Easter Archives - Let their light shine!

Easter egg with cross symbol craft

Easter egg with cross symbol craft ideas for children of all ages! The basic printout of the symbol of the cross hidden in an egg shape can be used in several different ways. Very young children can decorate the egg with crayons and tissue paper. Older children (10 plus) can trace the picture onto tracing paper and use felt tips to create a beautiful stained glass effect. Just be careful of smudging. Tracing paper is a little more tricky to use. Important Note – you do need to be careful with Sharpies and other Permanent Markers because of the smell they give off – they aren’t suitable for young children. Check if there are rules about their use in your country before using with anyone under 18.

Easter egg with cross symbol craft ideas

Print out the egg and heart shapes (PDF below) Cut out the hearts and if you want to cut out the egg shape. (You can do this before or after decorating). Then use tissue paper strips, crayons, felt tips to decorate and add the red heart. We did this at Toddler Group and they had a lovely time (make extra hearts as toddlers like to add several!). We also made this at a Children’s after school club and they enjoyed it too.

Older children can colour the cross first and then layer strips of tissue paper across the egg shape. Then trim the tissue paper to fit and add the red heart

Egg with cross on tracing paper

This version of the Easter egg with cross symbol craft takes a while to complete – older children can add extra lines and shapes and then carefully colour the egg – bright colours are best! I made the outline of the cross and heart thicker so they would stand out. Once completed place in a window. I think this would be a great craft to try at home.

Easter-Egg-Pattern-with-Cross-A4-1 Download

Heart-shape-3×4-1 Download

If you can print the hearts on coloured paper.

Good Friday crafts to make

Good Friday crafts for children to make that use paper plates! One craft uses round paper plates (use cheap plates that can be folded easily) and the other crafts use black and green square plates. (These are available online – take a look here)

Good Friday crafts – round paper plate

Good Friday craft made with a paper plate

The above craft was made with a cheap paper plate folded a third of the way down. The sky is a mixture of blues and blacks (I used wax crayons as they blend well). The hill is some green and yellow crayon. Fold then colour the plate. Cut out the three crosses and then glue them on the blue, fold over the green and glue in place. I used pritt stick. PVA would work fine too.

An alternative to crayons is to use torn up sugar paper and tissue paper.

I really like the added texture of the torn paper plus if you have a large group this works well – it’s likely that you won’t have enough blue and green wax crayons for a large group to share!

Good Friday crafts – square paper plates

Good Friday stained glass window paper plate craft — Cut out centre of plate

To make

Cut out centre of plate. Use this to make the cross shape.
Use tacky back to cover the centre (sticky side needs to be same side as black rim)
Cover tacky back with brightly coloured tissue paper (try to stay within the square of tacky back)
Glue on the black paper cross

Good Friday craft – Easter Garden

I love Easter Gardens. There are several versions of this paper plate Easter Garden on the blog. No soil is needed (although I love Easter Gardens made with soil, moss, twigs and flowers too!)

All you need…

Square paper plate (green)
Flower stickers
Cup cake cases various sizes (trim to look like petals)
Brown paper path
Cross and stone for the tomb cut from card (give both shapes a flap to use to stick to plate)
A small pot for the tomb (Make sure it will stick)
A strip of brown paper to cover the tomb and help glue it to the plate
Green tissue paper to make a hill around the cross

Take a look here for some additional ideas for making an Easter Garden with a paper plate. There is a simplified version of an Easter Garden here.

On the way to Easter…paper plate pictures

On the way to Easter paper plate pictures that help to tell the story of the first Easter. In the Gospels Jesus meets several people when he is on his last journey to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover for the final time. So four of our stories are about the people that met Jesus as he was going to Jerusalem. Then we have the story of the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem and in the Death and Resurrection of Jesus.

I’ll be using different props for each story but as we go there will be a paper plate picture for each week that will build a bigger picture.. (If you don’t want to use all the stories just pick and choose)

Our stories will be… (Click on the links to go to the stories and crafts)

The Rich Young Ruler (Luke 18:18-23 and Mark 10:17-22)
Bartimaeus (Luke 18:35-43 and Mark 10:32,33,46-52)
Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10)
Mary anoints Jesus (John 12:1-8)
The Triumphal Entry (Luke 19:28-40)
Death and Resurrection of Jesus (Luke 23:44-24:12)

This is how our big picture will look when we have told all the stories..

Pictures on paper plates showing the people Jesus met in the run up to the first Easter

These are paper plates covered in tissue paper with people and buildings and trees etc added.

The people are available to download – if you would like to make a contribution to the blog you are very welcome to do so but of course you don’t have to!

woman-smile-x4 Download

man-smile-x4 Download

man-small-smile-x4 Download

man-sad-x4 Download

children-x21 Download

The pictures of trees and buildings are available in this post https://lettheirlightshine.com/2015/03/20/jesus-enters-jerusalem-palm-sunday/

On the way to Easter – some thoughts about telling the story

Easter can be a difficult story to tell to young children. It isn’t necessary to go into detail about how Jesus died. It’s always good to include the positive for example you can say – that although Jesus died and his friends were sad he came back to life again and his friends were happy! Be factual with sensitivity. Easter is a good news event!

A couple of Easter story videos – Palm Sunday and Easter!

Let’s Make a Paper Plate Basket!

Make a basket using a large paper plate! This is a great basket to make for an Easter Egg Hunt. See end of post for some other ideas too! Baskets are really useful!

All you need

Paper plate (9in/23cm diameter)
Scissors
Stapler
Hole Punch
Pipe cleaner (12in/30cm length)
Stickers to decorate
Tissue paper to put inside
Small Easter eggs/chocolates hidden – to find!

