Spring is my favorite season and Easter my favorite holiday. So, I became deliriously happy when I found the book A Christ-Centered Easter three years ago when I was pregnant with my first baby. It was also the first Easter my husband and I were celebrating as a married couple and it seemed appropriate to solidify some Easter traditions for our new family.First off, I must say that understanding the Passover in greater depth will enrich your Easter celebrations. That same Easter that I found the book, my husband and I attended a Passover Seder service at BYU. If you don't live near Provo, check your local Jewish synagogue, you don't have to be Jewish to attend. To prepare ourselves for the service we read Exodus chapters 1-14 and watched The Prince of Egypt.
In A Christ-Centered Easter, the author gives daily activities:
Day 1- Palm Sunday, Jesus' Triumphal Entry
• Make palms branches out of cardboard (for the spines) and green paper. Read "Palms for the Lord," (from the Friend, March 1996).
• Act out the Triumphal Entry using the palm branches and discuss the meaning of the word Hosanna and why we shout it at temple dedications (See BD, "Hosanna" and JTC Chapter 29, Note 8). Discuss what your family would do to show your joy that Jesus is the Christ if he came today.
• Go on a nature walk. Find branches to represent the palm branches cast into the Savior's path as he rode a donkey into Jerusalem; a thorn to represent the crown of thorns Jesus wore on his head; a piece of wood to signify the cross, a nail, a rock to represent the stone rolled away from the open tomb, etc.
• Choose both a Resurrection hymn and an Atonement hymn to learn during the week.
• Make a story line of pictures to display on your wall, mantel, or bookshelf as a visual reminder of the Easter story. Each day add a new picture that corresponds with the events of that day; or display the entire Easter story in pictures at once. Try using pictures from the Gospel Art Kit or pictures from various issues of the Ensign.
Day 2- Monday, Cleansing The Temple
• Put Easter story cutout figures (cutout set 8, #33248, Church Distribution) in a hat. Have children draw out a figure and place it in chronological order on a flannel board as you tell the Easter story.
• Make up hand motions for Easter Primary songs.
Day 3- Tuesday, Parables and Teachings
• Discuss the definition of the word parable and why Jesus used parables as a teaching method.
• Play parable charades.
Day 4- Wednesday, Rest in Bethany
• While reading and discussing the Parable of the Ten Virgins, burn two lamps: one with oil, and the other with very little oil. Turn off all the lights and burn both lamps until the foolish virgin's lamp burns out.
Day 5- Thursday, The Last Supper and Jesus' Prayer and Agony in Gethsemane
• Taste and discuss some ritual foods of Passover or basic foods of Jesus' time and place (unleavened bread, fish, honeycomb, dates, figs, goat cheese, etc).
• Sing the atonement hymn you've been practicing all week.
Day 6- Friday, Jesus' Trial and Crucifixion
• Craft a crown of thorns from a rose bush or other thorny branches.
• Obtain a heavy wooden beam and try to carry it.
• Taste the difference between water and vinegar.
• Turn out all the lights for the evening to signify the 3 hours of darkness in the Old World and the 3 days in the New World (Matt. 27:45, 3 Nephi 8:20-23).
Day 7- Saturday, The Jewish Sabbath
• Prepare the dough for Resurrection Rolls for breakfast tomorrow morning. (Another recipe here)
Day 8- Easter Sunday, Jesus' Resurrection
• Hold a sunrise devotional. Sing the resurrection hymn you've been practicing all week. Read the biblical account of Christ's resurrection. Share your testimonies.
• Tell the Easter story in plastic eggs as you eat your Easter dinner!
Other ideas: dye Easter eggs, have an egg hunt, deliver Easter baskets to neighbors, family and friends, check your area for a chick hatchery to watch baby chickens hatch before your eyes.
I hope you enjoy some of these activities and making new traditions with your family. Christ lives! Have a happy week!
-Deanna
