I wish I made as big of a fuss about Easter as I do about Christmas… planning weeks in advance, decorating a tree, making gifts, baking goodies. Why haven’t I made Easter the biggest and best holiday in our home? Christ’s death and resurrection are the real Reason for every season, the reason we call ourselves Christians!
I haven’t made preparations for Easter the BIG DEAL that I should, but we’ve been using a family devotional guide that we have really enjoyed. It has been a great way to keep my children focused on the real Reason for the Easter Season– and it works for 8 year olds and 4 year olds alike!
I read this post on Suzanne Shares just a week before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. Right away, I ordered The Word Became Flesh, Devotions for Children and Adults to Celebrate the Earthly Life of Christ, His Death, and Resurrection. We enjoyed our {semi} homemade Jesse Tree so much during Advent, that I thought this would be a great focus for our family during Lent. The first devotion begins with the birth of Jesus and the readings continue for 40 days and end with the Ascension. Ideally, you are supposed to make ornaments for each story to hang on a cross, crown of thorns, ribbon, or tree. You can see some great examples of ornaments here on Suzanne Shares. To be honest with you, we have faithfully read the Bible passages each day, but we didn’t have all of the ornaments made until recently. I printed small circles and asked the children to illustrate the stories. We laminated them, and we hang an ornament in our family room window each day. (Yes, I know I could have printed ornaments, but I am a sucker for my kids’ art!)
If your family does not yet have an Easter reading tradition, visit Suzanne Shares using the link above for ordering info!
We’ve gotten out our Easter books. Really, can anyone read The Parable of the Lily without crying? My 4 year olds were nearly crying, too… wondering what was wrong with Mom!
More Easter fun we are planning and will share soon:
We will have an Easter Hunt– NO eggs needed! It involves a stinky shoe! 😉
We are planning to make Resurrection Cookies!
We’ve started creating our own wordless books!
And, the big kids and I are going to dig into Jesus’ prayer in John 17!
We will have a great time counting down the days until Easter and remembering the Real Reason for the Easter Season! 🙂
i have no greater joy 
Me too! I’ve been trying over the past few years to do more with the Easter celebration, slowly adding to and building up my collection of “traditions.” I tend to have more success when Easter is later in the year and I’m chomping at the bit for spring. Right now I’m still in shock that its March!!!
I know!!! I would love to hear your ideas sometime! 🙂
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I am so glad your family is enjoying the Word Became Flesh devotional guide. This is exacting why I wrote it. I love your children’s illustrations. Using them and laminating their drawings is a great idea. Many blessings, Faye Maynard
Oh, thank you! Thank you for this treasure! I will be sad when Easter is over because we’ve enjoyed this so much! Your questions are so thought provoking for my children– AND me! It will be a tradition I will always look forward to! I purchased 4 this year, and I would love to get more for friends at my church for next year! Thank you, Faye!
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