Easter has become my favorite holiday! I know, I know…..many of you are team Christmas, but hear me out. The Christmas season can get so stressful. It lasts the longest {seems to get longer every year} and expectations are so high. I feel like even though I’m doing everything I can to keep the focus on Jesus, it’s a constant tug to reel the kids back to what really matters. Then here comes Easter! Ahhhh, what a breath of fresh air. Yeah, there’s some bunny hype, but so much more space to celebrate Jesus when we’re not trying to find the perfect gift for Aunt Ethel, attend ALL the events, and every other thing that goes into the one and a half months we call the Christmas season. I'd love to encourage you to find new ways to keep Jesus at the center of Easter this year and take advantage of the time to plan activities that impact your kiddos heart. Here’s 5 ideas to get that beautiful mind of yours going!
Making Jesus’ Sacrifice Personal: Easy Easter Basket Activity
When I saw a friend post about this a few years ago, I immediately knew it was a new tradition for our family! There’s no denying that I’m ‘that’ Mom that some would call extra! Cute gifts, themed activities - oh yeah, that’s me 1000%. But, if I can tie the fun to Jesus in a way that REALLY makes sense to my kiddos - well then, that’s the next best thing to sliced bread! Check out this Mamas blog for all the details of how to easily use the Easter goodies you are already planning on giving your kiddos, to make Jesus’ sacrifice personal to them. The way this activity clearly illustrates how the blood of Jesus covers our sins and how He takes our bad choices and gives us blessings....WOW! Here's some pics from a couple years ago. We included our besties and took the rock part of this activity to the park, which the kids loved. I know you're gonna love this idea and would love to hear about how you make it you own.
{Tip: I grabbed a couple red bandanas from Hobby Lobby instead of a red cape}
Create a Prayer Space
The Easter basket activity above beautifully illustrates how Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice so that each of us might be forgiven of our sins, but creating a prayer space gives us an opportunity to extend the conversation of the ways He reconciled us to God. Easter is the perfect time to remind our kiddos how Jesus fixed it so they can talk with God about anything, anytime AND sent the Holy Spirit to help them. Have I mentioned how much I love Easter!?!
Prayer Space Kits make creating a space super easy for you. Each kit includes tools that guide you and your kiddo in basic principles of prayer and help them grow their personal relationship with Jesus. Bonus, I'll hop in your inbox to cheer you on and explain everything along the way! (They also make great Easter basket stuffers!} Or, you can get the Digital Prayer Space Download for free {and I’ll still pop in your inbox to walk alongside you and your kiddo!}. This may be listed under Easter activities, but it’s an gift that will grow their faith all year long!
Holy Week Devotional for Kids
You can find lots of devotionals to do as a family for Holy Week. The true story of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection—is the most important thing you can teach your children. It is the gospel. You may already have a favorite, but if not, a quick search on Pinterest brings up lots of options or I’ve linked one here that a friend shared with me last year. I like that this one includes a Bible passage and a short story that you can read aloud to your kids each day, as well as some discussion questions and an activity. The key to this is making it work for your family. We like to have these discussions around the dinner table, but I know that doesn’t work for everyone. Also, we don’t have time for an activity every day, so I always choose one or two that I know my kids will benefit from.
Resurrection Eggs
Here’s another activity that I like to incorporate at the dinner table. It’s really great for younger kids since it’s a short lesson each day and your kiddo gets to open the eggs to find symbols inside, giving them the opportunity to interact with a piece of the story. You can get these lots of places, but Amazon makes it easy peasy. This year I noticed they have a free printable activity pack. I’m gonna use some of the coloring pages and activities {starts at page 34} to reinforce what we talked about and give this Mama some time to get the dishwasher loaded!
Easter Books & Videos
Reading books before bed and watching videos as a family is another great way to keep Jesus at the center of Easter. There are lots of books out there, but I came across this blog that includes some favorites I recognize and others I’m looking forward to checking out.
If you’re on RightNow Media, take a look at the kids section and search Easter for lots of options for videos. Also, Saddleback Kids has great videos like this one that’s broken down into 8 parts that tells the entire Easter story on YouTube.
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One thing is for sure - there is no lack of activities to help your family keep Jesus at the center of Easter. This list is just the tip of the iceberg, but it does take some planning and being intentional to teach your kiddos that Easter is just as big of a deal as Christmas {or bigger, but you already know I’m biased ;)}. There’s some activities you’ll do only once and others will become a tradition - but the only thing that really matters is that your little continues to be transformed by the power of the Gospel. Happy Easter beautiful friends!
