Friday
Apr032009
An Easter Celebration
Friday, April 3, 2009 at 11:18PM
Today Christian's class had their Easter Egg Hunt and a small party in their room, preparing for this special holiday.
When I say "holiday" I mean it in the most sincere way that I can-the day we celebrate our risen Lord Jesus, his victory over death and the power of sin, the reality of forgiveness and the depth of his love. It is indeed a holy day.
The children were asked last month to bring in a dozen plastic eggs and an egg carton for the hunt. Each egg was to have one letter written on it, and together each dozen spelled out "JESUS IS RISEN." Each child searched for eggs to fill in the holes in their carton, with the matching letters to the eggs. It was a wonderful way to do an Easter Egg hunt, and they had a great time searching. What is more precious is when the first kids finished filling up their cartons they continued to look for eggs in order to help their friends. It was very sweet.
"Christian, is something on your mind?"
Some of the moms hid all of the eggs beforehand, and the great thing about doing it this way is that each child ended up with the same number of eggs, but they were different from the eggs each child brought in and with treats inside!
Christian would pick up an egg, identify the letter, and check his carton to see if the space had been filled or not.
If it was an egg he needed, he would add it to his carton.
No stone unturned, no bush unexplored...
It was the perfect day for an egg hunt...sunny, warm, beautiful.
Has he resorted to hatching his own eggs?
A full carton, a complete sentence! "JESUS IS RISEN."
What a sweet class!
After the Easter Egg hunt we returned to the classroom for a craft, a special book reading, and a snack. The craft was a miniature garden, the scene of the empty tomb, made on a sturdy paper plate.
Each plate had soil on it; the kids added a stone, rolled away from a tomb, as well as moss, an empty cross, and some plants.
Here is the "tomb."
Christian then added some moss all around...
Each child worked diligently and with great attention to detail. I love how unique each one turned out, even though they used the same materials.
Michaela helped him a little...
And Eliana was trying very hard to get in on this action. Alas, her straps held her firmly in place...
She did manage to get a cookie, though.
And sadly, my camera battery died right at this point.
There was an Easter story, along with the snack, and the children had all sorts of wonderful things to say about it.
Regarding a miracle..."A miracle is when Jesus walked on the water and he didn't sink." (Not directly related to the Easter story, but in answer to the question,"What is a miracle?")
"That was a great story!"
"Why did they kill Jesus?" The reader of the book said that they didn't like him...and paused to search for the words to explain such a sensitive topic...Christian said,"Because they thought he was lying and that he wasn't God, so they crucified him."
Christian's teacher talked about how they had discussed earlier the mystery and the miracle of the Easter story; she asked what that miracle was and several hands went up. The answer came,"When Jesus raised from the dead."
These simple statements are so powerful, especially coming from such young ones. How delightful that they can learn to honor and praise the Lord from the very beginning of their lives. This was a joy to be a part of.
I have to confess here that I have been struggling lately. Maybe it's obvious from the more recent posts. But being a witness to a seemingly small classroom activity has had a big impact on me. Life is a series of steps, sometimes forward, sometimes back. Sometimes more backward than forward... At times like this (the stress of moving on everyone, sleep deprivation because Eliana is still a terrible sleeper at night, guilt over all the things not getting done) I need a reminder of the bigger picture. Stepping back to look at it just might get me going forward again.
I am grateful to have spent this time with Christian and his class. I ended up being blessed! Jesus is Risen, indeed!
Some of the moms hid all of the eggs beforehand, and the great thing about doing it this way is that each child ended up with the same number of eggs, but they were different from the eggs each child brought in and with treats inside!
Christian would pick up an egg, identify the letter, and check his carton to see if the space had been filled or not.
If it was an egg he needed, he would add it to his carton.
No stone unturned, no bush unexplored...
It was the perfect day for an egg hunt...sunny, warm, beautiful.
Has he resorted to hatching his own eggs?
A full carton, a complete sentence! "JESUS IS RISEN."
What a sweet class!
After the Easter Egg hunt we returned to the classroom for a craft, a special book reading, and a snack. The craft was a miniature garden, the scene of the empty tomb, made on a sturdy paper plate.
Each plate had soil on it; the kids added a stone, rolled away from a tomb, as well as moss, an empty cross, and some plants.
Here is the "tomb."
Christian then added some moss all around...
Each child worked diligently and with great attention to detail. I love how unique each one turned out, even though they used the same materials.
Michaela helped him a little...
And Eliana was trying very hard to get in on this action. Alas, her straps held her firmly in place...
She did manage to get a cookie, though.
And sadly, my camera battery died right at this point.
There was an Easter story, along with the snack, and the children had all sorts of wonderful things to say about it.
Regarding a miracle..."A miracle is when Jesus walked on the water and he didn't sink." (Not directly related to the Easter story, but in answer to the question,"What is a miracle?")
"That was a great story!"
"Why did they kill Jesus?" The reader of the book said that they didn't like him...and paused to search for the words to explain such a sensitive topic...Christian said,"Because they thought he was lying and that he wasn't God, so they crucified him."
Christian's teacher talked about how they had discussed earlier the mystery and the miracle of the Easter story; she asked what that miracle was and several hands went up. The answer came,"When Jesus raised from the dead."
These simple statements are so powerful, especially coming from such young ones. How delightful that they can learn to honor and praise the Lord from the very beginning of their lives. This was a joy to be a part of.
I have to confess here that I have been struggling lately. Maybe it's obvious from the more recent posts. But being a witness to a seemingly small classroom activity has had a big impact on me. Life is a series of steps, sometimes forward, sometimes back. Sometimes more backward than forward... At times like this (the stress of moving on everyone, sleep deprivation because Eliana is still a terrible sleeper at night, guilt over all the things not getting done) I need a reminder of the bigger picture. Stepping back to look at it just might get me going forward again.
I am grateful to have spent this time with Christian and his class. I ended up being blessed! Jesus is Risen, indeed!
tagged Christian in Uncategorized
Christian in Uncategorized
Reader Comments (2)
They've been canceling Easter egg hunts around here, Christian and secular alike, due to the weather...
What a fabulous system for the hunt. It's fun, it involves letter recognition and cuts out the greed factory. Whoever thought that up is a genius.
Your church is gorgeous btw.