not a “Christian” word. (OK. Stepping off soapbox. That was NOT the reason for the post…)
When Lydia was one year old I read the best Easter alternative ever: just do all the Easter stuff (baskets, hunts, dying eggs, etc.) on the first day of Spring instead of on Resurrection Sunday! Why didn’t I think of that? We like to celebrate the first snow, the first day of school and even summer, why not Spring?
So, yesterday we hosted a Spring Party at our house. When the kids woke up, they got their baskets full of toys and (slightly full) of candy!
Then we got going on setting up our party. You might remember my Puppet Party and my Gingerbread Party—it’s kind of my hobby to throw parties. I’m not suggesting you do this exactly the way I did, but the idea of celebrating the fun American-ized Easter-y stuff AWAY from Resurrection Sunday? I think you’ll enjoy how it feels and help your kids understand what this holy day is all about.
Here’s what we did:
We dyed eggs. (Nothing says Spring like Christmas mugs!)
We made animal-eggs. How cute are those?!
We made plastic egg flowers. (Tutorial for recycling eggs)
We even made Easter bonnets! Or something like that…
After some crafting, we ate mountains of food. Including chocolate peanut butter nests with Cadbury mini eggs (YUM), bunny carrots and more.
Then we donned our bonnets and let the kid play a cross between musical chairs and ring-around-the-rosies and an egg hunt. They all walked in a circle while the music was playing. When the music stopped they ran to pick up eggs—but only in the amount that I shouted out to them. This insured they all got the same amount of eggs AND that the big kids didn’t stomp on the little kids. I think it was pretty fun!
Here are a few more pics of the kids enjoying their Spring Party!
Now, when the REAL easter rolls around—remember, the one about Jesus? I hope my kids will see the difference between the two celebrations!
What do you think? How do you celebrate Easter? Resurrection Sunday?
look for more fun stuff at Tot Tuesday and Works For Me Wednesday!
Last Saturday was the First Day of Spring. Easter (Resurrection Sunday) is only two weeks away! Here are some books, activites and posts from the past that have helped us impress the MOST important day on our kids’ hearts.
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Palm Sunday Book Review (that’s just ONE week away!)
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Good Friday Snack: Resurrection Rolls
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Best Easter and Resurrection Books for Kids
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Easter Isn’t About The Eggs (great post AND comments about teaching your kids the REAL meaning of Easter)
I found this craft online years ago and always wanted to do it Easter Sunday at church. Alas, there aren’t usually ovens on hand during Easter Sunday church services. Now that Lydia is old enough to kinda sorta a little bit understand about Jesus’ death and resurrection, I thought it was time to finally do this one!
Collect the following delicious and somewhat sinful items: canned crescent rolls, marshmallows, melted butter, brown sugar (or cinnamon and sugar mix).
Roll said marshmallows in melted butter. Just enough to get ‘em wet.
I told Lydia we were pretending the marshmallow was Jesus. (I know. Just go with it.) I explained how when Jesus was put in the tomb the women were going to rub his body with precious oils and good smelling spices. So, that’s what we were doing–dipping Jesus in the butter…er, oil. (I know, it’s weird. Keep reading.)
Then roll buttery marshmallow in brown sugar/cinnamon-sugar mix.
Or you know, roll Jesus in the spices.
Place one marshmallow on the wide end of a crescent roll. Roll up and make sure you pinch the edges so it’s sealed tight!
Now, I explained to Lydia about the tomb and it being sealed with a rock. So we pretended the crescents were the tomb and we sealed Jesus…er, the marshmallow up in the tomb.
Cook for the appropriate amount of time.
If you don’t seal the crescents up tight, your marshmallows might leak out…not a pretty sight. And kinda confusing if you’re pretending they are supposed to be Jesus…
As we waited for the tomb-snacks to cook, we read a few stories about Jesus’ death and resurrection. Lydia had lots of questions to ask. Some of them were about the pictures in the book. But some were about the angel that rolled the stone away or other aspects of the story. She was definitely interested.
When the timer rang, I put one tomb-snack on Lydia’s plate. I reminded her that this snack was like Jesus in the tomb. I asked her what she thought happened to the marshmallow. Then we opened up the crescent and peeked inside. Our marshmallow was gone! It was a big empty roll! And Lydia was AMAZED. She stared at it—and was almost afraid! She said, “But where did it go?!”
