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Holidays with littles are…different. Some might say that until they’re about 4-years-old, holidays are just for the parents. There may be some truth to that. I mean, my oldest was 3-months-old for his first Christmas. It’s pretty unlikely he remembers any of it. He probably doesn’t even remember his first Easter basket. But he does like to look at the pictures.
This year, I have a 2-and-a-half-year-old and an 11-month-old for Easter. Even at these ages, it’s hard to know how much they’re really absorbing. But regardless, I know that I can still be intentional with teaching them about the story of Easter. After all, it is the most important story they will ever hear.
So how can we be intentional? Well, just by being faithful to tell them the story. Read the Bible with them. Do crafts and object lessons as reminders to the story. The more we impress the Gospel into our babies’ hearts and minds, the more they’ll take to heart. And remember, God’s Word doesn’t return void (Isaiah 55:1). Here are some cute and fun ways to get our kids involved in the story of Easter.
Easter Crafts
Crafts are great ways to keep little hands busy. And for kinetic learners, it helps the material really sink in! My toddler loves crafts…and he also loves to destroy them after we’re done. That’s still a work in progress. But that’s why it’s good to pick crafts that don’t take a lot of effort so that it isn’t a big deal if they don’t make it to the end of the day.
We loved doing these “palm” branches together. I found the idea on Pinterest, but we made up our own by folding a paper into sixths and then tracing his hand on the top layer. Then we cut them all out and glued them together on a jumbo popsicle stick. He loved waving it and dancing around. It did end up ripped in half by day’s end. But at least he got to hear the story and it gave him something to do for a bit.
Here’s the link to the “palm” branches, along with some other ideas I found:
Bake Easter Treats Together
This year, we’re planning on doing hot cross buns. It’s hard to find Easter Treats that are not solely focused on eggs and bunnies. We will be doing some of those things too, but the Hot Cross Buns are something that I hope to make a tradition, like we do cinnamon rolls and cookies for Christmas. Even though I’m gluten free, there are few things more comforting to me than a warm, yeasted roll. So, we will be doing that. I’m going to be using my family’s roll recipe (just like our cinnamon rolls) and tweaking it a little. A quick google search would bring up a recipe, but here are a couple that I found for you:
Passover for Tots
Last year, I took Zeke to a Passover Seder dinner hosted by our church. He was 20-months-old. All he wanted to do was crunch the matzah and try to spill the cranberry juice. So, I understand this one seems daunting with wiggly tots. It might have to be a very abbreviated version. But the celebration of Passover, from the hiding to the finding of the afikomen, tells the gospel story.
One year, my sister in law set all of the elements of Passover on the table for Easter. It took ten minutes to discuss what each food item represented, talk about the traditional Jewish blessings, and tie it in with the Last Supper, and Jesus’ Death and Resurrection. It was a really neat experience.
If you’re interested, here are some resources for hosting your own abbreviate, kid friendly Messianic Seder:
Easter Books and Movies
There are two rituals that we love in this house: storybooks before naps and bedtime, and Friday Movie Days.
We do read from the Bible at breakfast and during Zeke’s Tot School, but to wind down for sleep we read storybooks. One that I will continue to promote even though it’s come under some scrutiny and controversy lately is the Jesus Storybook Bible. I love how simple it talks about God’s love and purpose for us. I love that it points to Jesus even through Old Testament accounts. We will continue to read it in our home until there is actual non-biased biblical reason to stop.
This is another good one that we are adding this year: God Gave Us Easter
As for movies, Veggietales hold a very special place in our hearts, and they have a couple of Easter movies (‘Twas the Night Before Easter and An Easter Carol). We also love some of the newer movies that have come out, like The Lion of Judah. Some others on our list for Easter Tot School are the cartoon Ben Hur, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, and Superbook episodes that have to do with the Easter story (Season One: Episodes 10 & 12, Season 2: Episode 11, and Season 3: Episode 3). Although the attention span of a toddler is NOT the same duration of these movies, I’ve found that pairing a snack or a craft with them helps. Usually, my toddler will come back to finish the movie, and he retains a lot about what he watched. I know, because throughout the day and even a few days later he’ll ask me questions about them.
(Side Note: That’s also why it’s SO important to monitor what your kids watch. Know what you’re putting on the screen beforehand. We live in a time and culture where ratings hardly mean a thing anymore. It’s no longer enough to sit down and watch movies with our kids. We have to watch them before to vet them and make sure we aren’t surprised.)
Final Thoughts
Confession: we’ll still do easter baskets (even though we don’t do the easter bunny thing), make secular-themed easter snacks and crafts, and dye easter eggs (or something else, with the price of eggs nowadays). But we want our focus to be on what matters. Even though it’s hard to fully know just how much littles will fully retain from holiday traditions, I’d rather take the chance that they’ll retain the Gospel story than some fairytale about a lagomorph who leaves candy and colored eggs on the lawn for no apparent reason.
But I digress. We can be intentional about sharing the gospel with our kiddos on this, the most important holiday of the year. Without Jesus’ death and resurrection, there is no Christianity. Our faith would be null and void without the gospel. As good stewards of our littles, we are called to share that story with them. And because of the nature of the holiday, Easter is a perfect time to spark that conversation.
God bless you and yours,
Morgan
