Easter Week: Celebrating Christ & His Resurrection

2020 Update: 5 Ways to Teach Your Children of Jesus' Resurrection


I have recently updated our Easter Wreath to go along with the Come Follow Me curriculum. Starting the Sunday before Easter, children will learn about what happened each day of the week before Jesus' resurrection. There are scripture passages and pictures for children to add onto their wreath each day. My plan as a family is to read the scripture passage, watch the corresponding bible video on LDS.org and glue or staple the corresponding picture on the wreath.

Click for a Free Download: Easter Wreath

Completed Wreath

Palm Sunday: The Triumphal Entry (Sunday prior to Easter)

• Background: On the Sunday before Easter, Christians throughout the world wave branches in memory of Jesus entering the city of Jerusalem. On that triumphant day, He humbly rode a donkey through the streets. People were so happy to see Him that they waved palm branches and shouted "Hosanna!" The word hosanna comes from Hebrew and means "save now, we pray."'

• Scripture: John 12:12-13 "On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord." 

• Easter Wreath: Add the donkey onto your Easter Wreath. 

• Video: "The Lord's Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem" from lds.org.

                                  

• Optional Activity: Make a "palm branch" by tracing your child's hand on green paper. Cut it out and tape it on the fridge as a reminder of the people praising and honoring Jesus, just as we can.

Cleansing the Temple (Monday)

• Background: When Jesus went to the temple in the last week of His mortal ministry, He was discouraged to see people who were there for the wrong reasons. In those days, people had to pay tithing with special coins made just for that purpose. That meant they had to change their regular money into tithing money. A lot of greedy men set up shops in the temple and charged too much for changing money so they could get richer. Other people sold animals for sacrifice, but they also charged more than they should have. Jesus cast them out to keep the temple a holy place.

• Scripture: Matthew 21:12-16 "And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and seats of them that sold doves, and said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves. And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them. And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased."

• Easter Wreath: Add the temple onto the Easter Wreath

• Video: We watched "The Messiah Comes" from a set of 16 Bible Stories. All the videos in the set are animated and great for toddlers. I mentioned the people waving palm trees as Jesus entered Jerusalem (as we learned about yesterday) as well as Jesus cleansing the temple (as we're learning about today) while watching the video.

• Optional Activity: I pulled out our white play dough and we constructed temples out of the dough. If you don't have play dough, you can make a simple salt dough recipe - 2 Cups of Flour, 1 Cup of Salt, 1 Cup of Lukewarm Water - mix and knead together. 

Teaching in Jerusalem (Tuesday)

• Background: One day, a man came and asked Jesus: What is the greatest commandment? Jesus answered him and said to love the Lord and to love thy neighbor. The man then asked what it means to love they neighbor. Jesus answered his question in a parable (a story that symbolizes something else). In Jesus' day, Jews and Samaritans did not get along. This parable teaches us to love everyone, no matter what.

• Scripture: Matthew 22: 36-39. "Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the lord they God with all they heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."

• Easter Wreath: Add the scriptures with the heart onto the wreath.

• Video: We watched "The Good Samaritan" from the same set of 16 Bible Stories mentioned on Day 2. All the videos in the set are animated and great for toddlers. We talked about service and how kind the Samaritan was to help the man on the side of the road.

• Activity: Deliver cookies (service) to a friend or neighbor. I found these cute Pillsbury Bunny Cookies at our grocery store. My two and I cooked them together and dropped them off at a neighbor's house. We talked about how happy it made our neighbors to get cookies and again, how wonderful it is to do kind things for others. If you want to try a different cookie, try our amazing, homemade Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe.

Continued Teaching: Parable of the Fig Tree (Wednesday)

• Background: In this parable, Jesus is teaching His disciples about His Second Coming. Just as a fig tree grows buds and ripens (a sign that the fruit is ready to eat), there will be signs in the world that will tell us Jesus' Second Coming is near.