How to make the baskets

If making these with young children you may want to do several of the stages beforehand. Older children can cut the plate and use the stapler (with supervision – make sure they can use it safely). Punching the holes needs supervision just to make sure they aren’t punched too close to the edge of the plate. You want the pipe cleaner handle to hold!

Mark out where to cut the plate (picture 1)
Cut along the lines
Fold the small section inwards and bend round the two longer sides. Secure with a staple. Do this twice.
Punch holes
Add pipe cleaner handle (Twist around the punched hole to secure)
Decorate with stickers
Add tissue paper lining
Collect eggs!

The basic basket can be used as a craft for the story of Feeding the 5,000. Just add the five loaves and two fish. If you click on the link you’ll find a post with a Pdf with loaves and fish that you can print.

You could also make it to celebrate harvest. Add some pictures of fruit and veg to your basket.

If you leave out the pipe cleaner handle you could use the basket for a Baby Moses craft too! here’s another idea about Moses.

Once you have a basic craft idea it’s great to be able to adapt it for different age groups and Bible Stories and Seasonal crafts. I’m sure you can think of other ways to use a basic basket shape!

Easter Craft – a paper Easter Garden

Easter Craft – a paper Easter Garden that is easy to make. Easter Gardens are lovely but if you don’t have the time to make a garden with soil and real plants then this is a simple alternative. It is a great reminder of the Story of Easter.

To make the Easter Garden you need

picture of the empty tomb printed onto card (see file to download – there is a choice – one has the words ‘Jesus is alive!’)
pictures of flowers from garden catalogues or magazines
glue
pencils and crayons

Make the picture while the card is flat and then fold in half so the tomb and hills are vertical.

This craft is suitable for toddlers upwards. Older children can cut out the flower pictures and or draw their own. You can add stickers and tissue paper shapes too.

cross-empty-tomb-jesus-is-alive-2 Download

cross-empty-tomb-blank-3-1 Download

Here is another Easter Garden idea using a paper plate

My Easter Pinterest Board has lots of Easter themed craft ideas

God Knows when I feel….excited!

God knows when I feel excited is all about Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem. Children are often excited so it’s great to tell a story they will relate to. This story from Matthew 21 is about the excited crowd who welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem. Traditionally this event is called Palm Sunday. It begins the week of Easter. We’ve told this story many times at Toddler Group. The following is an idea…

God knows when I feel excited story idea

In the storybag you might like to have a large leaf and a donkey..

‘I wonder if you have ever felt excited? In today’s story from the Bible there are lots of excited people. Let’s find out why they were excited.

Crowds and crowds of people were all along the road. There were mums and dads, grandmas and grandads and children just like you! ‘Can you see? Is he here?’ They looked along the road. And then they saw him! They called out, ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!’ as Jesus passed by. They shouted, ‘hosanna!’ (which means ‘God saves’) They waved palm branches and threw their cloaks into the road. They were so excited to see King Jesus!

Jesus wasn’t riding a big, strong horse – he was on a donkey. He was the king but he was the good King who had come to save and rescue the people.

They people welcomed Jesus – the King sent from God.’

Craft Ideas

God knows when I am excited craft for Palm Sunday story

A palm leaf sun catcher made with a paper plate and sticky back plastic. Add green tissue paper and glitter!

God knows when I feel excited Palm Sunday craft — A palm leaf to wave – made using the shape cut from the paper plate suncatcher!

Another idea using large pictures to tell the Palm Sunday story This post includes printables to make your own street scene.

Easter Decoration

How to make an Easter Door Wreath

You will need

A plain wreath shape – or cut out the centre of a paper plate and use the wide rim.
Doilie
Spring pictures – I used eggs and chicks but flowers would be fine too. See what you can find in magazines and catalogues.
Ribbon
A large cake case to use as a nest for chicks (If you only have flowers make it a vase)
Some shredded tissue paper
Tissue paper or paint to cover the wreath
Glue

To make – be as creative as you want – these are suggestions!

Start by covering the wreath with paint or paper
Add pictures of eggs, chicks and/or flowers
If your doilie is the right size cut out the plain centre and add the lace part to the wreath. If not just cut some of the lace part and add around the wreath.
Add the ribbon
Add the nest/ vase by glueing half the cake case to the wreath. Add the shredded tissue paper and then slightly stick both ends of the cup case to secure (it should be like a pocket).

Easter Story Video

The first Easter!

Easter Stained Glass

How to make your own Easter Stained Glass picture

You will need

Black paper plate
Tacky back
Tissue paper in bright colours
Cross cut from the plate centre or black paper
Glue

To make

Cut out the centre of the plate (use this to make the cross)
Add the tacky back – you need the sticky side to be the same side as the black plate rim
Stick tissue paper all over the tacky back to make the stained glass effect
Add the cross on top of the tissue paper using glue.

Display in a window!

Palm Sunday Story Video

Palm Sunday Story Video is a short retelling of Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem. You can read the story in John 12:12-19

Here’s a link to a post with a Palm Sunday Story idea and some palm leaf crafts to make.

Easter Story Paper Plate Craft

Paper plates are just so great for craft ideas (and can be used as storytelling props too) This simple paper plate idea can be used as both. The craft is for a child and adult to make together while talking about the Easter Story.

You need – paper plate, tissue paper or similar in green and blue, white paper on which to draw the hill and the tomb, brown paper circle for the stone, brown paper strips for the cross, some crayons/pencils, glue and scissors. (Obviously if making with younger children use children’s safety scissors and make sure you keep a watchful eye. Scissors should always be used with care while sitting down).

Begin by covering the top half of the plate with blue paper and the bottom with green.

