Easter Week : A Sense of the Resurrection (Part 1)

I had been planning to do this ever since I found Oh Amanda's activities on her website which help us to take our children through Jesus' death and resurrection as Easter approaches.

However, as we were sick last week I didn't have the strength or energy to start, so we only just began yesterday with celebrating Palm Sunday (late, I know!) Well, better late than never, I always believe, especially when it comes to homeschooling activities...

We began our morning by reading about Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem and how the people recognised His Kingship by laying their cloaks on the ground as well as palm branches, and shouting "Hosanna!"

We then started our craft time by tracing our hands on green construction paper and sticking the green hands on the ends of ice cream sticks. (This was great for eye-hand coordination as I had Z put one hand on the paper while using the other to trace it himself.)

Here is our little one's contribution, though he did not quite like the feeling of his hand being traced.

The boys were very happy with their palm branches, and we had a Hosanna dance party after lunch while singing some old favourites from when I was in Sunday School. It was quite a riot, and it gave me a taste of the jubilation the people must have felt as they hailed Jesus as King.

This was followed by a bread making session with Z. We had plans to use the bread as part of the lesson on the Last Supper, but it sadly flopped (literally - it did not rise!) but we still had fun mixing in the ingredients and kneading the dough. We will use the hot cross buns which Nai Nai gave us for Holy Communion instead.

Tonight, Mark and I had the privilege of telling Z about how Jesus died on the cross for our sins. I think it is the first time he is really starting to understand the story, at least in terms of how we all do bad things and how Jesus took our place, and that the cross was a very painful thing for Him to bear. He looked very solemn as we read the story, and we were all touched by His great love for us as we drew a red dot on each of our palms to symbolise the nail prints on His hands, and wrote "Jesus" below that to remember what He has done for us.

I am grateful for the awesome privilege of being able to share the most important thing in our lives with our children - our faith in Jesus. May they grow in their understanding of what it means to follow Him and just how much He loves them.

Looking forward to building our own Resurrection Garden tomorrow at the Botanics with some friends. :)

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