Journey to Easter (Day 5): Caterpillar to Butterfly Craft

On our Journey to Easter, we've used the book Passion Hymns for a Kid's Heart to guide us.  For our final day, I wanted to focus in on the new life we have because of what Jesus did on the cross....and His resurrection!  A wonderful symbol of this new life is found in the butterfly!

(This is a repost, but it fits so perfectly with this idea!  I also recommend a Butterfly Garden if you want to experience this fully!) 

Supplies:
Clothespin
Pom poms
Glue
Small wiggly eyes/beads
Coffee filter
Markers
Toilet paper tube
Streamer
Tape

1)  Glue pom poms onto a clothespin to make a caterpillar.

2)  Glue on eyes.  I didn't have any wiggly eyes that were small enough, so we substituted beads.

3)  Use markers or watercolor paints to color a coffee filter.

At this point, we oohed and aahed over the caterpillars they created.  The girls went to bed, and I finished these steps.  I thought it would be a fun surprise, but you could have your child do each step themselves.

4)  Scrunch the coffee filter and clip with the clothespin to form butterfly wings.

5)  Place the butterfly in a toilet paper tube.  Tape and wrap a streamer around the tube to form a chrysalis.

The next day, I asked the girls where the caterpillars went.  We "found" the chrysalises and decided the caterpillars must be in them!  Later, I cut a slit in the bottom of the tube and pulled the butterfly out slightly.  The girls helped the butterflies emerge from their chrysalises!

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" -- 2nd Corinthians 5:17

Journey to Easter (Day 4): Resurrection Rolls

This is reposted from last year, but we are doing this again (on Friday)!  We're reading about the hymn Christ the Lord is Risen Today in Passion Hymn's for a Kid's Heart.  It fits perfectly with these "Resurrection Rolls"!

Ingredients:
1 package refrigerated crescent rolls
Large marshmallows
Cinnamon
Sugar
Butter/margarine

1) Mix 1/4 tsp. of cinnamon with 1/4 cup of sugar in a small bowl. Melt 1 Tbsp. butter in another small bowl.

2) Using a package of crescent rolls, lay out one triangle.  This is the "tomb".  Roll the marshmallow (representing Jesus) in the butter and then in the cinnamon-sugar mixture.  This represents the oil and spices used to preserve the body.

3)  Roll up the marshmallow in the dough (Jesus' body in the tomb).  Make sure to pinch the sides and corners as well as you can (we had some leaky marshmallows!).  Roll the outside of the dough in the cinnamon-sugar mixture.  Each container should make eight rolls.

4)  Follow package directions for baking.  After they have cooled, enjoy!!  The "tomb" will be empty!! 

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life.  Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die.  Do you believe this?" -- John 11:25-26

Journey to Easter (Day 3): Stained-Glass Cross Craft

On Day 3 of our Journey to Easter, we read about the song The Old Rugged Cross from

Passion Hymns for a Kid's Heart.  While I carefully choose the words, I do not shy away from sharing that Jesus died on the cross.  It all depends on your comfort level -- and your child.  My three-year-old often tells me that "My God died on the cross."  Of course, the story doesn't stop there, but we'll get to that tomorrow! 

I had this plan to make a "stained-glass" cross, but the girls had another idea -- so, I'll share both with you!

1)  Cut a cross from black paper.  Using scraps of paper, cut strips.  Your child can cut across the strips to make squares/rectangles.

2)  Glue squares onto the cross for a "stained glass" look.

Instead of cutting paper, the girls had the idea to use some leftover foam shapes!

"He himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.  By His wounds you have been healed."  1 Peter 2:24

Journey to Easter (Day 2): Easy Homemade Soap for Kids

Day Two of our journey to Easter included the song What Can Wash Away My Sins from Passion Hymns for a Kid's Heart.  We talked about how we need something to cleanse us from our sins -- and that something is the blood of Jesus.

We made soap to remind us how Jesus cleanses us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

Supplies:

2 cups soap flakes

1/4 cup water

Food coloring, if desired

1)  Measure out two cups of soap flakes.  I didn't want to buy any, so I just chopped up some old bars of soap in the food processor.

2)  Add 1/4 cup of water to the flakes.

3)  Mix the flakes and water.  You can put vegetable oil on your hands if the mixture is too sticky.

4)  Shape the soap however you'd like!  Allow to set over night.

We made a few "soap balls" and then added some food coloring to make bathtub crayons.  This was very messy!  If you'd like a less messy idea, check out this post on how to make frugal foaming soap!

"But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin."  1 John 1:7

Repost: Preschool "Resurrection Eggs"

I've had this idea in my head for a little while.  I really like Resurrection Eggs, but my littlest ones don't sit very well through the retelling of the Easter story using them.  So, I finally came up with a spin-off idea just for them!

Supplies:

Six empty plastic eggs

Stickers or markers

Heart sticker

Band-aid

Paper cross

Tomb formed out of clay

Rock

1)  Using stickers or a marker, put a letter on each egg to spell the word Easter.

2)  Using the pictures below, fill each egg with the corresponding item. 

E is for Each of us.  God loves everyone.

(Heart sticker)

A is for A broken world, so He sent His Son.

(Band-Aid)

S is for our Sins that Jesus took away.

(Paper cross)

T is for the Tomb where He lay for three whole days.

(Clay tomb)

E is for the Empty tomb.  The stone was rolled away!

(Stone)

R is for the Risen Lord.  Jesus is alive today!

I shared the story of Easter with my little ones opening each egg as we went through this poem I wrote.  Of course, I added extra narration as well!  You can easily store the eggs in a small plastic bag or basket with a copy of the poem.