Draw two hills on the white paper. Colour one green. Make the other into the tomb by drawing the entrance and colour brown. Cut out and stick in the middle of the plate covering the sky/grass join.

Add the cross to the green hill and the stone infront of the tomb entrance to one side to show that the tomb is empty.

It would be great to make this while talking about the Easter story or reading the story together.

Happy Easter!

‘For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God’

2 Corinthians 5:21

Easter Garden to make at home

Easter garden to make at home is a great way to celebrate Easter. The garden is a reminder of the Easter story and is also fun to make. Traditionally an Easter Garden would be made using soil, moss, flowers etc but this version is made entirely from paper and card – if you haven’t got easy access to soil and plants this is for you!

What I used to make the Easter Garden

paper plate (a piece of card would do too)
cereal box to make the cross (make two cross shapes and glue together so it will stand up)
paper ice cream tub for the tomb ( a roll of paper with card glued over an end would be fine)
a paper circle for the stone
tissue paper for the path and grass
pictures of flowers from magazines/garden catalogues.

How to make a cross for an Easter Garden — To attach the cross add a fold and glue the tab

Instructions for making a paper plate Easter Garden — Add the tomb – this might need to be glued and then held in place till it has stuck. Make a fold on the edge of the circle for the tomb then glue the tab that you have made and glue down. If you want to add the words do that first.

Here’s another Easter Garden idea that uses play dough and weetabix

Take a look at this telling of the Easter story for young children.

More Easter craft ideas..

Easter egg colouring printables

Easter egg colouring printables!

These A4 Easter Egg designs can be coloured or made into collages. Whatever you feel like doing! I’ve used wax crayons (you can blend the colours!), felt tips, tissue paper and some sugar paper circles. Cut out the egg shape after you’ve decorated it. If you want to paint the eggs then maybe print the shape onto card. Enjoy!

easter-egg-happy-easter-a4 Download

easter-egg-jesus-is-alive-a4 Download

easter-egg-pattern-a4 Download

Salt dough egg decorations

Children of almost any age can decorate these simple egg shapes. We’ve used them at a toddler group, but they would be great for older children who would be able to do more intricate designs or pictures.

To make them you need to start with a salt dough. This is very easy. You need 2 cups plain flour, I cup of salt and I cup of water (add this gradually as you may not need it all). Kneed the dough on a floured surface and roll out to about 4mm thick. As you do this keep making sure it isn’t sticking to the work top. I used a template and cut around it. You could also use an egg shaped biscuit cutter. If you are making hanging decorations you need to make a hole for the thread about 1cm away from the edge.Smooth the edges of the eggs once you have cut them out. Then leave the shapes to dry. They will air dry, but it will take a long time (48 hours plus) or put them in a low oven, not more than 100C, for up to 4 hours. (They can burn so keep an eye on them). Once dry you can decorate with paint and/or felt pens.

We used felt tips to decorate but you could also glue coloured paper on to them and add glitter! A covering of PVA glue at the end will add a shine – but as you can see in the pictures the colours may run a bit.

We’ve arrived at Easter!

We’ve arrived at Easter! We have traveled along the road to Jerusalem to reach the first Easter. Each week we’ve met different people that Jesus met on his journey and now we are at the end of our journey.

This weeks story is the Easter Story .. to tell it you need puppets or dolls to represent Peter, John and Mary and the paper plate visual (or something similar.) If you have been making the paper plates display all of them together and then add the one from this final story.

The Story from Luke 23 and 24

Bible truth for toddlers – Jesus died and came alive again

‘Our story has a sad beginning – can you look sad? Jesus died on the cross on the Friday. He was put in a tomb (cave) and a big stone was put over the entrance.

His friends were very sad and frightened. A whole day went by – that was Saturday.

The next day was Sunday. A woman called Mary went to the tomb very early in the morning. When she got there something had happened. The big stone had been moved. What could she do? Who would help her?

Mary knew someone who could help her – Peter! She went to find Peter and John and told them what had happened.

They listened. Then they started to run. They were running as fast as they could to the tomb. John got there first and looked inside. It was empty.

Then Peter got there. He didn’t just look inside. He walked right in to the tomb. It was empty!

Jesus wasn’t there anymore. The Bible tells us that that he had died and then come alive again. This is happy news for you and for me.’

Paper plates decorated to tell the story of Jesus' journey to Jerusalem at Easter — **The paper plates that have been used to show Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem can be displayed altogether!**

Here’s the link to the introductory post for this story series with links to the blog posts

Easter Craft Idea

Easter shapes craft using crepe paper printing. This is really fun! Have a look at this post for how to use crepe paper to print pictures.

On the Way to Easter…Palm Sunday Story

Jesus rides into Jerusalem

On the way to Easter Palm Sunday story can be told as a stand alone story or used as part of the series ‘On the Way to Easter’.

Bible story from Luke 19:28-40 and Mark 11:1-10

Bible truth for toddlers – Jesus is the King!

‘Jesus and his friends were almost at the big city of Jerusalem. Lots of people wanted to see Jesus. But how was Jesus going to arrive in the city? Was he going to arrive in a car? No! Was he going to arrive in a helicopter? No! (they didn’t have those!) Was he going to ride into the city on a big, strong horse? No!

Jesus sent two of his friends to borrow a donkey. (What noise does a donkey make? Hee-haw) They bought the donkey to Jesus and put their cloaks on it’s back. Jesus sat on the donkey and he rode into the big city.

Crowds and crowds of people were there. There were mums and dads, grandmas and grandads and children just like you! Some of the people took their cloaks off and put them in the road for the donkey to walk on. They called out, ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!’ as Jesus passed by. They shouted, ‘hosanna!’ (which means ‘God saves’). Can you say ‘hosanna’? They waved palm branches in the air. The people in the crowd were welcoming Jesus into the big city. They were excited!