I explained to her that just like we were surprised that our marshmallow was gone, Jesus’ friends were surprised, too. They didn’t expect Jesus to come back to life. But he did! And he’s alive today.
Later on that day, when my husband came home, Lydia told him all about our snack. She said, “We pretended the ma’smewwow was De-dus!” Then she described how the marshmallow was gone and said, “I was like…I was like…” but couldn’t put her finger on the emotion she felt! She was so excited and I *think* she caught the idea of the surprising and amazing miracle of Jesus resurrection!
(oh, and I *did* finally tell her the marshmallow just melted and wasn’t resurrected!)
PS: these were DELISH.
photo by photoholic1
Today Lydia and I read all the books on her bookshelf that had to do with Jesus’ death and resurrection (aka “easter”). I know at 3 years old she can’t understand it. She doesn’t even know what death is. She’s never experienced it or known someone who died. But today, as I held her in my arms and read 5 or 6 versions of the greatest story ever told, I got tears in my eyes. I know that the truth of Jesus’ love for us will be planted in her heart.
The book I love the most for “easter” is The Parable Of The Lily by Liz Curtis Higgs. This is part of a series that gives a meaningful parable (aren’t all parables meaningful?) to common holiday items (like my favorite Christmas book, The Parable of the Christmas Tree).
The Parable of the Lily is about a little girl, Maggie who gets a surprise package in the mail—a box of dirt! She is disappointed and places it on a shelf. One day she accidentally knocks it over and out of the dirt pops a flower bulb. She is aggravated at her plant and throws it into the yard. Early Easter morning, she walks out into the garden to see that her dirty ugly boring bulb has blossomed into a beautiful lily!
The parable-ness comes in when you read the scriptures on the bottom of each page. Higgs uses scriptures to compare Jesus to this flower—an unimpressive man, hated and rejected by his people, dead in the ground for three days, bursts forth with new life for everyone. She also ties in Maggie’s father as the giver of the gift…just like God’s indescribable gift of Jesus to us.
It’s a beautiful book. I read it to Lydia once, then again with the scriptures. I wish I had thought of it earlier and we would have planted a lily, too. What an object lesson for her to see growing in her own front yard!
We also read The Easter Story by Tracy Harrast. It’s part of the Peek-a-Bible series, a fun lift-the-flap series. I like this one because it tells all the important parts of the story—Palm Sunday, the Last Supper, Garden of Gethsemane, the crucifixion, the resurrection, Jesus’ appearance to the disciples and his ascension.
The very last page does have a picture of some modern day kids holding Easter baskets, but at least it doesn’t talk about eggs or bunnies.
Then we “read” my new favorite version of the Resurrection story from the See With Me Bible: The Bible Told in Pictures by Dennis Jones.
There are no words. Just pictures. And it is breathtaking. Jones absolutely captures the emotion of the story. It is the only book of all our books that actually showed Jesus in pain and with wounds (cartoon-ish, but still…). I couldn’t find any online to share with you but I highly recommend this book!
The last book you could probably see coming a mile away since I have probably blogged about it 80 times. Yes, its the The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name by Sally Lloyd Jones.
There are about six different stories surrounding Jesus’ passion–Mary anointing Jesus’ feet, Jesus washing the disciples’ feet at the last supper, the garden of Gethsemane, the crucifixion, the resurrection, Jesus appearing to the disciples & ascension. Here’s the best part…
“If you were really the Son of God, you could just climb down off that cross!” they said.
And of course they were right…But Jesus stayed. You see, they didn’t understand. It wasn’t the nails that kept Jesus there. It was love.
“Papa?” Jesus cried, frantically searching the sky. “Papa? Where are you? Don’t leave me!”
And for the first time–and the last–when he spoke, nothing happened. Just a horrible endless silence. God didn’t answer. He turned away from his Boy.
Tears rolled down Jesus’ face. The face of the One who would wipe away every tear from every eye…
The full force of the storm of God’s fierce anger at sin was coming down. On his own Son. Instead of his people. It was the only way God could destroy sin, and not destroy his children whose hearts were filled with sin.
Then Jesus shouted out in a loud voice, “It is finished!”
And it was. He had done it. Jesus had rescued the whole world.
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Don’t miss out on this opportunity to impress your kids’ heart with God’s ultimate story this easter season. Grab these books and give them in (or in place of) an easter basket. Then, make them a part of your book rotation, not just at easter-time—this is the story that should be central to your kids’ lives…and to yours!
Do you have a favorite easter book to share?