"Easter"

E is for Each of us.  God loves everyone.

A is for A broken world, so He sent His Son.

S is for our Sins that Jesus took away.

T is for the Tomb where He lay for three whole days

E is for the Empty tomb.  The stone was rolled away.

R is for the Risen Lord.  Jesus is alive today!

*This post is linked to Homeschool Creations:  Preschool Corner!

Journey to Easter (Day 1): Palm Branch Craft

As I begin to share some Easter crafts over the next two weeks, the girls and I are using the book Passion Hymns for a Kid's Heart by Bobbie Wolgemuth and Joni Eareckson Tada in our morning devotion time.  I'm designing our crafts and activities to coincide with the hymns and stories in the book!  Our first craft is a classic Palm Sunday activity to go along with the song All Glory, Laud, and Honor.

Supplies:

Green construction paper

Scissors

Tape

Pencil, straw, or pipe cleaner

1)  Cut a leaf shape from paper.

2)  Cut short slits around the leaf.

3)  Tape a pencil, pipe cleaner, craft stick, or straw to the leaf.

The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!"

John 12:12-13

Easter Egg Coloring

I really wish I had thought of this idea, but I read it in my "FamilyFun" magazine this month!  It worked wonderfully!

Put eggs in a whisk and place them in the dye!  It's really easy and there is no trouble with the eggs cracking or slipping from a spoon!

We also "drew" on our eggs with a Q-tip dipped in dye, and then dyed the whole egg another color.

 

Resurrection Rolls

We made "Resurrection Rolls" from a recipe at DLTK.  I loved that even my three year old picked up on the idea of the empty tomb!

1) Mix 1/4 tsp. of cinnamon with 1/4 cup of sugar in a small bowl. Melt 1 Tbsp. butter in another small bowl.

2) Using a package of store-bought crescent rolls, lay out one triangle.  This is the "tomb".  Roll the marshmallow (representing Jesus) in the butter and then in the cinnamon-sugar mixture.  This represents the oil and spices used to preserve the body.

3.  Roll up the marshmallow in the dough (Jesus' body in the tomb).  Make sure to pinch the sides and corners as well as you can (we had some leaky marshmallows!).  Roll the outside of the dough in the cinnamon-sugar mixture.  Each container should make eight rolls.

4)  Follow package directions for baking.  After they have cooled, enjoy!!  The "tomb" will be empty!! 

Easter Egg Fruit Pizza

We made this fruit pizza for our Thursday morning playgroup.  It went quickly!!  My husband was quite sad when he came home for lunch, because it was all gone!!

Ingredients:
Sugar cookie dough
1 package cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla or almond extract
Various fruits

1)  Roll out your favorite sugar cookie dough in an egg shape (I like to make my own, but sometimes because of time constraints, I'll just buy a roll or two depending on how many I plan to feed).  Follow the baking instructions for your recipe or dough.  Cool.  DO NOT try to put the cream cheese mixture on while still warm!!! :)

2)  Mix one package of cream cheese, sugar, and almond or vanilla extract with a mixer.  Spread over your cookie (this recipe makes enough for one roll of sugar cookie dough).

3)  Cut up a variety of fruits and decorate your egg!!  I used bananas, mandarin oranges, blueberries, strawberries, and grapes.

Jelly Bean Poem Baskets

We host a playgroup and Bible study at our house on Thursdays, so we wanted a little treat for the kids to take home!  The baskets ended up being a fun little project.  The girls were excited about making them and sharing them with friends.  It also became a good math activity.

1)  We used a small paper cup and pipe cleaner to make our "basket" (things I had on hand!).  A hole punch works great, but an adult could also just push the ends through the cup.  Then, I found the poem and printed it to place on the handle (The poem is here, and a larger pdf printable is here).

2)  Open a bag of jellybeans and place each color in a pile (colors, sorting).  When you have them sorted, you might as well do a graph (graphing)!  Then place one of each color in each cup (one-to-one correspondence).

 (Update)  Princess was very happy to pass these out to her friends.  After lunch, I let the girls have their baskets.  I had each girl find the correctly-colored jellybean and eat it as we went through the poem.

Crumpled Tissue Paper Eggs

I wanted a very simple Easter craft that even a toddler could do! 

Supplies:

Paper

Tissue paper

Glue

Scissors

1)  Cut out an egg shape from construction, cardstock, or copy paper.  Cut squares of tissue paper (about 4" x 4").  (I always save tissue paper from birthday presents, so we have lots of pink and other Easter colors!!)

2)  Crumple the tissue paper, dip the bottom in glue, and press it on the egg.

*For a variation, use a gluestick and glue the pieces flat onto the egg.  Older children might enjoy using scissors to cut the pieces of tissue paper.

More Easter Egg Activities

Here's one more enrichment activity with eggs!  Egg cartons can be used for many games and activities for preschoolers, so add some to your craft scrap collection!

Supplies:

Empty egg carton

Markers or crayons

Plastic eggs

1)  Using markers or crayons, mark the bottom of each cup with a color.  Place corresponding eggs into the carton.

2)  Have your child dump out the eggs.  Show her how to match the colored egg with the correctly-colored cup.  You could also have your child sort jellybeans by color into each cup.

Another Easter Egg Activity

You have the eggs out already, right?!!  So, you might as well have an egg hunt!  The girls love to hide eggs for each other and have their own hunts.  They usually just hide empty eggs, but I had a few ideas...

1)  Fill the eggs with pairs of letters -- capitals and lowercase.  Hide them and let the hunt begin!

2)  Empty the eggs.  Then make some matches!

You could use almost any idea -- color matches, sticker matches, animal matches, etc.