They welcomed Jesus – the King sent from God.’

Some pictures to use to tell the story

On the way to Easter Palm Sunday story visual aid — Palm Sunday

Dowload the links to make the street scene

People pictures are available in this blog post

The donkey to make

https://lettheirlightshine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/leglessdonkey.pdf

The street scene https://lettheirlightshine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/streetscene.pdf

The trees and palm leaves

https://lettheirlightshine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/palmleafsceneparts.pdf

I cut the cloaks out of material.

On the way to Easter Palm Sunday story visuals

Craft ideas

You could use the printouts as a craft if telling the story at home or with older children.

The pegs for legs donkey is a fun craft to make. Print and cut out the donkey shape. Colour and add wooden clothes pegs for legs.

There are some Palm Leaf craft ideas here

On the Way to Easter…Mary

The story is from John 12:1-8

Jesus had almost arrived at Jerusalem! He had travelled a long way. How lovely that he was able to go to his friends house. Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha were good friends of Jesus. They wanted to do something special for him so they had a dinner for him. Martha served the food and everyone enjoyed what she had made and they ate everything! Lazarus sat at the table with Jesus. But where was Mary?

Mary wanted to show everyone how special Jesus was. In those days when you went to someone’s house they always gave you some water to wash your feet. The roads were very dusty and people got their feet dirty.

But Mary wanted to do more than just give Jesus water to wash his feet. She had some very expensive ointment that she poured onto the feet of Jesus. The Bible tells us that the perfume from the anointment filled the whole house.

Mary was right to do this special thing for Jesus because he is God’s Son who would soon die to save us.

Paper plate picture to add to the others

Craft Idea – a perfume bottle made from a paper plate. Spray the bottle shape with perfume and allow to saok in and dry. Then decorate!

On the Way to Easter…Zacchaeus

Jesus is now in Jericho on his way to Jerusalem. Last time he met Bartimaeus. Now he meets Zacchaeus. Two very different people!

To tell the story… from Luke 19:1-10

Have a tree – you can make one from a pringle container or draw one – and a person to represent Zacchaeus. Place Zacchaeus in a story bag.

Jesus was now getting nearer to Jerusalem. Lots of people wanted to see Jesus as he walked through their town. They had heard a lot about all the amazing things that he had done.

One man really wanted to see Jesus. His name was Zacchaeus (can you say that name?) Let’s say hello to Zacchaeus as he comes out of the story bag.

Now Zacchaeus was very, very rich. He had loads of money. Some of his money he had by taking what wasn’t his! So people didn’t like Zacchaeus.

But that wasn’t all. Zacchaeus was a short man. So when Jesus was coming to his town he had a problem! He couldn’t see past the crowds! The crowds of people didn’t like Zacchaeus so they weren’t going to let him get to the front. Standing on tip toe didn’t help either. So Zacchaeus began to run. He ran to a tree. Then he did something that he hadn’t done for a long, long time. He climbed the tree. Now he could see Jesus.

And there Jesus was, walking along the road. And then Jesus stopped! Right under the tree. ‘Zacchaeus, come down. I’m coming to your house today!’ said Jesus.

Zacchaeus came down the tree. ‘I will give back all the money that isn’t mine and I will give extra money too’ he said.

Zacchaeus was a different person now that he had met Jesus.

Jesus said ‘I came to look for and to save the lost’. All of us are lost without Jesus. He is looking for us and is able to save us.

Craft Idea

The tree and Zacchaeus are available to download. The tree can be decorated with tissue paper, crepe paper and/or leaves cut from sugar paper with brown tissue paper for the tree trunk.

Tree Download

Zacchaeus-x21 Download

Our next paper plate to add to our ‘Journey to Jerusalem….’

This is what we are aiming for …..

On the Way to Easter…Bartimaeus

On the Way to Easter Bartimaeus. We are beginning to get ready for Easter at toddler group. This year we are going on the last journey that Jesus made into Jerusalem, meeting some of the people that Jesus met. Last week we met the Rich Young Man. This time on the Way to Easter we meet Bartimaeus. The Story is from Mark 10:46-52.

On the Way to Easter .. Bartimaeus Story Idea

Jesus and his friends were in a big crowd of people going to the city of Jerusalem. By now lots of people had heard about Jesus and the amazing things he said and did. (Do you remember the rich man from last time? – if you are using the paper plate visuals have this already displayed so you can refer to it briefly)

This time we are going to find out about another person that Jesus met as he travelled to Jerusalem for the last time. Say hello to Bartimaeus! (Take Bartimaeus doll or puppet from the Story Bag)

Bartimaeus wasn’t able to see and couldn’t work so each day he sat with his bowl and begged for money. He had heard about Jesus. He started to call out as loud as he could, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’

There were other people there too who wanted to see Jesus and they didn’t want to hear Bartimaeus. They said ‘Shush.’ Can we all say ‘Shush’?

But Jesus listened. He stopped. He asked to meet Bartimaeus.

‘Get up quick!’ the people said

Bartimaeus threw off his coat and jumped up and came to Jesus.

‘What do you want me to do for you?’ Jesus asked.

What would Bartimaeus say? Did he want money? No! Did he want a chat? No!

‘I want to be able to see!’ he said.

Could Jesus do that? Yes! Jesus was able to make Bartimaeus see. Bartimaeus believed in Jesus. He believed that Jesus had the power to make him see. We also need to believe in Jesus.

On the way to Easter ..Bartimaeus paper plate visual showing Bartimaeus standing by the roadside. — Our paper plate visual aid is Bartimaeus by the road that Jesus was travelling on. We will add this to the paper plate of the Rich Young Man.

