traditions book quote 9

A great Easter idea (for older toddlers and up) from Treasuring God in Our Traditions, by Noel Piper...

Resurrection Tree

At our house during Advent, before Christmas we decorate a Jesus Tree with everything we can think of that reminds us of who Jesus is, of his earthly life and ancestors, and of prophecies concerning him.  In January we store away all those symbols in the attic, except the ones related to the Crucifixion and Resurrection.  When Lent arrives, we use these familiar items on our Resurrection Tree.  They become a tangible representation of the connection between Christmas and Easter, the two anchors of a Christian's year.

The Resurrection Tree is a bare branch, broken from a bush in the back yard, just as the Jesus Tree was.  On its twigs we hang symbols that remind us of the Crucifixion and Resurrection and things that point us toward the names and facets of Jesus that are related especially to his sacrifice for our redemption.  

As at Advent, the symbols we place before us will have deeper meaning if we have "found" them ourselves... most of these objects won't be ornaments but small toys and household items that we "re-create" (p. 94-95).

Since William isn't familiar with the Christmas or Easter stories yet, we may have to wait a year or two to do the Jesus and Resurrection Trees.  But Noel Piper had a great idea for younger toddlers that I will try, if not this Easter, then the next...

If the children in your life are young, Lent may be too long a waiting time.  In that case, the week that begins with Palm Sunday may be just long enough for anticipating Easter.  At our house, we use a play dough mountain and chenille stick (pipe cleaner) people to depict what happened during the week.  

Try to assign parts of the Holy Week story to each day.  I realize that it's not clear on which day some things happened, but spread out the events in order as evenly as you can.

Each day we play out part of the story with the chenille stick people.  Finally on Good Friday the Jesus figure is placed on the cross and then laid in the grave under the mountain with a rock "sealing" the entrance.  After activity all week, there is nothing to do on Saturday except wait.  

The first year we made an Easter mountain, three-year-old Karsten woke on Easter morning and pattered out to the dining room to check the mountain.  He saw "Jesus" astride the top of the hill, arms raised in triumph.  After a few motionless moments of silence, Karsten shouted, "He's alive!  Jesus is alive!"

This activity is excellent for as many years as children can enjoy it and take it somewhat seriously.  As soon as it starts to be treated as silly, it's time to set it aside.  The reality of the Crucifixion is too deep and horrendous to be treated lightly (p. 95-96).