Happy Tuesday!
Today for toddler tuesday, I wanted to share with you guys a really quick project I put together in light of Easter. These are "resurrection eggs"! Have you heard of them?
I actually never heard of them until a few years ago when I became a mom. Some moms at my church were sharing different ways they were preparing their kids for easter, and this seemed to be one of the more popular ways to celebrate passion week with little ones. Asher (at almost 2.5) is finally at an age where I am able to have actual conversations with him. It's been so much fun being able to see his little mind whirl as he is beginning to ask questions, and learn things and understand concepts little by little. Ever since last year, I wanted to think of ways to be intentional with Asher for passion week and to create a culture/tradition in our family to really redeem passion week to remember Christ. Although I am a little late, I wanted to try my best to whip up something super simple that I could use to just teach him/talk to him about what Easter (and this week) is really about.
Besides the researching that I did online/pinterest/blogs, setting this up didn't take any more than 30-40 minutes! And I only spent a couple of dollars putting this together (just the cost to buy the plastic eggs, which I got from Daiso for $1.50!) and just used things that I had around the house.
So, what are resurrection eggs?
It's an easy way to help bring the Easter story to life with the little ones - recounting the week before Christ's crucifixion and ending with the resurrection (empty tomb!). Each egg (usually 12, but you can modify) contains a small item that helps teach the story of Jesus' death and resurrection. There are SO many ways to go about doing this and you can personalize it to fit you/your family and your child. Usually, people use 12 plastic eggs and put it together nicely in an empty egg carton - but I didn't have one so I just tossed it all in a tupperware container. Whatever works!
What's inside?
Like I said, you can personalize it to your liking but since Asher is still pretty young, I kept it really simple. There are a lot of different ideas/versions out there:
Toddler-friendly (6 eggs)
But here's what I put in mine:
ONE: Matthew 21:8-9 Jesus' triumphal entry - leaves and fabric cut out of clothes ("cloaks")
TWO: Matthew 26:26 The Last Supper - piece of bread
THREE: John 19:17-18 Jesus carries his cross and is crucified: toy nail, a cross made of paper and twine and a sign that says "Jesus: King of the Jews"
FOUR: Jesus is buried - clothespin wrapped in cloth and tied with twine (symbolizing Jesus' body wrapped in cloth), various spices
FIVE: The stone is rolled away - I couldn't find a rock outside (suburb problems lol) so I just cut out a tomb and large stone out of paper!
SIX: The tomb is empty!
You can just leave this egg empty but I wanted to spice it up and leave some fabric and twine (same as Egg #4) to signify that He is no longer in the tomb. Jesus is alive!
As you can see, I put little to no effort in my signs. Possibly next year, I will put some more effort and print these cards with verses out or at least put in a cinch of effort but time is of the essence this year so that's what we get. The cards are also moreso to help guide me in talking/explaining what each egg signifies so I didn't mind too much how it looked (read: smudged permanent marker and illegible writing) or what I wrote. but you can be fancy if you like.
If you hate DIY, you can actually
purchase resurrection eggs on Amazon. They come with the eggs in a carton with all the items inside and a little booklet with the explaination of each item. Unfortunately it's too late to order for this year - but if you want to prepare for next!
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For the past few years, I've also tried to spend time reading through this book during passion week to prepare my own heart for Easter. It's a beautiful book which contains a collection of writings and sermons of 25 classic and contemporary theologians and Bible teachers - focusing on Christ's sacrifice on the cross. It's so good!
Praying that we can all strive to be intentional in remembering Christ this week and that whatever we do (big or small), it would stir us in our affections for Christ and give us a renewed heart of gratitude for the gospel.
<3
