Acting out the Resurrection

My favorite part of being a mom is teaching my little disciples about Jesus. I can't believe they are already 4 1/2, almost 3, and 7 months old. 

While we were eating breakfast this morning, I decided to read the Bible aloud to them. I chose to read it from the book of Luke 22-24 (from the Last Supper to the Resurrection.) I summarized some of the scripture, but explained it all to them. Yes, even the betrayal of Judas and Peter, the nails in Jesus' hands, carrying the heavy cross... I decided if they are old enough to watch a superhero movie, then they are old enough to know how Jesus died on the cross. Click here to see how I retold the story last year when they were younger.

After reading the scripture, we watched the story. This is the link to ordering it on Amazon, The Jesus Movie. It is an excellent movie. It tells the story from birth to the resurrection. Today, we just watched from the Last Supper to the end.

 

Now it was time to act it out...I pretended to be Jesus first since both of them were a little apprehensive. After we acted it out the first time, they both wanted a turn to be Jesus.

The tomb. We used a hula hoop for the large stone.

Wrapping Jesus in the linen after his death.

Closing the tomb.

Guarding the tomb.

The soldier fainting when he sees the Angel.

The empty tomb! He has risen!

Every time I teach my little disciples a story from the Bible, I learn with them and feel closer to God. Have a blessed Easter.

Crown of Thorns Snack

Matthew 27:29 They wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head, and they placed a reed stick in his right hand as a scepter.  Then they knelt before him in mockery and taunted, "Hail!  King of the Jews!"
John 19:2 The soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they put a purple robe on him.

Good Friday is in several days and I have been trying to decide what we could do to discuss Jesus being crucified.  I plan to show my little disciples several images of the crown of thorns from Photobucket and briefly explain that Jesus had to wear it on his head.  Because they are only 2 and 3 years old, I do not want to go in depth with the nails and blood.  I will briefly say, "Some people didn't like Jesus and were mean to him."

I plan to make the Crown of Thorns snack after our discussion.  I made one today so I could post a picture of it for you in case you would like to try it as well, plus I wanted to see how well it would turn out:)

First, I made sugar cookies in the shape of an O for a crown.

Next, I mixed food coloring with frosting to make it brown, then I spread it over the cookie.

Last, I placed pretzels on the frosting.

You could make it easier and not make your own sugar cookies.  Any store bought cookie or cracker would work, it doesn't need to be in a shape of an O.  Instead of frosting, you could use peanut butter.  My youngest disciple has a gluten intolerance so I have to do a lot of baking:)

Wishing you and your family a very blessed Easter!  ~ Kaylee

Resurrection Rolls

I got this idea and recipe from the best Sunday School teacher I know...my sister.  She has volunteered at our church teaching the 2-year-old Sunday School class for the past 5 years.  I had the opportunity to help her bake Resurrection Rolls in her class last Sunday and the kids loved it!

This morning, we made our own Resurrection Rolls.  Before we started, we reviewed the Easter story.  If you need ideas on teaching your little disciples, you can see what I do on my post from several weeks ago.  Click on Teaching the Easter Story.

Resurrection Rolls
Ingredients:
1 can of Crescent Rolls
8 large marshmallows
1/4 stick butter, melted
cinnamon and sugar mixture

1. Flatten out each crescent roll.

2. Roll each marshmallow in the cinnamon and sugar mixture.

3. Place marshmallow inside crescent.

4. Roll the bread around the marshmallow.

I told my little disciples, "Jesus is like the marshmallow and the bread is like the tomb."  We kept discussing the story while preparing the rolls.

5. Pinch the crescent around the marshmallow so no marshmallow will melt out of it.

6. Brush butter on each roll.

7. Sprinkle the extra cinnamon and sugar on top of the rolls.

8. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

   

When you open the roll, the roll is empty.  Just like the tomb was empty when the angel rolled the stone away.  I asked my little disciples, "Where is the marshmallow?"  The oldest said, "In Heaven!"  Well...um...I didn't know how to answer that one, but I knew she understood the story!

Glowing Easter Egg Hunt

Day 4 of a rainy day...I know hiding Easter eggs is a little early, but I was in desperate need of entertaining my little disciples.  Last year, I had a Flashlight Easter Egg Hunt party.  My oldest disciple remembered, so she insisted on doing it again.  So tonight we put on our pajamas, covered the basement windows with a sheet, and got out our flashlights.

We also used glow sticks to put in the eggs.  The kids cracked them while I put them inside each egg.  The larger eggs would have been easier, I'll get those for next time.

Bracelet glow sticks and eggs

Breaking the glow sticks

Folded the glow sticks inside the egg.

Ooh la la!

These were the only good pictures I could take.

It worked great!

Butterfly Life Cycle Snack

A couple of weeks ago, I purchased a Butterfly Garden off of Insect Lore's website.  We have had so much fun observing them daily while reading books from the library. 

2 Corinthians 5:17  Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person.  The old life is gone; a new life has begun!  (I thought this Bible reading was perfect for the butterfly life cycle)

Butterfly Life Cycle Snack
Ingredients: lettuce and marshmallows (eggs on a leaf), celery, peanut butter, pretzels, green olives (caterpillar), lasagna noodles (chrysalis), gum drops (butterfly)

This is the life cycle chart that I created on a large piece of paper.  After we prepared each part of the life cycle, we placed them on the correct part of the circle.

"Eggs on a Leaf"- marshmallows on lettuce

"Caterpillar"- spread peanut butter on celery, break pretzels for the legs, green olives for the eyes.  The caterpillar represents Jesus here on Earth.

"Chrysalis"- lasagna noodle wrapped around the caterpillar.  The chrysalis represents the tomb.

"Butterfly"- peanut butter to hold the gumdrop to the pretzel.  The butterfly represents the resurrection into Heaven.

Friends came to help us do the snack!

It took a lot of concentration...and eating:)

 Finished Product!

2 Corinthians 5:17  Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person.  The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

Easter Placemats

I think I enjoyed making these more than my little disciples:)

I cut out patterns of eggs on old scrapbook pages.

Next, we decorated the eggs using all of the scraps.

I loved how they turned out!

 

 

 

 

We glued them on large colorful construction paper.

Last, I used Laminated Contact Paper on each placemat so they will last longer.

Our Easter table!  The center piece is from the post last week, Empty Tomb Garden.  It's growing grass!

Stained Glass Cross

Luke 9:23 Jesus said to the crowd, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me.

Supplies: Paper for the cross' border, tissue paper, Saran wrap, glue stick, and scissors

Lay out the Saran Wrap on the table, cut paper to make the cross border, glue the paper onto the saran wrap.

Spread glue with the glue stick on the Saran wrap

Tear pieces of tissue paper and stick on the glue

Tape on the window for a beautiful stained-glass window!