Countdown to Easter

In preparation for easter this year I realllly started to consider what I want to teach our kids about easter, what I want them to take away from the holiday and what I want the holiday to mean for our family. This year with aiden being 5, we have gotten to that age where he really "gets it" so it is important to me that he (and hallie and charley) get the message that ben & I want them to hear and not necessarily the secular/ world version of a holiday. 

With Christmas, we also tried to focus as much on the scriptural meaning and implications as possible and by the time december 25th came around, aiden couldn't name santa's reindeer but he could tell you about the angels, the shepherds, the gifts of the magi, the stable, and the baby Jesus. Of course we didn't boycott the Santa story, we did plenty of that as well but in our home we tried to focus more on the real story. So with all that in mind, I started early, thinking how I wanted to present easter. 

The secular version for easter is really kind of fuzzy, I tried to remember from my own childhood what the "story of the easter bunny is" and I can honestly say I don't know. Maybe there's a book out there somewhere? But really what's his story? A giant bunny comes into your house and leaves a basket full of goodies. That's all I know. I don't know where that bunny lives or comes from. I don't think you have to be good to get the basket? I don't think he watches us year round? I'm not sure, does he use the chimney or does he just hop on through the front door? I really didn't have an answer for any of these questions and if ya know aiden at all, there are bound to be a MILLION questions with anything you tell him. So I said all that to say...I decided to do away with the easter bunny nonsense in our house.  I didn't tell him anything about an easter bunny, he didn't ask me anything about an easter bunny. It never came up. This is kind of like the "elf" thing with christmas though. I reserve the right to change my mind about how to handle these things in the future. 

We instead chose to spend the 10 days counting down to easter by focusing on the birth, life, death, burial and finally the resurrection of Jesus. I took this idea from the very popular "resurrection eggs" that they sell in christian book stores and such to teach kids about the crucifixion and resurrection. But I decided to make my own cause our kids are not old enough (in my opinion) to get that deep into the crucifixion story. Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of meat there to fill lots of days of study but I don't think it's age appropriate for a 5 & 2 year old. 

So I got out their Jesus Bible, I picked 10 stories/ studies and filled eggs accordingly for us to count down. 

This is the basket with the eggs for each day and Bible that both spent 10 days on our breakfast table reminding us to do the eggs each day. Honestly, I need the reminder cause I forget stuff, I should have known aiden would need no reminder though. From the moment he woke up he would be asking if it was time to "do the egg" :)

Day 10

The appearance of the angel to Mary, the Instruction to name the baby Jesus, The importance of his name and the meaning "Lamb of God" 

What was in the egg: mini play-doh and a crayon for aiden to write out his name. 

Day 9

Jesus feeds the 5000. 

What was in the egg: 2 fish candies and 5 wheat thin crackers. We tried to break them apart as far as they would go and then talked about the miracle Jesus performed. 

Day 8

Jesus Calms the Storm. 

What was in the egg: 2 little plastic boats, followed by an activity in the bath with mommy made waves. This ended up being aiden's favorite story :)

Day 7

The Good samaritan. 

What was in the egg: Star stickers and a teeny batman. We talked about being an every day hero and storing up our reward/ stars in heaven. 

Day 6

The story of the lost sheep. 

What was in the egg: sheep pez dispensers and candy. We talked about how important each of us are to God. How on the outside we look like just one little person but if you look at the inside (inside of the pez) we are worth so much more. 

Day 5

Jesus and the Children. Jesus said "let the childen come to me" and he spent time with them to show them of His love for them.  

What was in the egg: there was a "time coupon for special time with mommy" in the eggs and then I gave each of them a kite and we went outside to fly them. We talked about how I was showing them that I loved them by spending time with them, the same way Jesus did. 

Day 4

Zacchaeus

What was in the egg: 2 very small (he was a wee lil man) pieces of candy and the words to the zacchaeus song which we sang over and over and over and over again :)

 Day 3

Jesus washes the disciples feet. 

What was in the egg: a foam crown and a tiny bottle of soap. We took turns wearing the crown and washing each others feet while we talked about how Jesus was a King but was still a servant. 

Day 2

Days 2 & 1, we read and talked a lot. These were the Big days. The last supper, the betrayal, the trial, the crucifixion. 

What was in the egg: The cross. 

  Day 1

They woke up easter morning and the last egg was empty. We read the resurrection story over breakfast and they had donuts and donut holes. Jesus is Risen!!! The tomb is Empty!! 

We had a great time counting down to easter, Aiden especially learned a lot and although I'm not sure how much she'll retain- Hallie enjoyed getting to do the activities with us. I thoroughly enjoyed doing this every day with my kiddos and hope to repeat it again next year. Made easter morning so much more special to get to share the real meaning, the triumphant message with them. 

And YES they still got easter baskets on easter morning but we talked more about how Salvation is a gift, Jesus is a gift, this day is special and we need to celebrate & remember the gift.  

Happy Our Lord has Risen Day! 

***Our easter pics are coming up in the next blog!***