My Top Picks for a Christ-Centered Easter with Kids, 2017
I am planning ahead and excited about Easter! Check out my top picks for a Christ-Centered Easter with Kids, 2017 edition!
It is very important to me to draw my children’s attention toward Christ at Easter.
This is, after all, such a wonderful opportunity to help them engage with the story on which our eternal salvation hinges as we enact all the fun yearly traditions surrounding this holiday. That’s a big deal!
Along the way I have found some fun ways to make this even more tangible for them. Here are my favorites…
Preparing for a Christ-Centered Easter with Kids
Resurrection Eggs are a great tool to help kids understand and interact with the resurrection story.
This is a set of 12 eggs. Inside each of these Easter eggs kids find a symbol that represents one aspect of the Easter story. The very last egg in the sequence is empty –it’s the empty tomb! He is risen!
You can use this set many different ways. This is our very first year to have it, although I have been interested in it for a while. I know families who open one egg each day leading up to Easter.
That sounds lovely, but I am not that organized. My kids and I go through the set in its entirety, telling the story together. We will do this often, especially as Easter approaches.
They love every minute of it, and I love seeing them love the story of of our salvation!
Why is it so fun to pop eggs open?
Matthew is exploring this small, plastic crown of thorns.
You can find out more and see everything that’s included here: Resurrection Eggs.
Easter Morning
On Easter morning we will participate in our church’s services. It’s so good to celebrate this day together with the Body of Christ!
We will also celebrate at home. This year I am using the “Jesus is Risen” celebration set.
As per the Jesus is Risen Celebration set, we will be baking Resurrection Cookies!
These cookies represent the story of Christ’s death and resurrection. Each step in the recipe comes with an explanation of symbolism and related scriptures to read. We will prepare the cookies together the night before, and stick them in the oven overnight. In the morning, they are broken open and enjoyed!
This celebration set includes the cookie recipe, as well as a Celebration Guidebook. This is a discussion guide to go along with the activity. It’s designed to work with either a group of kids at church or at home.
You can also find the basic recipe for Resurrection Cookies online here, although this particular site doesn’t draw out all of the symbolism.
Find out more here: Jesus is Risen Celebration Set
Easter Baskets
My husband and I have decided to omit the Easter Bunny from our Easter celebration because we don’t want to take our kids’ attention away from Jesus. That’s a personal decision.
BUT, we still hide Easter baskets on Easter morning because… it’s fun! We use this as an opportunity to give them spiritually meaningful gifts (plus a bit of chocolate). 🙂
I have a few things already stashed away for each of them that I am excited about!
Jesus Loves Me Bracelet
Our 6-year-old daughter’s basket will include this beautiful, silver-plated Jesus Loves Me bracelet. It is her type of thing: grown-up, fancy and pretty, and it will remind her of the love of Jesus that holds her so sweetly.
I’m pleased to have found this lovely gift for her. It is made to fit a small child’s wrist.
Parable Treasury
I chose the Parable Treasury for my 3-year-old son’s basket. We have been reading the Read Aloud Bible Stories series with him at bedtime. That has started an ongoing spiritual dialogue between, which I have enjoyed immensely.
I hope this Parable Treasury (which tells modern day parables, not Bible parables, just to be clear), would provide opportunities to continue spiritual conversations with him. I really like the depth of the parable format. I think it will be very conducive to discussion!
Side note: if you’re struggling to engage your 3-year-old with the Bible, I highly recommend the Read Aloud Bible Stories series. It was a game-changer for us.
The Tale of Three Trees
For my almost 2-year-old daughter, I chose The Tale of Three Trees board book. I read this book many years ago and found it very stirring. Even now as I re-read it, It gives me chills.
The Tale of Three Trees is a fictional book told form the perspective of trees who want to do great things. They are chopped down and made into seemingly humble products, much to their disappointment: a feeding trough, a small boat, beams. Ultimately they become integral parts of the life of Jesus, fulfilling their desire to point glory to God.
My little daughter brings me books to read to her all day long. This is a favorite thing in her life. Reading this one will remind us both of the love God has for us and His unexpected and grand plan.
Best Children’s Bibles
I am not giving my kids Bibles for Easter because I am very happy with the Bibles we already have. However, if your child is not connecting with a Bible or Bible storybook, this might be the perfect time to give them the best gift possible –God’s word!
I have a few that I really love. Read about those here.
The Gift of Giving
Jesus gave His life on Easter. What an unimaginable gift!
So, I like to also get my kids involved in the giving. We do this by purchasing Living Water International gift cards to include in their Easter baskets.
Living Water International Gift Cards
It works like this:
- we purchase gift cards on the Living Water International website
- we receive the gift cards in the mail (and put them in their Easter baskets)
- our kids go online and watch videos to learn about various well-drilling projects currently underway worldwide
- they get to choose which project to put their gift card towards and complete the steps to make it happen!
This is a ministry that is advancing the gospel around the world and meeting the fundamental need of so many people for safe water. I love their work! In fact, my husband and I are going on a well-drilling trip to Guatemala later this month!
Find out more and get them here: Living Water International Gift Cards
Mercy House Kids’ Easter Basket Bundle
When I saw this sweet, fair trade Easter basket bundle from Mercy House Global, I instantly loved it. If you don’t know, the products sold at this shop are made by women in poverty, providing them with a dignified income as artisans in the name of Jesus.
What a beautiful way to teach and remind our children about loving others, just as Christ loved us!
Find out more here: Mercy House Kid’s Easter Basket Bundle
What are you doing to usher your children toward Christ this Easter?
*DaySpring provided some of the products in this post. All opinions are my own. Some of the links contained in this post are affiliate links. Thank you for your support!
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Hi! The Mercy House Kid’s Easter Basket Bundle link is broken =( Are they still selling it? I LOVE it.
Oh no! Thanks for letting me know. It looks like it is no longer available! I did find this gospel bracelet, and these kids items that might be a good alternative. I love their ministry!
Bummer! But thank you for the other recommendations! =)
This is spot on with where my heart has been lately with holidays and gifts. I like how the traditions are kept but re-centered right where they are supposed to be. I feel like we have such an opportunity to teach our children about our faith and what it means to be a Christian through our celebrations and yet we squander it by overindulging them and teaching them that consumption = happiness and our ability to consume = success.
The challenge we face is getting our extended family to pare down the sheer volume of candy, trivial gifts and “stuff” they like to shower on our children (and my house…) and refocus it on things that matter. I feel guilty giving them parameters because I know they are being generous, but I also feel like I have to try to stem the waste (since a lot of it ends up donated or in the trash!)
We will definitely be adopting this approach for Easter this year and a similar one for Christmas. Thank you as always for the post and the ideas!
It’s so fun to meet like-hearted mothers! I understand the struggle. My parents love my children through an excess of gifts, so it’s definitely a balance of honoring the way they show love and appreciating their sweet intentions and also trying to set the tone I long for. It’s a good struggle! God bless you Rachel!