For this Easter season, several of our family favorites…
Amon’s Adventure: A Family Story for Easter
I marked the date on the calendar. Back on that January day we received the much anticipated Amon’s Adventure. I marked the spring date we were to start reading the book. Amon’s Adventure is a family storybook for Easter written by the author of the Jotham’s Journey advent trilogy. By starting early we won’t read nightly as with the other books. Starting this early gives us time to savor and not feel badly if we miss a night’s reading. For more info and to preview a few pages, see Arnold Ytreeide’s website HERE.
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Box of Repentances: from last year, an excerpt…
What a lovely idea! An Easter-Lent family activity: Repentances Box. At the start of this week, we pushed aside the breakfast dishes and decorated.
No, we didn’t have a lovely wooden box to use. A Nutrigrain Bar box would do. We found our handy roll of paper we used for making our own wrapping paper. Middle Girl brought her stamping bucket.
I helped wrap, printed a label. And stepped back to watch.
Nothing fancy. But it holds all the ‘I’m sorry’s. The ‘will you please forgive me?’s and the ‘Lord, I confess’. Each one scrawled on a scrap piece of paper. A simple cardboard box made pretty. To hold the weight of our sins from now until Easter.
Then, as explained in the Holy Experience post, we’ll burn the papers. Sins thrown away…
“…to symbolize Jesus casting away our sins as far as the East is from the West.”
“…Come Easter morning, Sophie and family in Wales, and us in Canada (and you too?), we’ll burn up our cards of sins confessed. Because they are, astoundingly, no more, because of Christ who did it all.
And we’ll walk home with an empty box of repentance, giving thanks that He has written our names, not our sins, in His book of remembrance.”
“I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake,
And I will not remember your sins.”
A simple cereal bar box.
Symbolizing freedom in Christ.
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From two years ago, an excerpt from First Bloom
As the sun set, I told the children I was going to run out and get a picture of the iris to email to my grandmother. The bloom a result of a bulb transplanted from her yard. I asked them to pick out a book since it was close to bedtime.
Notice how this single iris displays its beauty from every angle.
How its petals capture the light of the setting sun.
As I came back in, I heard the children reading The Parable of the Lily. Now our iris isn’t an Easter lily. But this little gift at the end of the day was not lost on me. As I closed the door the eldest boy read:
“But I tell you that even Solomon with his riches was not dressed as beautifully as one of these flowers.” Matthew 6:29
After the children were tucked in bed I was searching for a link to Higgs’ children’s book. I found our next project: Parable of the Lily lapbook!
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Another Easter activity we look forward to each year is making Littlesanctuary’s Resurrection rolls.
Rolling up the marshmallow in the crescent roll, adding the spices. While the rolls are in the oven we read the excerpt from the Bible.
Then, once the rolls are removed from the oven ‘tomb’ – He is risen, indeed! Recipe HERE.
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From last year, an excerpt of The Last Supper Craft
You must hop over to Catholic Icing and read all about this craft. Not only did we have great discussion about the Last Supper, Jesus’ betrayal and what all happened that Thursday…
… we discussed the da Vinci painting and learned the placement of each of the disciples. Plus, just enjoyed some time together making it.
We used two 18-egg cartons and adapted the instructions. There are specific directions and three downloads on the site.
Color, cut and tape to the fitted-together egg cartons.
Then place your paper tablecloth on your ‘table’
Enjoy on your Easter table or mantel!
Click here to view all instructions and download printables.
“Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me” (Matthew 26:21)
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New to us this year:
An excerpt description from Shining Dawn Books: “While not your typical full-fledged NaturExplorers study, this mini-unit will be just what you need to prepare your hearts for Easter through a unique, Christ-centered nature study tied into the Biblical account of Jesus’ final week, including His death, burial and resurrection.”
More information at Shining Dawn Books: Easter Nature Study
And, lastly, this wonderful project Phyllis linked to on her Beautiful Ideas site: Hill of Calvary for Children – start growing your grass now for this wonderful visual.
~I’ll be posting more of our favorites (like recipes!) on my personal blog over this next month.
~My friend, Cassandra, is celebrating the Easter season. She’s hosting a link up for Lenten posts. Be sure to stop by for a visit at her Moonboat Cafe.
What are your Easter resources? Please share your favorites.
-Tricia homeschools five children from preschool to middle school. She’s forsaken life in the drive thru lane for the road home. She’s saving bucks and her sanity with the frugal recipes and sock it away strategies of her Southern roots. You can find her facing that daily dose of chaos at Hodgepodge. Tricia is a.k.a. Hodgepodgemom.
I am so glad you posted this. I have been so busy….I needed someone to ‘pull Easter together for me!”
What a wonderful post of ideas! Thank you for including the NaturExplorers study! I will be linking your post from FB. :o)
Lovely collection. I will be added a few of them to my list of Easter Activities.
…making those precious, precious memories for your children!
Forever,
Nana
This is great! Thanks for these special ideas that focus our attention on the miracle of the Easter season.
This takes me back 15 years. And then I think, how the time flies. And then I think, how old I sound! Isn’t that what old people say?
Lovely, your sharing of these simple things.
All great ideas, but the one that jumped out at me (and I want to start ASAP!) is the Box of Repentances. Apparently I am not surfing all the right sites, because I’ve also never seen those Ressurection Rolls, or the lapbook for the Parable of the Lily. Thanks for compiling them in one spot!
I thought I had commented on this, but don’t see it any more! So grateful for you sharing all these ideas with us! 🙂 I ordered the Amon book and have already received it and started reading it with my children! I love moms sharing their ideas with other moms! Thank you!
Melanie – I remember you did comment. Not sure what happened to it? Thank you for taking the time to comment again. So glad you are enjoying Amon – it’s so exciting isn’t it? Rebecca – Easter will be here before we know it! Cindy – we are looking forward to your nature study so much. I hadn’t realized all we could do outside – for Easter! Phyllis – thank you for posting the Hill of Calvary idea – beautiful from your Beautiful Ideas. Cassandra, the time sure does fly and I so want to make these memories while I can! Jamie – the Box of Repentances is such a powerful visual. It helped me to truly explain Easter to the children – and was a beautiful habit for me as well.
We are loving the Amon’s Adventures book!! Thanks for the other great ideas.