• Scripture: Matthew 24:32-36 

• Easter Wreath: Add the scriptures and fig tree to your Easter Wreath

• Video: 

The Passover & Christ's Suffering in Gethsemane (Thursday)

• Background:

• Scripture: Matthew 26:26-28

• Video: 

Good Friday: Trial, Crucifixion, Burial

• Background: The word good in English can mean holy, and we celebrate Good Friday because everything good and holy that we enjoy or hope to enjoy comes to us because of Christ's sacrifice. The word gospel comes from two old English words - god, meaning good, and spell, meaning story or news. The gospel is good news, and Christ's Atonement is the core of that good news! Jesus was willing to come to earth. He lived a perfect life. He was willing to suffer and die for us. he was resurrected.

• Scripture: Matthew 27:34-35 

• Video: "He is Risen"  from the same set of 16 Bible Stories mentioned on Day 2 & 3. Again, I don't want my toddlers to watch anything "too much" for their age. "He is Risen" is perfect for them. I mentioned Jesus on the cross to go along with the theme today, but more importantly reminded them of the resurrection.

• Activity: Light in the Darkness. Before this activity, I hid pictures of Jesus around the house. You can buy pictures of Jesus at Deseret Book or print them. After Jesus was crucified, there was darkness over the whole land. We turned the lights out and I gave my two a flashlight and read Mark 16:9 - Jesus is the Light of the World. My two used his flashlight to spot the pictures of Jesus hidden around the house.

Christ's Body in the Tomb, His Spirit Ministers in the Spirit World (Saturday)

• After we die our body stays on the earth and our spirits go to the Spirit World. Jesus was greeted by a large multitude in the Spirit World who had ben waiting for Him. He was welcomed by Adam and Eve and all of greatest and most righteous spirits who had ever been on this earth. These spirits had been separated from their bodies for a long time and were anxiously awaiting the Resurrection that was close at hand. Along with righteous spirits, there were many others who had never known of Jesus while they lived on earth. They had never head His gospel and had not been baptized. Rather than teaching them directly, Jesus delegated authority and organized the faithful spirits in paradise to visit and teach the unbaptized. He called them to be missionaries. He commissioned them to carry the light of the gospel to all who were in darkness..Jesus gave every soul the opportunity to learn faith, repent, accept covenants, and progress. As we teach the first principles and ordinances of the gospel, we can be missionaries to help people remember Jesus and be reunited with Him."

• Scripture: D&C 138:15-16 "And there were gathered together in one place an innumerable company of the spirits of the just, who had been faithful in the testimony of Jesus while they lived in mortality; I beheld that they were filled with joy and gladness, and were rejoicing together because the day of their deliverance was at hand. They were assembled awaiting the advent of the Son of God into the spirit world, to declare their redemption from the bands of death."

• Video: Gathering of Israel on lds.org. I told my boys we were going to watch a show about missionaries. Missionaries are called to teach others about Jesus Christ. I told them about different members of the family who had served missions - Mom, Dad, Grandpa, Aunt Ali, Uncle Al, etc. and told my boys how they can be missionaries one day.

• Activity: Five-Finger Prayers. One thing missionaries do is to teach people to pray. I taught my two the steps of prayer by using five fingers: (1) Heavenly Father, (2) We thank Thee for... (3) We ask thee for... (4) In the name of Jesus Christ (5) Amen.

Easter Sunday: Life After Death

• I told them how Christ was resurrected on the third day. I explained the "resurrected" is when our bodies and spirits come together again. Jesus made it possible for everyone to be resurrected, including you! 

• Scripture: Matthew 28:1-10.

• Add the Resurrected Jesus onto the Easter Wreath

• Video: "Jesus Is Resurrected" from lds.org. The purpose in Easter is to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Discuss the video. 

• Optional Activity: Make Resurrection Rolls. These were delicious! While making them together, we talked about the symbolism in each food items. (Crescent Roll - Tomb, Marshmallow - Jesus' Body, Butter - Oil/Anointing of Jesus' Body, Cinnamon Sugar - Spices placed on Jesus' body, Oven - Three days). The recipe and picture below are from The Girl Who Ate Everything.