Teaching the story of Easter?

[summerhauss]

Hi all! 

 

i wanted to see how you all plan to teach the story of Easter to your children. I've found a few worksheets and such, but do you have resources or curricula that are tried and true that tell the story of the resurrection correctly (but not in a "scary" way) or that your children are particularly engaged with?

 

Thanks for your help!

 

P.S. In case it helps anyone, here the resources I've found so far:

 

-This one is free, it's a surprisingly robust coloring activity book that teaches the story of Easter: http://www.educents.com/the-story-of-easter-coloring-book.html 

 

-This is a book that goes along with doing a Resurrection Eggs activity, has anyone used this? Looked great to me: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0310715059/ 

 

 

[Laura Corin]

What's your definition of correctly?

[summerhauss]

Hi Laura! I guess correctly isn't the right word - my kids are at the age now where I think it's important to make sure they know that the resurrection means Jesus rose from the dead, I've seen some other resources that don't explain the resurrection so kids aren't scared of the story. Wanting to find a resource that is a middle ground of teaching my kids what happened but in a way that they feel as amazed by the story as I do, and not scared.

[AdventuresinHomeschooling]

We have been watching The Gospel of John DVDs that act out the gospel verse by verse as it is narrated by Christopher Plummer. They are very well done. We have been watching It chapter by chapter with discussion afterwards, but it is not super long to watch in a sitting or two. We watched the crucifixion last night, and it was not shown too scary...very appropriate for children. Enough to make them wince but not cry in terror like the Passion would. The whipping was shown in shadows, for example. I don't think you get more accurate than the text of the gospel.

[Jess4879]

We read Easter Story books for kids (various ones) and have done the resurrection eggs.  I found a free printable activity for the eggs and we made them ourselves.  I've never seen the book before.  Will have to check it out. :)

[WoolC]

We make a resurrection mountain the week before Easter. On Good Friday we put Jesus (mini figure) in the tomb, on Sunday morning the stone is rolled away and he is alive! Detailed instructions can be found here:

 

http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/make-a-playdough-mountain

 

We read various books and story Bible versions along with this.

[Carol in Cal.]

Do you attend a church that uses the ecumenical creeds in every service?  If so, you may find out that they know more than you realize.

A great picture book that you can read with older kids and story tell with younger ones is Paul Maier's "The Very First Easter."

You can follow that up with The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.  I first read that to DD when she was 5, and she figured out the symbolism without much help, just a little prompting, at the end.

[MotherGoose]

We are Catholic and my children have known in detail from very young ages about Easter. We don't dwell on the abuse Jesus suffered, but as there are crucifixes around with him nailed to the cross all year long, they understand. It has not been traumatic for them. I read them picture books about Easter when they were very young. We also have a nail we put on our Christmas tree that reminds us of the nail used to put him on the cross. In my personal experience, children accept lots of things pretty matter of factly, as long as we present it that way.

[Kiara.I]

How about the Jesus Storybook Bible?

[Hobbes]

We read the story in the Gospels and discuss it. They haven't had any issues with being scared. In fact, from about 4yo on, my oldest has said that her favourite Bible stories are Jesus' birth, death, and resurrection.

 

When reading, some of the details just go over their heads and I don't explain crucifixion in an overly graphic way, just the basic facts.

Edited March 16, 2016 by indigoellen@gmail.com

[Xahm]

The main adjustment I have made when reading the story to my kids is telling them about the resurrection BEFORE telling them about the Crucifixion. I start by telling them that this is a story about the time that God showed that he's even more powerful than death, then tell the story, then talk more about how death is always very sad because we miss people, but since God is more powerful than death, we don't have to be scared of death. Mine are very little, but I ask questions like "Who wins in the end?" and they respond "God!" "Does it always LOOK like he's going to win?" "No." "But what happens after the sad part?" "God wins!" "Yay!"

(mine are 2 and 3, to give perspective if you can't see my signature)

[Bluegoat]

My kids have known this story as it is read at church from the Bible throughout the Easter season, and they also hear it in Sunday school and such.  I think that pretty much any good children's Bible will give an good account, or you could just read straight from the Bible itself.

 

There are some other nice Easter books - we have an older one just called "The Easter Book which has a retelling of the Gospel account, but also all kinds of things about related pagan and Spring celebrations, customs from around the world, different symbols of Easter, recipes and crafts, and so on.  I've seen some other books with similar kinds of subjects at the library in the kids section.

 

Our church does a special service for kids on Good Friday as well - there is a Stations of the Cross, which tells a part of the story, especially directed to children.  Then they decorate the model tomb with flowers and plants, and roll the stone over the cave.  When they arrive to church Easter morning, the stone is rolled away. (Jesus unfortunately is glued in so he stays put all year round.)

[coralloyd]

I read Catherine F. Vos. Children's Story Bible to little ones. I start with the chapter about the Triumphal Entry and read through the Resurrection. This is the closest to biblically accurate I have found in a child's story book. It is very well written, and captivating for children. We also use the Resurrection Eggs. When my oldest two were real little they would watch Miss Patty Cake's Eggstravaganza video. I looked it up and it is still for sale on her site http://pattycakepreschool.com/index.php/store. She explains the Resurrection Eggs in a fun way. Here is a promo video for it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qBQ7bDrmI8. 

[mamamoose]

My kids are 10, 8, and 6 and we don't sugar coat much of anything. The violence was real and it's what makes the salvation story soooo very amazing. We live in a ranch and they have the joy and sadness that comes with knowing life and death intimately anyway--Wolves kill and mutilate cows and moms kill their babies and sometimes, we all do everything can and animals still don't survive. We tell it like it is, and that's the story of Easter. I find it is much more powerful when it's real!