Easter Advent Week

 Day 1: Palm Sunday

Activity: Triumphal Procession 
Before church this a.m., we read John 12:12-13, the story of the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.  As we were talking about Palm Sunday, Little Miss Mae went to her bedroom and got her pom-pom---"Pom" Sunday, according to her! She took her pom-pom to church and waved it wildly during the "Hosanna" song.  At church they gave the kids palm branches, so we had a triumphal procession at home too.

 Day 2: The Children Really Know Him 

Activity: Singing Praise Songs to Jesus with Friends

I tried to program Little Miss Mae's talker earlier today with the Hosanna song she loves....and somehow in the process of rushing to do this locked her talker on the songs page....We didn't figure this out until tonight, but her teacher said she sure sang a lot of Amazing Grace at school today. It must have taken some grace on her part to get through an entire day with only songs as a mode of communication! However, with all the singing, Little Miss Mae got a head start on today's advent activity. Our friends invited us over for the second night of Easter advent....worship and praise, and of course snacks and fellowship too! 
The girls were so excited all day about tonight's activity! Children are so uninhibited when they praise Jesus---He must smile down on them; we should learn from them....

Matthew 21:14-16

¹⁴ The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. ¹⁵ But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant.

 ¹⁶ “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him.

   “Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read,

   “‘From the lips of children and infants
   you, Lord, have called forth your praise’ ?”

Even baby "M" stayed awake to participate! (Our friends' little girl---we'd claim her in a heartbeat though!)

K-Rae making a tambourine

I think K-Rae may have met her match.....

Not sure if she ate any of the chocolate or just smeared it all over her face!

 Day 3: The Most Important Thing
Activity: Loving each other

During Jesus' last days on earth, he knew his time was short, so he used this time to teach about some of the most important things...."Love the Lord your God with all your heart & with all your soul & with all your mind.... & love your neighbor as yourself."  Matthew 22:37,29

For their ways to show love tonight, the girls chose to show love with their hearts.....K-Rae gave hugs, & Little Miss Mae used her talker to say "I love you." 

RyDaddy agreed to use his strength and mind to show me love---by figuring out what is wrong with our stroller and attempting to fix it...thus speaking my love language of "acts of service..." for more about the love languages, click here: (Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman)  ($4.00 amazon.com---so worth it if you aren't familiar with the love languages)

For our story time tonight we read Let's Celebrate Jesus on Easter.  This one is only $2.50 at amazon.com, and has been one of my favorites to use with the girls every Easter. I really like how this book talks about the fun childhood traditions of Easter....eggs, candy, new clothes, Easter baskets...

and uses those things to tie into what is truly important about Easter.

The first page says..."At Easter, I will decorate eggs with lots of bright colors....

but Jesus is the one who colors my world every day."

Jesus colored our world tonight....I sure love the sunsets here! 

The heavens declare the glory of God."  Psalm 19:1

  

Day 4: Jesus Teaches Us to Serve

Activity: "It's Time to Wash Feet," as Little Miss Mae said.

 

He wrapped a towel around his waist....poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples feet.  John 13:5

 Now that I, your Lord have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. John 13:14

( Yeah, I could get used to this!)

 Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it....saying "Take and eat; this is my body."  Matthew 26:26

 Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them saying,

"Drink from it...this is my blood of the covenant, 

which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."  Matthew 26:28

Another great Easter resource: The Very First Easter

(Only $2 from amazon.com...this one covers all the highlights of Holy Week from Palm Sunday to the ascension in a very child friendly manner), also available from amazon.com as a free Kindle edition!)

Day 5: Resurrection Eggs

Activity: An overview of the symbols of Easter

 At MOPS we made a set of "resurrection eggs," basically a dozen plastic eggs and each one contains a symbol of the Easter story and a Bible verse that corresponds with the symbol.

 






I asked Miss Laci who was helping us out tonight, to go through the resurrection egg activity with the girls.

Well, our sensitive Little Miss Mae couldn't make it through the activity and just broke down crying.... understandably so...it is so sad what was done to Jesus, and humbling to know he endured that for me.  Miss Laci just held her and let her cry awhile.

Despite the sadness, Miss Laci did manage to get some pics for our blog and I located a site that has ideas for the resurrection egg items, if you want to make a set yourself.Click here for Resurrection Egg List (scroll down through site, list is at end of page). As you can see, K-Rae thoroughly enjoyed the activity and was her usual rambunctious self! 

  

Day 6: A garden, a cross, a tomb 
Activity: Creating a beautiful garden

Day 7: The Resurrection Story  

Thank you Aunt Paula for sending us the magnetic resurrection story....it made a great culminating activity for our Easter week, and we were able to use it when we taught Sunday School a couple of weeks ago too!  Anyone wanting to order a copy for next year can check out this link: Story of the Resurrection Magnetic Set

Silly girls at the end of a fun Easter Advent Week! Happy Easter!  HE IS RISEN!