I was inspired by this post about creating an Easter garden at A Holy Experience, and decided to begin a new family tradition we are going to call “Rediscover the Resurrection!” I love eggs (hard-boiled, scrambled, jelly bean, marshmallow, chocolate, and especially Reese’s), and bunnies are fluffy and cute...but eggs and bunnies really have nothing to do with the true meaning of the season. I’ve been looking for a fun way to get the family involved, and really learn about Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection...and I think I found it!
Every day this week we will be reading chronologically about Jesus’ life during his last days on Earth. (I am really enjoying The Narrated Bible in Chronological Order, but feel free to use any bible or storybook you have available.) Then we are going to make our own mini-scene to “rediscover” the story. Every night I will share photos, activities, and our readings in case you would like to join us! (We will be using whatever we can find around the house, and I encourage you to do the same. My children have much more imagination and creativity than myself in this department, so I let them take the lead.)
We started with a big foil container, and added some sand to the bottom. We discussed the main locations of the story, so we could plan a little better and decided to include the tomb on one side and Golgotha (the hill where Jesus would be crucified) on the other side. We used an old frosting container with a hole cut out of it for the tomb, and two large rocks for the hill. We were pondering whether to use lego men, trio block men, or army men, when Ary said “Let’s use Jesus and the Disciples!” See why I need them? hehe We have this set of Jesus and the disciples, and it is most definitely a favorite.
Then there was much dialogue amongst the characters, and a little sand flying.
We found a little brown horse in the farm set, and decided to call it a donkey, then had two of the disciples take the colt to Jesus. We found a purple dress in the scrap container, and laid our "cloaks" down on the road. Then we cut off some branches and laid them in the road as well.
We learned that it was common tradition for a king to ride on a donkey in times of peace, and ride on a horse when it was time for battle. By entering Jerusalem riding the donkey, Jesus was essentially proclaiming himself King and coming as the Prince of Peace, and the people recognized the symbolism and significance of this. That is why they covered the road, waved the branches, and yelled "Hosanna!" Here's a bird's eye view of the finished product.
For more activities:
- Learn this Hosanna Song (adapted from www.ChristianPreschoolPrintables.com)
- Add this little song booklet to your Resurrection Lapbook (link and blog post coming soon)
- Have your children find branches outside (living in the tropics is helpful for this, as we have an abundance of palm branches...hehe) and re-enact the story. My children didn't care that the donkey was actually a pink stick horse. ;-)
Of course a Hosanna branch bash is great fun too.
Linked up to The Practice of Easter at...
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