Making Holy Week Meaningful for Your Kids
March 3rd, 2010
Holy Week is an important time to reflect on all that Christ has done on our behalf. It’s also filled with teachable moments as you explain to your children the significance of Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter.
How crucial it is for our kids to know that these holy days are about much more than chocolate, the Easter Bunny and jelly beans!
Prepare for Good Friday and Easter
Holy Week is the last week of Lent, when we follow Jesus from Palm Sunday to His death on Good Friday in preparation for His rising from the dead on Easter.
These family activities offer ideas for the week prior to Easter Sunday and give creative family activities beginning on Palm Sunday.
Make sure to also prioritize attending church as a family this week. Even younger children will appreciate and better grasp the story of Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday to His resurrection on Easter Sunday if they participate in Sunday school and special Good Friday services.
Read the Bible together as a family
The foundation of the Christian faith is built on the events that took place Good Friday and Easter Sunday over 2,000 years ago. Take time during Holy Week to read the biblical accounts of what happened on these important days.
- Ask each family member to choose one of these Bible passages to read at the dinner table one night during Holy Week:
-
- Matthew 26:17-30 or Mark 14:12-26 (the Last Supper)
- John 18 (Jesus arrested)
- Matthew 27:32-66 or Mark 15:21-47 (the crucifixion and burial of Jesus)
- Romans 6:8-11
- Philippians 3:10-12
- 1 Peter 1:3-5
● Read the story about Jesus’ resurrection in Matthew 28; Mark 16; Luke 24 or John 20 at breakfast on Easter morning. Pray together as a family, expressing thanks that Christ is risen!
Teach Bible truths in the kitchen
The kitchen might not be the place you think of to explain biblical truths to your kids. But at Easter, the truths of God’s Word can come alive in creative ways:
- Make resurrection cookies to explain the Easter story. Find the recipe on the Family Life Web site and search for resurrection cookies. Each step of the recipe connects with a particular aspect of the Easter story. The ingredients are minimal. Make them the night before Easter because they turn into “empty tombs” on Easter morning!
- Dyeing eggs is a fun tradition that can also be a teaching moment. Explain to your kids that eggs are the promise of new life just as Jesus’ death and resurrection has promised us new and eternal life. Consider writing messages on the hard-boiled eggs with crayons before dyeing. This will remind your family of the true meaning of Easter. Examples: “He is risen,” ”Jesus loves you,” “Hallelujah” and “Remember.”
Explain Easter words to your kids
When reading the Easter story from the Bible, pay attention to any words your children don’t recognize. Use a Bible dictionary or concordance for help in explaining any confusing words.
- More than any other religious holiday, Good Friday and Easter are full of terms your children may not understand. Words like resurrection, crucifixion, betrayal, the Last Supper, cross and burial may require some age-appropriate explanations.
Reach out to friends and neighbors
For some non-believers, Christmas and Easter are the only times of the year they step foot in a church. As a family, think about neighbors and family members who don’t know Christ and might be open to going to church this year.
- Pray together as a family for who you might invite. Ask God for boldness.
- Challenge your kids to invite friends from school or sports teams to your Easter church service or to Awana if their Awana ministry is doing an Easter-themed night. Teach your children about evangelism and why it’s important to tell others about Christ.
- Go as a family to a nursing home or hospital. Hand out flowers, Easter bookmarks or other simple gifts to residents along with an Easter-related Bible verse on a note card, picture or card made by your kids.
- Consider hosting a neighborhood Easter egg hunt with a twist. Focus on the Family suggests leaving one egg empty. Give a large basket filled with Easter gifts or candy to the child who finds the empty egg. Explain to the kids that this egg represents the empty tomb. After the hunt, share the Easter story with the children. Focus recommends The Parable of the Lily.
Have a blessed Easter!
This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 at 5:17 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Subscribe to RSS Feed
Subscribe to receive blog posts by e-mail!
