One of the many things I love about Alexa's Christian School is that we are able to celebrate the real meaning of the Holidays and not the secular version. I love Easter and there are so many great ways to teach children about Jesus' death and resurrection and what that means for them. I had the privilege of being the room parent this year for Alexa's class which meant I got to plan the parties. I am a teacher by trade so it was fun to get back in the classroom a little bit without the commitment of a teacher contract.
We had four centers for the morning. One of the centers was frosting cross sugar cookies and decorating them. This was also their morning snack.
The second center was the Jelly Bean Poem. The kids decorated a cross with the Jelly Bean Poem on it and then tied it to a bag of Jelly Beans. I don't think too many bags made it out the door full of Jelly Beans.
Jelly Bean Poem
Red is for the blood He gave.
Green is for the grass he made.
Yellow is for the sun so bright.
Orange is for the edge of night.
Black is for the sins we made.
White is for the grace he gave.
Purple is for His hour of sorrow.
Pink is for our new tomorrow.
A bag full of jelly beans,
colorful and sweet.
It’s a prayer, a promise,
and a child’s treat.
One of Alexa's favorites was the Resurrection Eggs. Her class had read Benjamin's Box and had gone through the Resurrection Eggs that week in school so it was fun for each of them to make their own set to take home and share the story with their family. If you don't have these they are a great hands on way to tell kids the Easter story and for them to tell it back to you. Alexa gets her eggs out a couple times a day and shares the story with Emma or Shane.
The final center was a Salvation Key Chain for the backpack. This is also a great hands on way to teach kids about Salvation. We made the Salvation Key Chain out of leather tied onto a clip with colored beads and then knotted at the end.
Salvation Key Chain
Black - Sin separated us from God. (Romans 3:23)
Red - Christ's blood was shed for us. (Romans 5:8-9)
White - We are now pure in Christ. (1 John 1:7)
Green - We "grow" in our faith everyday. (2 Peter 3:18)
Blue - Water symbolizes Baptism; Baptism symbolizes salvation. (1 Peter 3:21)
Gold - The streets of Heaven are paved with gold. (Revelation 21:21)
1 comments:
What a neat post, Julie. Thanks for these wonderful ideas. I'll look forward to using them next year! I bought the resurrection eggs this year because I remembered them from you last year. Matthew really liked them, Andrew hid his face behind me and said, "Too scary!" I think I need to censor a little bit more for him...lesson learned. But such a wonderful tool and the kids loved playing with them. They'll be great for years to come. Thanks for these great ideas. i'm always looking for fun ways to remember the TRUE meaning of the holidays with the kids.
K.
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