Easter Ideas for Little One's

I've learned in my 5.5 short years of parenting to never underestimate a child's ability to understand.  Their understanding of something like Easter and the sacrifice that Jesus made on our behalf might look a little bit different than ours as adults, but it is no less genuine or deep.

My early Easter memories are so meaningful.   God got a hold of my life at a very young age and Easter was always a mind-blowing time.  I'm thankful for how intentional my parents were in celebrating this time of year. 

I discovered three years ago that in these early years, I needed to put in some advance prep if they were to understand anything...  Life can get so busy.  And with a 2.5 year old and 6 month old, it seemed that in the time that I blinked, Easter had come and gone.   

So I resolved to plan and prepare for following years, so I could slow my life down, reflect and share the joy of this time with my children.

There are some general principles that I've gleaned.

One of the most important at this age is to NEVER leave Jesus on the cross.  At this tender age, it is too difficult to deal with the brutality of the cross without the hope of the resurrection.

So as we talk about the cross and what Jesus did for us there, we always give the whole story.  Apart from the resurrection, there would be no good news.  They need the whole story.  And all in one sitting.

We need to make it concrete.  Before the age of reason which occurs around 7 years old, it is challenging for children to deal with abstract truth.  Making our celebrations interactive and hands-on helps bring these great truths down to their level.

• Act the story out.  What kid doesn't like costumes?  Include Palm Sunday too!
• Utilize paper dolls or figurines.  We had the coolest 3D paper doll resurrection scene as children.  I haven't been able to find something like that, but Oriental Trading company has some resin sets for Palm Sunday and the Resurrection that could be equally powerful in the hands of a small child as she recreates the scene and acts it out.  They also have a very reasonably priced wooden set that we are in love with.  Play is, afterall, how children internalize what they have learned.
• Prepare an Easter garden or some other recreation of Calvary and the Tomb.  I was inspired by the Easter garden at Holy Experience, but decided to do one that included both Calvary and the tomb.  Ann, calls it a visual parable.  I found another fabulous idea over at Mustard Seeds.  I love how she incorporated Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday together.  Her tutorial is amazing and black-thumb not withstanding, I actually think I could do it!

(photo credit : Janna at Mustard Seeds)

Emphasize Relationship!

Easter is all about the Jesus coming down and dying on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin so that we can be restored to right relationship with God.  Even young children can understand the concept of being a part of God's family.  We can utilize this opportunity to talk to them about how to relate to God.  We can point out that God speaks to us through the Bible as we read with them and encourage them to talk to God about anything and everything.

Get to the {heart} of Easter with this wonderful Heart Lesson.

Make it a BIG deal.

Advance preparations build anticipation.  Special activities and time spent reflecting and preparing for Easter build excitement.  This is a wonderful season to take stock of our priorities and enjoy special time with Jesus!

The cool thing about this is that there are so many ways to go about it.  Each family will celebrate in their own unique and wonderful way.  It has been such a joy to discover how families all over the globe celebrate Easter.

Building anticipation can even be as simple as getting new Easter outfits.  Growing up, we didn't have much money, but each spring, my mom would take us out and we would pick out a beautiful summer dress, new shoes and frilly socks to wear on Easter Sunday.  In a house of little girls, the excitement was huge!  We couldn't wait to wear our new outfits (not hand-me-downs).  It really helped build up for us that this was a very special occasion!

Here are some other wonderful traditions to get your creative juices flowing:

• Read, read, read!  Read straight from the Bible.  Utilize a beautiful picture book.  I love having several books around the house this time of year.  Here are some of my favorites.  Taking time to read, reflect and talk to God about what you've read with your child is the most important thing you can do!
• Encourage questions and talk with your child about what you've read.  I'm always amazed what comes up in conversation.  Bedtime seems to be a time when my boys really want to talk and reflect.  I never mind this time of delaying bedtime.
• Palm Sunday - this helps set the stage for the beginning of Holy week.  We've enjoyed acting out this scene.  Grab a palm branch or make one using this super easy handprint idea or this cool tutorial.  We take turns having one ride in on the donkey (aka stick horse) while the others wave the branches, spread out the play silks and cry, "Hosanna, hosanna.  Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord." 