On the Way to Easter...Bartimaeus paper plates showing Jesus' last journey into Jerusalem — This is all the stories put together – next time it’s all about a short man and a tree. Any guesses?!

On the way to Easter…paper plate pictures

On the way to Easter paper plate pictures that help to tell the story of the first Easter. Next half term at Thursday toddler group we will be travelling along the road to Easter. In the Gospels Jesus meets several people when he is on this last journey to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover for the final time. So four of our stories will be about these people that met Jesus as he was going to Jerusalem. Then we will have the story of the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem and in the final week the Death and Resurrection of Jesus.

Our stories will be… (Click on the links to go to the stories and crafts)

The Rich Young Ruler (Luke 18:18-23 and Mark 10:17-22)
Bartimaeus (Luke 18:35-43 and Mark 10:32,33,46-52)
Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10)
Mary anoints Jesus (John 12:1-8)
The Triumphal Entry (Luke 19:28-40)
Death and Resurrection of Jesus (Luke 23:44-24:12)

This is how our big picture will look when we have told all the stories..

These are paper plates covered in tissue paper with people and buildings and trees etc added.

The people are available to download – if you would like to make a contribution to the blog you are very welcome to do so but of course you don’t have to!

woman-smile-x4 Download

man-smile-x4 Download

man-small-smile-x4 Download

man-sad-x4 Download

children-x21 Download

The pictures of trees and buildings are available in this post https://lettheirlightshine.com/2015/03/20/jesus-enters-jerusalem-palm-sunday/

On the way to Easter – some thoughts about telling the story

A couple of Easter story videos – Palm Sunday and Easter!

Easter and Spring craft ideas

Here are some Easter and Spring craft ideas that I’ve enjoyed making over the past few years.

The Last Supper – Luke 22

The Last Supper. As part of the bigger Easter Story we’ve told the story of Jesus’ last meal with his disciples from Luke 22:7-20. The props are very simple -see the pictures below. The craft is straight forward too and there is a free printable.

The Last Supper story idea

The big city of Jerusalem was full of people! They had come to the big city to celebrate Passover. Passover is a special meal – it reminds God’s people of how God saved them from being slaves in Egypt.

Jesus wanted to eat the special Passover meal with his friends. But there were so many people and there were people who wanted to hurt Jesus that the meal needed to be kept a secret! (Everyone say ‘shush’)

Jesus sent Peter and John into the city. ‘When you see a man carrying a water jar on his head follow him! He will go to the house where you can get the meal ready.’

Peter and John did what Jesus said and soon the meal was ready.

The Passover Meal is very special. Part of the meal would have been bread and wine (Show these).

Bread and juice to represent Last Supper meal

Jesus said to his friends, ‘This is the last time I will be able to eat this special Passover meal with you. When you eat it in the future I want you to remember me.’

Jesus was going to rescue many people. He wanted his friends to remember that he was the rescuer.

Today Christians remember Jesus with a special meal – with bread and wine. (If possible have the items that your church uses for Communion to show the children)

The Last Supper craft

Craft Idea – with a printable Lord’s Supper – Cup and Bread (1)

To make – print the bread and cup. Cut out. Children can add red paper to the cup and colour in the bread. Stick both on a piece of sugar paper.

Easter at toddler group

Lovely crafts were made today ..

Easter Wreath Decoration

Sometimes I have cut out wreath shapes from paper plates but when you need to make 50 that can take a while! So when I found that Baker Ross were selling cardboard wreath shapes I was really keen to try them out. As you can see they are dark brown, obviously made of card and come with a hole and some string so they can be displayed at home. A big win! Here’s the link to Baker Ross with all the info about the craft wreaths.

The embellishments are from Hobbycraft (eggs and bunnies) Take the eggs out of the packaging well ahead as they really do smell! The paper hearts and circles are made with a paper punch and the confetti is the biodegradable kind. I cut the bird and ladybird from molliemakes magazine. The Easter greeting is on sugar paper and I did write happy Easter 50 times. Part way through I began to worry that I was spelling Easter incorrectly!

I will definitely be using the craft wreaths for other crafts. Really great find.

Easter Ideas

Easter/Spring wreath

Easter Garden to make

I’ve spent part of today making Easter crafts ready for the next couple of weeks of toddler group. The above is a collection of all the things we’ve done to celebrate Easter over the past six years. When I look at some of them I am amazed that I made the time to prepare 60 salt dough eggs or cut out wreath circles from paper plates! But I did and the children loved them. The chocolate nests were made at our Monday afternoon Reception to Year 2 group. This afternoon one of the children reminded me that we made them last year – I think we may make them again next week.

Salt dough eggs –

To make them you need to start with a salt dough. This is very easy. You need 2 cups plain flour, 1 cup of salt and 1 cup of water (add this gradually as you may not need it all). Kneed the dough on a floured surface and roll out to about 4mm thick. As you do this keep making sure it isn’t sticking to the work top. I used a template and cut around it. You could also use an egg shaped biscuit cutter. If you are making hanging decorations you need to make a hole for the thread about 1cm away from the edge. Then leave the shapes to dry. They will air dry, but it will take a long time (48 hours plus) or you can put them in a low oven, not more than 100C, for up to 4 hours. (they can burn so keep an eye on them). Once dry you can paint them or leave them plain for children to decorate.

We used felt tips to decorate but you could also glue coloured paper on to them and add glitter or use finger paints.

Palm Sunday Craft

Palm Sunday craft idea

It seems as though we only just celebrated Christmas and here we are a couple of weeks away from Easter! So at toddler group next week we are doing the Palm Sunday story (Triumphal Entry). The story we will be using is from John 12. There are some ideas for telling the story here

For the craft we’ll be making large collage/crayon leaves. The leaves are cut from A3 paper and then I added some detail with a black felt tip. The collage materials are a mixture of sugar paper, paper and tissue paper in various shapes. The children can also use green and yellow crayons.

