Monday 25 March 2013

Easter Countdown Calendar

Opening her countdown egg!
So, the countdown to Easter has begun, and this week, with the help of a lot of ideas from Pinterest and other blogger friends, my intention is to help our family get ready for next weekend. The first project? Creating an Easter Countdown Calendar.

The idea, similar to our family Advent Calendar, is to unfold the Easter story bit by bit as the week goes by, and to hopefully help Ava to understand that Easter is not just about spring chickens and bunnies (cute as they are!)

So here goes...

You need:
Some plastic eggs which open (I ordered mine from Amazon)
Card
Appropriate props (see below)
Chocolate buttons
Sharpie


Step One: using your Sharpie, label your eggs 1-8 with the intention that one egg will be opened every day from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday.

All labelled up (permanent marker or sharpie does the trick!)
Step Two: cut 8 small pieces of card, and write the following Bible verses on one side...
Day 1: John 12:12-19 (The Triumphal Entry)
Day 2: Luke 19:45-48 (Clearing the Temple)
Day 3: John 13:1-17 (washing feet)
Day 4: Mark 14:12-26 (last supper)
Day 5: Luke 22:39-46 (in the garden)
Day 6: Mark 15:1-47 (death)
Day 7: Matthew 27:62-66 (Sabbath)
Day 8: Luke 24:1-8 (resurrection)

Day 2: Jesus clears the temple... talking about making things clean
Step Three: on the other side of the card, write an Easter Activity to do together. This could be anything from doing a craft to singing a song to acting something out... I've included my activities below, but obviously you want them to be age appropriate...
Day 1: Make a crown
Day 2: "Jesus clears the temple" colouring page
Day 3: Sing "Stop and think" (Gettys - serving song)
Day 4: Make Challah bread
Day 5: Make a Resurrection Garden
Day 6: Watch "Das Erste Ostern Kinderfilm" on YouTube
Day 7: Make an Easter Swatch Book
Day 8: Sing "på Golgotha"

Step Four: gather together the appropriate props to fill your eggs...
Day 1: Some little leaves
Day 2: A mini cloth
Day 3: Footprint stickers
Day 4: Dolls house cup and plate
Day 5: Olive, cloth with a drop of red on it
Day 6: A nail, a cross and a dice
Day 7: A piece of rock and a bandage
Day 8: Empty egg!

Ready to go...
Step five: fill 'em up!
I put the little card, the prop and a chocolate button in each egg...

Voila!

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4 comments:

  1. What a wonderful post! I received a set of Resurrection eggs last year from a friend of church. They are much like yours, but are not handmade. I love the idea of creating another set with my children and maybe even making some as gifts for friends. Thank you for sharing at A New Creation! I'm your newest follower via email.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the tip - have checked out Resurrection eggs as a possibility for next year. It's been fun to make these ones with Ava, but its hard to find little objects small enough to fit in the eggs! Great to have you following!

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  2. hey Clarina, geniale Idee! I'll def. be doing this with my kids this year. Vielen Dank, Andrea

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  3. Geniale Idee:-) Will def. be doing this starting tomorrow. Vielen Dank für die Idee! Take care, Andrea

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