Easter.
The forgotten Holiday.
I’m usually guilty of getting to the store the day before to grab some chocolate bunnies and Easter grass.
I always want to treat it like Christmas.
But, we are out of school for Christmas and we have so much ritual surrounding it.
Easter… not so much.
But not this year my friends.
NOT. THIS. YEAR.
Because someone else has done a bunch of work so I don’t have to.
The amazing Mandy from Sugar Bee Crafts has made a super cool Easter Advent for your downloading pleasure. Also, her crochet bunny patterns are so cute I almost died.
The beauty is, I’m posting this WAY before Easter, you have TONS of time to get something ready.
So, go out to your yard, and grab a branch.
And then grab some of your Easter Eggs (I know you have a lot)
Number them.
Add these cool strips
And each day you’ll open one. Here’s an overview of the week:
There’s also journaling strips that kids can write down their thoughts.
And an AWESOME FHE guide. Especially for older kids.
I tend to be a bit blurry on (well, on a lot of things) the whole timeline before Jesus’s death. I plan to actually write about it later. BUT I do think the fact that he went into Jerusalem – a king on Palm Sunday, and was crucified by the end of the week is a powerful reminder that things change. That some days you’ll be popular and by Friday you won’t. And Christ certainly understands that!
I’m excited to do it with my family!
So, just download it here (I’m sorry it’s through email sign-up but it’s the easiest way for you to download things, I promise my feelings aren’t hurt at all if you unsubscribe as soon as you get these adorable printables!):
And be sure to check out last year’s Easter post!
Thanks for posting- I think I’ll use this. We also do the Easter story with Easter eggs (similar to this http://womenlivingwell.org/2012/03/the-jesus-story-easter-eggs-fun-for-kids/ )
Very cool! I thought this was a fun way to do it!
I love this idea. I too often make Easter a last-minute thing, but I want to make sure that my kids grow up knowing it’s about so much more than the eggs. This is a great way to make sure they are taught the real meaning. I’m definitely going to do something like this with my kiddos. I’ll probably just simplify it a bit since they are so young. Thanks!
I mainly feel guilt surrounding Easter, so I am hoping this helps. 🙂
There is no such thing as Easter Advent. It is called Lent.
I do not participate in Lent.
There is a time leading up to Easter; it’s called Lent. It is a time of preparation (like Advent). Where Advent is a time of hopeful preparation leading up to the birth of Christ, Lent is a time of penance where we focus on prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. It’s 40 days (not including Sundays) to represent the 40 days Christ spend in the desert and the 40 years the Israelities spent in Exile.
You have to have death before you can have resurrection.
I do not observe Lent, and felt this was a good way for our family to have deeper discussions about the last days of our Savior. I actually find Easter to be the most hopeful time. The fact that Jesus died so that we can live again brings us the ultimate hope.
Umm…you do realize that the 40 days before Easter are called “Lent” not “Advent,” right? And the week leading up to celebrating Christ rising from the dead on Easter Sunday is Holy Week. Aside from those you have mentioned, some other ideas are to have a Last Supper with your kids on Holy Thursday, relive Christ’s walk to Calvary on Good Friday and his death through Scripture reading and the Stations of the Cross, on Holy Saturday remember the suffering and sadness Jesus’ mother and disciples must have felt during the 3 days following Christ’s death, and then on Easter Sunday, recall the amazement and wonder of finding the empty tomb! Then you can spend the 50 days of the Easter Season (and really every other day) celebrating Christ rising from the dead to give us everlasting life with Him! We can use the 40 days of Lent (and in particular the week prior to Easter) as a reminder that Christ had to suffer and die so that we can live with Him. When we have dark times, we are sharing in His suffering, and it helps us to better appreciate the joyful times. And, we can see that NOTHING compares to the joy we have in Christ and the joy we will experience when Christ comes again!
I do not observe lent. I think of the “advent” as doing something each day before the “big” day (aka, Easter). Those are great ideas to talk with my family about, thanks!
[…] gotten a lot of flack from my Easter Advent post. I was criticized for calling it Advent when there is Lent. How I need to focus on his […]
I love the point you raise about the Savior understanding being popular one moment and not the next!
Thanks! 🙂