Easter egg – messy craft!

This is a craft where you get in a bit of a sticky mess – but it’s fun! The egg shape is polystyrene. (I bought them from Amazon) I covered it in PVA glue and added tissue paper layers. If you finish off with a layer of glue it’ll look shiny. Experiment with the decoration. I added some cut up feathers to one egg. Chocolate sweet wrappers would look great too. Leave the decorated eggs to dry on some clingfilm as they shouldn’t stick to the film!

Easter decorations!

This craft is suitable for all ages – you may have to vary how you decorate the shapes. I used air drying modelling clay to make flowers and eggs. These were cut using cookie cutters. The shapes need time to dry out – a couple of days.

We’ll be decorating flower shapes at Toddler Group. You could make these at home with your children and if you make a hole for string you could hang them on an Easter Tree.

Smooth the edges before the clay dries

Decorate using PVA glue, tissue paper and sequins

A few years ago I made a similar craft using salt dough – I must admit that the shop bought air drying modelling material (long name!) was easier and seems less brittle. The salt dough egg post is here

On the way to Easter with Peter – Friday to Sunday

The story – from Mark 14,15 and John 20

Our story has a sad beginning – Can you look sad? Jesus died on the Friday. He was put in a tomb (cave) and a big stone was put over the entrance.

His friends were very sad and frightened. A whole day went by – that was Saturday.

The next day was Sunday. A lady called Mary went to the tomb. When she got there something had happened. The big stone had been moved. What could she do? Who would help her?

Mary knew someone who could help her – Peter! She went to find Peter and John and told them what had happened.

They listened. Then they started to run. They were running as fast as they could to the tomb. John got there first and looked inside. It was empty.

Then Peter got there. He didn’t just look inside. He walked right in to the tomb. It was empty!

Jesus wasn’t there anymore. The Bible tells us that that he had died and then come alive again. This is happy news for you and for me.

I used pictures from The Tiny Treasures He’s Alive Flannelgraph . After the story you could show the children an Easter Garden.

Time to make an Easter Garden!

This is a great activity to do with your own children/grandchildren. All you need is a container, some compost, stones, some plants/moss from the garden/seeds and a tomb shape – this could be made from plasticine or clay.

It’s a great outdoor activity or, if indoors, cover the area where you are making it with newspaper. If you are using live plants/seeds keep them watered!

On the way to Easter with Peter – Peter denies Jesus

Sometimes I like to give the parents/carers and children some actions to do during the story. We practise the actions first and then the idea is that everyone joins in at the right moment in the story!

Actions – running (either on the spot or making sound of running with hands tapping knees, stars in the sky, pretending to shiver and rubbing hands to be warm.

There are also some words to join in with – a rooster crowing, saying ‘No’ and counting to 3.

The story

Some people didn’t like Jesus and they wanted to make trouble for him. He was taken away and asked lots of questions. His friends ran away! All except Peter who followed to where Jesus had been taken. He stayed outside. It was dark – there were stars in the sky. It was cold too and Peter shivered. He tried to stay warm.

‘You are a friend of Jesus’, a woman said.

‘No!’ said Peter. Then he heard the rooster crow

‘You are a friend of Jesus’ she said again

‘No!’ said Peter

Then other people joined in – ‘You are a friend of Jesus’

What would Peter say? He said ‘No!’

Then he heard the rooster crow. Peter remembered that Jesus had told him that before the rooster crowed twice he would say he wasn’t Jesus’ friend 1,2, 3 times. Peter was so sad that he cried.

But Jesus still loved Peter and Easter is all about how Jesus can forgive us when we do wrong things. Jesus was going to forgive Peter.

On the way to Easter with Peter – Jesus’ last meal

On the way to Easter with Peter – Jesus’ last meal Bible story. Bible references – Mark 14 and Luke 22 (see also the accounts in Matthew and John).

The following is a story idea for toddlers. Some of the details have been omitted as this age group would find all the details bewildering! As we are using Peter as our main character I have concentrated on two main parts that he played – getting the room ready and then his conversation with Jesus. His outburst about not letting Jesus wash his feet has been omitted. The concept of being clean as explained by Jesus is quite complicated for toddlers!

The story is quite sad – so don’t overdo the sadness. Just tell it like it happened. The aim is to tell about Peter’s failure in order that we can then tell about Jesus’ love and forgiveness.

Use some props for the story – puppets or knitted people, some pitta bread, a cushion and a picture of a rooster as children may not know what this is.

puppets, flat bread, picture of rooster for Last Supper Bible story

The story…

Do you remember that we are on our way to Easter with Peter? He is one of the friends of Jesus.

Jesus wanted to have a very special meal with his friends. He knew that this would be the last time that they would all be together before he died. But, some people wanted to hurt Jesus and so the meal had to be kept secret.

Jesus had an important job for two of his friends – John and Peter. ‘Go into the town and when you see a man carrying a water jar follow him into the house.Then ask if you can use the room upstairs.’ John and Peter did exactly what Jesus said and they got the room ready. There was a table for the food – some bread and wine to drink and some cushions to sit on.

Jesus and his friends sat down and had a meal together.

When they had finished they sang a song and then went outside for a walk. It was dark. The stars were twinkling in the sky.

Jesus wanted to talk to Peter. ‘You are going to let me down and say that you aren’t my friend’, he told him.

‘No!’ Peter said,’I will never do that!’

‘Peter, you will tell people you don’t even know me before the rooster crows to show it’s morning time’ Jesus said.