• Water-color crosses.  This is the perfect craft for even those as young as one or two years old.  You simply place masking or painters tape down on card stock or watercolor paper in the shape of the cross and let your little one water color all over the paper.  Once it has dried, carefully remove the tape and ta da!  

• Easter flannel board.  Super easy to make and enjoyable for even the littlest one's.

• Paper-Mache Eggs-Tomb.  We did this last year and had so much fun with the process and then placing the angel in our empty tomb when we had completed it!  There is a link to the tutorial.
• The Stone Rolled Away craft.  I've had this bookmarked for a while.  I just found another fun one here.
• Resurrection Eggs - is a wonderful and simple way to count down to Easter while systematically explaining the meaning behind the events leading up to Good Friday.  You can make your own, or go to a Christian book store and buy them pre-made.

• Road to Calvary banner and devotions.  We are enjoying doing this again this year.  This is not for the really young one's, but some 4-6 year olds might be old enough to start understanding the symbolism.  We made ours out of felt, but it could just as easily be made out of poster board.  The book has the template for each symbol.
• He Is Risen Rolls - given my boys penchent for cinnamon rolls, we'll be giving these a try this year!
• Teach your child an Easter related song.  If possible see if you can find one that you know you will sing at church on Sunday morning.  We lucked out and actually got a full list of the songs that will be sung and have already begun listening to them!
• Jesus Is Alive finger play is a perfect way to review the account in a hands-on, moving kind of way that even the youngest in your family can participate in.  This active story takes children through Jesus' death, resurrection, and ascension.

Jesus Is Alive

Jesus died upon the cross. (Rub your eyes as if crying.)

He was buried in a grave. (Bow your head.)

For three sad days, our Lord was dead (Count to three with your fingers.)

But then came Sunday morning.  (rest one forearm on top of the other.  Raise the top forearm to show the sun rising.)

When the women came to see (Have children stand up while holding hands.),

An earthquake shook the ground.  (Lean from side to side in a circle while continuing to hold hands.)

Jesus' body was not there.  (Hang your head in sadness.)

He'd risen from the dead! (Jump and cheer)

He talked and walked with all his friends.  (Walk around and shake hands.)

He said: "Go tell the world. (Move your hands as if they were mouths.)

If the people will believe in me (Spread your hands to indicate all the people),

They'll be my forever family. (Hug yourself.)

Then Jesus went up, up, up into heaven (stand on tiptoe and then jump up),

And we have a job to do.  (Have each child tell the child next to him that Jesus is alive!)

A Glimpse...

A parent's job is challenging.  You work so hard one day, teaching and training your little one's only to wake up the next morning and do it all over again.

Your finger doesn't go there.  Share your toys.  Don't throw your food on the floor.  The potty is THAT way.  Let's practice using kind words with our brother...

Sometimes, in my weak moments, I wonder if they will ever learn.  I am drained.

I know they will, but sometimes I can get pretty irrational about it.

Then God gives you a tiny peek, a glimpse of the progress that is being made.  A glimpse of the lessons learned, the words heard or the magnificient work that He is doing in their hearts.

Last week I was given the gift of one of these glimpses.

Keegan, my 3 year old, sat down with me to work on his verse that he needed to learn for the upcoming week of Awana's:

"He is not here.  He is Risen!"

As I was starting the verse, Keegan jumped in and finished it.  The verse had been a central part of our Easter play and craft times last year and despite his young age (2.5) he had remembered it!

While some days it seems like he is not interested in doing much, he is still learning and growing.  I may not see all of the fruit now, but I am called to faithfully cultivate and be faithful to what God has called me to today. 

In time I will see more.  For now, I'm content with the glimpses he gives me...

(For a list of ideas I've compiled on sharing Easter with our little one's, go here!)

So I continue with others all over the world as we take time out of our week to count His many gifts!








