The Easter Story Craft

The Easter Story craft is designed to help explain the Easter story to kids, especially toddlers.  You will need 12 eggs filled with the following:

1 - cracker
2 - dime
3 - rope
4 - purple cloth
5 - thorn
6 - cross
7 - nail
8 - sponge
9 - toothpick
10 - guaze
11 - rock
12 - leave empty

Be sure to number each egg.  I like to hide them around the house and let the kids hunt for them.  Then they can line them up in order.  This is a great way to work on numbers for smaller kids.



The Easter Story

1 - cracker     The Last Supper at the Passover was a time Jesus had a special meal together with His 12 disciples. They had the meal in an upstairs room of a house. Jesus took a cup of grape juice and a flat loaf of bread, and prayed a thank-you prayer. He told His disciples, "Whenever you drink this, remember Me." After dinner, Jesus and His disciples went to a garden to pray. After they were done praying, one of Jesus' followers named Judas came up to Jesus.

2 - dime     Judas had soldiers with him. Then he did a strange thing. He kissed Jesus on the check. The soldiers had paid Judas silver money to tell them which one was Jesus. Then the soldiers arrested Jesus. Next, they were very mean to Jesus.

3 - rope     They took rope to bind His hand so He couldn't move them.

4 - purple cloth     They put a purple robe on Him and made fun of Him because He told them He was the King of the Jews.

5 - thorn     They made a crown of thorns that they put on His head. They beat Him with a whip.

6 - cross     Then they wanted to put Him to death. He was going to go through all of this so we could be forgiven for our sins.

7 - nail     They took nails and hammered Him up on the cross and put the cross up.

8 - sponge     He was hungry and thirsty. To be mean, they put a sponge with something sour (like vinegar) up to His mouth. It tasted awful to Him - He spit it out! He hung there for 6 hours, the He died.

9 - toothpick     After they saw He was dead, the soldier took a spear and put it into His side.

10 - guaze     His friends took His body down and wrapped it in gauze getting Him ready to be buried.

11 - rock     They put His body in the grave and placed a big huge stone in front of it so no one could steal His body. Then soldiers were put on guard to watch.

The Good News is Jesus didn't stay dead! Early Sunday morning some women came to visit the place where Jesus was buried.

12 - leave empty     They found an angel and the angel said, "He is not here! He is Risen! He is Alive! Go tel your friends!

Sand Carpets–Copan, Honduras

While on family vacation in Copan, Honduras we witnessed the “painting” of the Sand carpets.  We arrived in town the night before Good Friday.  The street was blocked off next to the central park and teams of people were drawing with colored sand or saw dust.  We didn’t know what they were doing or why.  From the looks of it we guessed that there were different teams creating various images.  Maybe it was a contest?  As you can see from the picture they have paper drawn out that they use to guide  where to pour the sand.  The street is layered in hay, then topped with brown sand, and finally drawn on with colored sand. 

In the morning we quickly realized that this was a series of paintings creating the story of Jesus’s last hours and resurrection.  This is a tradition in Honduras to celebrate Semana Santa, or holy week leading up to Easter. 

Here is the view from the balcony of our hotel.  That had a ladder set up at the other end, but the line was long.  Now I wish I had waiting in line!



Late on Good Friday evening there was a procession that made it’s way through the streets led by a priest.  Once they made it to the sand carpets, in the pouring rain, the procession stopped and there was a sermon, given from a megaphone.  After the sermon and prayers were complete they proceeded to walk across the carpet. 

Saturday, the next morning they began to sweep it all away.  They used the sand as mulch around the trees in the park.
 
On Easter Sunday there was another procession through town.  Here is a picture of them making their way down the street.  This has to be about half of the town. 

Painted Carpets Copan, Honduras

Our family traveled to Copan, Honduras for Easter.  Here is a picture of the completed "painted carpet"  they at Easter. I will post soon with pictures of the whole process!