Would Peter do that just when Jesus needed his friends? We’ll have to wait and see!

Jesus’ last meal craft idea

lords-supper-cup-and-bread-1 Download

On the way to Easter – with Peter

The fish outline is a free download from :-

<a href=”https://clipartfest.com/”>clipartfest.com</a>

The colourful ‘scales’ are mini cup cake cases cut in half. I bought them from Amazon. The fins are the cases cut into quarters.

We were doing the story of Peter being called to follow Jesus from Mark 1:16. As Peter was a fisherman we made fish! For the next few weeks our stories will be about the things Peter saw and heard and did the first Easter. Here’s Peter..with his boat and fish.

Peter

the sea, boat and fish from Peter’s story

The next four weeks will be

The last Supper Mark 14
Peter denies Jesus Mark 14
Jesus death and resurrection Mark 15,16
BBQ breakfast on the beach John 21

Each time the focus will be on what Peter saw and heard and did. I am hoping that while each short story will be interesting for the children they will also give the adults an understanding of what happened and why.

Palm leaf craft

This is a very easy palm leaf craft. The basic shape is cut from construction paper (5 at a time). Then there are two shades of tissue paper, squares of green construction paper and some shiny cellophane – this was not great to cut up as it clings to you! It’ll look nice and I like to use stuff up – this was wrapping for a bunch of flowers. The wax crayons are shades of green.

palm Sunday leaf

Easter with toddlers

Easter with toddlers! There are some lovely Easter Garden ideas in this post and if you read to the end an Easter Story video.

A simple Easter garden is a great way to introduce young children to Easter. You can use natural materials such as soil/compost and leaves or you can make a garden like the one here. The playdough will last a couple of weeks before it dries out – so this won’t keep for ever – but then next Easter the children can make another garden.

At the end of this post there is an idea for telling the Easter story using different faces – there is a PDF for you to use too.

To make an Easter Garden like this one each child needs

Green square paper plates (affiliate link)
paper ice cream cups (affiliate link)
Green playdough
Foam self adhesive flowers
Crumbled Weetabix
Brown paper cut into squares
Glue stick
Sticker/label with the words ‘Jesus is alive!’ printed on to them -here’s PDF of a sheet to print onto labels Jesus is alive! (label)

Make a garden yourself to show to give children and adults an idea of what they are aiming for.

If you click on the links above you will be taken to where I bought the plates, ice cream tubs and flowers. You could use different plates – just make sure they are the shiny coated type so the dough won’t soak through.

To prepare the craft cut a ‘stone’ out of ice cream tub and make the dough. You will need a lot of dough!

Playdough recipe

2 Cups plain flour (cheap flour is fine)

2 Cups water

Food colouring (add this to the water)

1 Tablespoon cooking oil

1 Teaspoon cream of tartar (don’t be tempted to leave this out)

1 Cup salt

Put everything in a large saucepan and mix over a medium heat till it comes together as a dough.

Take out of the pan and kneed on a lightly floured surface for a of minutes till smooth. It will be hot!

Store in an airtight container/bag in the fridge till you need it. Let it come to room temperature before the children use it.

This amount will make 5 square plate Easter Gardens if you cover the entire plate. You could cover less of the plate as in the picture above.

Enjoy making..

Have a look at an Easter garden I made to show the children at Toddler Group during story time.

Telling the Easter Story

This idea uses faces to explain the story – angry, sad, surprised and happy. As you tell how some people were angry with Jesus show the any face and ask everyone, ‘can you look angry?’When Jesus died his friends were very sad – show the sad face and ask everyone, ‘can you look sad?’ Then something amazing happened; Jesus came alive again. His friends were surprised! Ask everyone, ‘can you look surprised?’

Jesus is still alive today! Show the happy face and ask, ‘can you look happy?’ We can be happy because Jesus is alive!

Easter with toddlers paper plate faces to tell the story — Paper plate faces to help tell the Easter Story – see below for a telling of the story.

Here are the faces as printable PDF’s if you would like to use them

Angry & Sad Face Surprised & Happy Face

or plain circles to make your own – Circles for paper plates.

Easter chickens – paper plate craft

I found this via Pinterest – it’s originally from this website http://krokotak.com/ which is full of absolutely great ideas.
The idea for my simple chicken came from here http://krokotak.com/2012/11/cut-away-some-paper-animals/. My version is a bit simpler as I was cutting out quite a few for our toddler group.

If you wanted to you could place these on the breakfast table on Easter morning and hide a chocolate egg underneath!

Chicken+Plate – PDF file with simple template.

We decorated the chicks with feathers and tissue and crepe paper.

easter wreath – recycled egg boxes!

To make this colourful wreath the children need egg boxes, ready mix paint, a paper plate cut into a ring, double sided glue squares (we used Sellotape sticky fixers) and some foam shapes and if you want a bow, crepe paper. (Don’t unfold it simply cut strips from a new pack)

For very young children you need to do some things for them ahead of time. For toddler group I cut the egg boxes and painted them too. You could easily let the children do the painting but our painting area was sadly out of action! Some egg boxes are different colours to start with so less painting was needed. I also cut the paper plates to make a ring. Using brightly coloured plates makes a difference to the finished craft.

Older children could do a lot of this themselves.

Easter sun catchers

Jesus enters Jerusalem – Palm sunday

To make these pictures I started with a roll of paper from Ikea and drew a road. The buildings and trees were added. As you tell the story you can add all the things you need. The cloaks were cut from material, the donkey has pegs for legs.

The people were copied from this book Their God is so Big by Stephanie Carmichael. It’s on offer at the moment!