150. God's Word hidden in little hearts and bearing fruit
151. new life - both physical and spiritual.

152. The thrill of new discovered skills
153. Truth that breaks into my heart through music
154. singing truth and praise back to God with others

155. beautiful plants that should survive my black thumb
156. toddler toes speckled with black paint because he wanted to help dad paint chairs

157. fish lip kisses
158. clippers that can erase the effects of a 3yo self-haircut

159. brotherly affection  (oh the glimpses are more frequent than I could have imagined)
160. carcassonne game nights with hubby, even if he wins
161. sleep.  catching up on sleep.
162. conversations with my sister
163. making plans with my mom
164. tiny niece hands gripping my fingers as we walk down the stairs

165. acacia blooms that I am not allergic too!

Sunshine In A Pocket

We are currently OBSESSED with pita bread.  This obsession began back in November when I tried the recipe for pita bread from the revolutionary book, Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day!

We love bread in this family, especially fresh bread.  The problem is that I just don't have the time to make it from scratch all of the time.

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day explores the concept of making a big batch of dough and storing it in the fridge and only pulling off what you need for dinner that night.  The book is amazing!

Our pita bread is merely a matter of pulling off 4-5 balls of dough, flattening it out and sliding it onto a hot pizza stone! 

Five minutes later - fresh pita!

After some experimenting, here is recipe with the mix of whole wheat to white flour that we like!

Refrigerator Pita Dough (makes approx 24-30 pitas)

* 3 cups luke warm water

* 1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast (2 packets)

*1 1/2 tablespoons salt

* 3 cups whole wheat flour

* 3 1/2 cups unbleached white flour

Mixing Prep:

1. 
   
   Mix the yeast and salt with water.  Add rest of remaining dry ingredients and mix until combined.   Place dough in a 5 quart lidded (not airtight) container.
2. 
   
   Cover (not airtight), and allow to rest at room temperature until the dough rises and starts to flatten out on top - approx 2 hours.
3. 
   
   Use some of the dough at this point or place in refrigerator and use within the next 14 days!

To Bake:

1. 
   
   20 minutes before you want to start baking, start heating the oven and baking stone to 500 degrees.
2. 
   
   Dust surface of dough with flour and pull out a tennis ball sized hunk of dough for each pita that you would like to make. 
3. 
   
   On a floured surface work dough ball into a flattened circle.  You can do this by hand or with the rolling pin.  Rotate dough as you work and make sure there is enough flour to prevent sticking.  It should be 1/8 in thick. Be sure that it is even.  Finger indentations in the dough will result in uneven puffiness.  If it is too thick it won't puff up well either.   Sprinkle a little flour on a pizza paddle and place pita rounds on that to slide onto the hot stone in the oven.  Lower temperature to 475 and bake for 5-6 minutes until lightly browned and puffed.
4. 
   
   For a soft-crusted result, wrap in a clean dish towel and place on a cooling rack to cool down.

We've been putting everything we can think of inside these pita's.  Our favorites are chicken salad and making "Sunshine in a Pocket".  We've also tried taco style pita's and are open to any and all other suggestions!  (Please feed our addiction!)

For breakfast, I pop in some pita's to cook and then scramble eggs and add whatever veggies are on hand.  The cooked up "sunshine" is placed inside the pita's with some cheese. 

It always make for a bright start to our day!

 

Art Therapy or Recovery?

I used to be so brave... 

...back when I had one child and even when there were two painting.  We would pull out paints frequently. 

It was fun.  An adventure, I'd claim.

Now if I haven't mentally prepared myself, I can feel myself going to the brink of insanity.  There just isn't enough of me to go around if they get in a Pollack frenzy and start simultaneously flinging paint.

hmmmm. Maybe we should move the painting outside.

It has been a while, but with our exploration of our desert home, it just felt right to pull out the tempora once again and paint some desert scenery.

Thankfully, there was no paint flinging.  Just paint on paper, fingers and the nose.

Each boy expressed himself artistically in his own unique way.

 I even relaxed and got a piece of the action too!  Mine is just recognizable enough to look like cheesy kid art while theirs has a decided 'modern' flair to it...

But we are all proud of our accompishments and have tacked up our work for all to see.

And now I recover and realize that it wasn't THAT bad.  We just might try it again...

Arizona Explorations

We've started our study of Native Americans.  Since my kids are young, I thought it best to start out at the local level first and learn about tribes here in our state before branching out.  Making learning concrete rather than abstract is easier at this age.   

To prepare for this and take advantage of our beautiful spring weather, we've been learning about our state and desert habitat!

Due to their recent fascination with anything map related and the inspiration to just jump in and try it from a friend of ours, we made our first salt-dough maps!  I found fabulous directions here.

Since I wanted this to be "more" exact than abstract, we chose to do this after Treyton went down for his afternoon nap...

We started by taping down an outline of Arizona on a piece of cardboard and painting a frame.

While that dried, we mixed up a half-batch of the salt-dough.  The boys loved mixing it by hand!

We then proceeded to spread a thin layer and set the state boundaries.  Afterwards we added more dough for the mountain and the plateau regions, poking holes to represent the three largest cities in our state and making a nice gorge for the Grand Canyon.

The boys were quite proud of the results!

After letting this dry for a day... or two (ok, ok, we got a little side-tracked), we pulled out the paints!  Tan for the southern desert regions of the state, green for the mountain region and reddish-brown for the plateau.

All went relatively well, until we added rivers and lakes to our map.  Keegan got a little carried away with his and added abundant water features to the bottom half of his state.  But he's three and a little bit of artistic license won't hurt him.

We also revisited many of our favorite books on the Sonoran desert:

Way Out in the Desert: Pretty much any books by Jennifer Ward rock.  They are rhythmic, simple and entertaining.  This and the next book are perfect for the 2-4year old crowd and a great introduction to the desert for anybody!  This book is set to the tune of "Over in the Meadow" and also includes a count-up with a hidden number on each page.  The boys enjoy counting the animals and searching for the hidden number! 

The Seed and the Giant Saguaro: Based on "This Is the House that Jack Built", this story builds on itself and also gives visual clues of what is to come.  The boys love the rhyming review and guessing what will come next.  It is a great soft introduction to food chains, pollination and ecosystems.

Creatures of the Desert World ~ Auntie Ev bought this pop-up book for the boys.  It is a gem, but on the fragile side.  There is much excitement when I pull this down from it's high and safe perch.  With flaps and pop-up pages, the Sonoran desert really comes to life in this amazing book.

Desert Giant: The World of the Saguaro Cactus ~ This beautifully illustrated book goes through the life of a giant saguaro and lays out it's relationship with the animals and people of the desert.  This is one of the few books that I can find on the Tohono O'Oodham people.

Cactus Hotel ~ This charming book also goes through the life-cycle of a saguaro and tells about the different animals that take shelter in the saguaro.

Road To Calvary

My heart swells with gratitude as we once again, mull over the long road to Calvary...  Seeing God's master plan weaved through the Bible is amazing.  Watching the growing understanding in my children as we take time to think, ponder, anticipate and celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is exciting.   Taking the time, myself, to prepare my heart for Easter is humbling and revitalizing!

This Monday morning I embark again on noting His many gifts to me... 

136. Spring flowers right outside my window!

137. time to ponder and anticipate THE pivotal event on which all of history is hinged.

138. being alive - both spiritually and physically. 

139. early morning wake-up calls from God.  Fellowship is sweet in the still morning hour, especially when He's helped you fully wake up!

140. everyday guidance from God and His speaking to me through Scripture that the Holy Spirit brings to my mind.  His timing is perfect since he knows my needs before I can even begin to anticipate them...

141. for renewed hope in HIM instead of life's circumstances. 

142. The wonderful diversity in His creation.  A trip to the Desert Botanical Garden provides ample time to reflect on this...

143. the chance to see my boys amazed by His creation too!