Legless+Donkey

Street+Scene

Palm+leaf+scene+parts

The donkey with pegs for legs would make a good craft. help yourself to the free printables.

getting ready for Easter

Here are some craft and baking ideas to help celebrate Easter with the links to the original posts! This week I will be getting some brand new ideas together too. I can’t believe that we are almost at Easter already when Christmas doesn’t seem all that long ago.

Easter Nests (only suitable for ages 5plus as the small eggs are a chocking hazard) – recipe is here

Easter Wreath is here

Easter Garden is here

Salt dough Easter Egg Decorations are here

Palm Sunday craft

Palm Sunday craft to make. A few ideas that are fun to make!

The story of Palm Sunday (or the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem) is from Luke 19, Mark 11, John 12 and Matthew 21. It is the beginning of the end of Jesus’ life on the earth.

In Mark’s gospel we read that, ‘they (Jesus and his disciples and followers) were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was going to happen to him saying, ‘See, we are going to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.’ Mark 10:32-34.

These must have been difficult things for Jesus to talk about. The disciples don’t appear to have really understood – James and John are bothered about where they will get to sit in heaven!

But despite the fact that Jesus knows he is going to Jerusalem to die he stops to help a man who is calling out to him. Bartimaeus is sitting by the roadside and shouting out for help. And Jesus stops and helps.

And then the group arrive at the outskirts of Jerusalem and Jesus sends two disciples to fetch a donkey. He rides into Jerusalem at a time when the place would have been packed with people there to celebrate Passover. They welcome him – laying clothes on the floor and waving palm branches calling Hosanna.

Ideas for telling the story to children

For young children it would be good to ask them to shout ‘Hosanna’ at the right time in the story and wave palm branches that they have made.

If you use a story bag include a toy/model donkey, a cloak to lay on the floor and a palm branch.

For older children make the connection with Old Testament prophecy as highlighted in Matthew’s account. It’s also useful for older children to have a timeline of the Easter events.

A short retelling of the story

Palm Sunday Craft

A couple of palm leaf crafts – a sun catcher and a collage. Both use paper plates. The sun catcher is a little more tricky and has tacky back and glitter! The palm leaf collage can be cut out and a pipe cleaner attached so it can be waved during the story.

Older children could design a sun catcher and cut out the shape and attach the tacky back etc.

Large+Palm+Leaf – PDF file

Small+Palm+Leaf – PDF file – template for palm leaf sun catcher

Palm Sunday Craft paper plate leaf sun catcher

Easter garden

We made an Easter Garden for our Toddler Group Story Time. A very simple but effective visual aid. Older children could make their own.

You need

Tray or baking tin (I used a baking tin)

Foil to cover the tray/tin

Potting compost

Moss (if you do this ahead you could plant seeds – I wasn’t that organised)

Small stones for the path

Twigs for trees (we didn’t add the crosses as the children are so young.But we did talk about them in the story)

Air drying clay for the tomb

Large stone to put by the tombs entrance

Air drying clay rolled into balls to stick the twigs into to secure them. Cover the balls of clay with compost.

This would be a great activity to do during the Easter holiday. You could have a competition to see who puts the most effort into making their garden.

Spring/Easter wreath craft (DIY)

To make this simple wreath you will need

Paper plates with the centre cut out

Leaf shapes cut from sugar paper (construction paper)

Petits fours paper cases

Buttons/Tissue paper

Glue (preferably PVA as everything will stick better)

Glue spreaders

To make

Begin by gluing leaves to the paper plate ring.

Add the petits fours cases to make flowers

Add buttons/tissue paper to the centre of the petits fours cake cases (optional – no need to use these if younger children are making the wreaths as buttons can be a chocking hazard)

Note – separate the petits fours cake cases before the children begin or you will end up with a sticky cake case mess!

Chocolate Easter Egg Nests to make with Kids aged 5 and over!

This is a yummy make for older children. Mini eggs are a chocking hazard so don’t use this in a toddler or preschool group. It’s over 5’s only.

All you need for this simple cooking craft is in the picture above. Shredded wheat cereal (not the bite sized shreddies) , milk chocolate, mini chocolate eggs and cake cases. If you can get greaseproof cake cases do.

Melt the chocolate in the microwave – 15 seconds at a time stirring in between melts. An adult needs to supervise this because the bowl will become hot.

Crumble in the shredded wheat one at a time. Stir until coated with chocolate each time. Only add more if you need to.

Spoon some of the mixture into the cake cases and make a slight hollow with a spoon,

Place the mini eggs in the hollow before the chocolate ‘nest’ sets.

Note: Shredded wheat is not a sweet cereal so you may want to substitute with Rice Krispies. Shredded wheat will look more like a nest!

Warning: The mini eggs are NOT SUITABLE FOR UNDER 5’s AS THEY ARE A CHOCKING HAZARD

Easter egg with cross symbol craft ideas

Egg with cross on tracing paper

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Good Friday crafts – round paper plate

Good Friday crafts – square paper plates

Good Friday craft – Easter Garden

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On the way to Easter – some thoughts about telling the story

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All you need

How to make the baskets

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To make the Easter Garden you need

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God knows when I feel excited story idea

Craft Ideas

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How to make an Easter Door Wreath

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How to make your own Easter Stained Glass picture

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What I used to make the Easter Garden

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The Story from Luke 23 and 24

Easter Craft Idea

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Some pictures to use to tell the story

Craft ideas

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On the Way to Easter .. Bartimaeus Story Idea

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On the way to Easter – some thoughts about telling the story

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The Last Supper story idea

The Last Supper craft

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The story…

Jesus’ last meal craft idea

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To make an Easter Garden like this one each child needs

Telling the Easter Story

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Ideas for telling the story to children

Palm Sunday Craft

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