144. spontaneous hugs from my sons.

145. Mexican food and quiet conversation with my hubby.

146. wise words from my Opa written at the perfect time!

147. The feeling in the pit of your stomach before you get up to talk to a group of people!  :I love butterflies:

148. Opportunities to encourage other homeschool moms

149. sandle season is officially here again!  Yellow brightens my day! :)

Happy Spring!

Spring is 'officially' here.  Of course, in the beautiful Sonoran desert, it certainly feels like spring arrived about a month ago...  But now it is official.

To mark the seasons, we turn to the tree in our front room.

It is time to take our tree from barren to budding!

I'd love to hear what anyone else does to celebrate spring! 

We love to go for nature walks and admire the wildflowers and sit in our backyard and take in the aroma of the citrus blossoms!  :sigh:

We love to celebrate new life - what was once barren, now bearing fruit.  It is a time of reflection and joy.

Two

My baby turned two.  This spunky, no-fear little boy is a delight.  His giggle is infectious.

Treyton is a busy little man. Lately he's been caught doing the following things:

* dancing with kitchen shears.

*pulling a kids chair or stool into the kitchen and helping himself to all kinds of stuff found on my countertops.  (maybe this will motivate me to have magazine quality clean counters!)

* coloring the recliner with a sharpie.

* finding a sharpie and coloring the stool and my kitchen floor - all in the time it took me to walk to the pantry and pull out some flour...

*carting cups of rocks into the house and dumping them on my carpet.

*spearing dog poo and coming in to the living room to show mommy.

*scopping water out of the dog bowl and drinking it.

*grabbing a stick of butter that I had put out to soften and eating it.

*pulling my diaper bag down repeatedly and spreading it's contents all over the kitchen floor.

*decorating the bathroom with tp.

*climbing up onto MY bicycle seat when I turn to snap Keegan's bike helmet on.

*pulling down a new container of yogurt and then helping Duchess lick up the spilled contents from the floor.

*trying to throw bricks over the fence. ouch, for him that is.

This newly minted 2 year old keeps me busy...  But we wouldn't trade him for the world. 

What the Zoo Can Do for You!

We love our zoo!  From the moment we received our first zoo membership for Christmas when Xander was only 5 months old until now, it has been a 'must-have' for our family!  

The zoo is a regular part of our routine!  When the weather is nice we go anywhere from two to five times a month.  During the hot months, we may only go once or twice per month. 

But we still go. 

If it weren't for the 45 minute drive, we'd probably go weekly - year round.

My mom recently had a conversation with some people who were incredulous that one would actually buy a zoo membership.  They couldn't fathom why people would want to go to the zoo multiple times for... 

It gave her the opportunity to share all of the wonderful benefits of going to the zoo on a regular basis!

1. There is always something new to see.  Unlike any other museum, this is not a static exhibit.  The animals are always up to something and each trip is unique.  On our most recent visit, we got to see the Andean Condors get fed.  The boys were in awe as these massive birds spread their large wings and dove down to the meat offering at the front of the exhibit. 

2. There is freedom to run and explore.  My little boys have a lot of energy.  Walking around the zoo and playing in one of their many play areas gives them the opportunity to flex their growing muscles, and release all of that energy!  Movement is vital for learning.  Children, especially little boys, need to move to help foster neural connectivity.  It is always fascinating to see what kind of play they engage in and how they incorporate their zoological discoveries of the day into their play!

3. There is ample opportunity to develop their observation skills!  As much as my wild little boys love to romp around, it is always interesting to watch them slow down and just watch.  They've learned the rewards of sitting still and waiting.   As a result of taking our time going from exhibit to exhibit, they get the treat of witnessing very interesting animal behavior and we all enjoy sharing our observations with one another! 

4. And I know this is a bit selfish, but zoo mornings make for great afternoon naps!

5. Getting outside and learning about the world around us is incredible.  His creation is so diverse, complex and beautiful.   Watching my boys develop a love for the natural world and its Creator makes me smile!