Happy Easter 2014! From: Siobhan aka Stella

Happy Easter Everyone!

We had a wonderful Easter, and I have some Easter activities to share with you. I was meaning to get them up before Easter was over, but it got too busy. I also have some pictures from our Easter.

Since there is SO much emphasis on the Easter bunny, candy, etc., we wanted to do some activities that would teach the little ones about the true meaning of Easter. 

(Note: This post has LOTS of links. I have tried to include links for every activity we did; the links are the highlighted words. I highlighted them green so you can see them better. Click on them to go to the referenced page.)

Mom did the Resurrection Eggs with the kids. Mom had made a lesson plan for a class she had taught at at a Co-Op we used to go to, and Rus read it to them. It discussed the significance of each of the objects inside the eggs.

 The kids took turns opening the eggs

One of my favorite websites to look at, when I plan Pre-K or holiday themed crafts for the kids, is http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com . Erica recently put a Hands on Easter Activities post on her blog. The activities are great! 

One of the crafts was an Easter Garden. We did this last year. (To see our post from last year click here.) Click here for instructions on how to make your own Easter Gardens!

These are really easy and pretty!

Here is an adorable little gift idea. Here is the jelly bean story:

Jelly Bean Story

Little jelly beans,
Tell a story true.
A tale of our Father's love
That's just for me and you.
RED is for the blood He gave.
GREEN is for the grass He made.
YELLOW is for the sun so bright. 
ORANGE is for the edge of night.
BLACK is for the sins we made.
WHITE is for the grace He gave.PURPLE is for His hour of sorrow.
Pink is for a new tomorrow.Now that you've heard the story
You know what each color means.
The story of our Father's love
As told by jelly beans.

(For the tags seen in the above picture, click here)

I also did the below craft with the kids:

I had the supplies from last year. Dad and I took a trip to Michaels so we could look for the charms. When we browsed through Michaels, however, we found that they were $3-$4 each! Since we didn't want to spend that much money on bracelets, we found another option.

The above brads came in packs of 10-20 and they were really cheap at Michaels. They were also just what we were looking for: a star, dove, fish, cross, and heart. We just used beads that we already had as well.

First we took some elastic cord, and we cut a generous length of it.

Then we followed the below story:

One night there was a bright star (Star [brad]),

Which guided three wise men (3 green beads),

They carried three gifts to give the King of the earth (3 white beads),

upon His birth (1 clear bead)

He grew up to become a carpenter (1 brown wood bead),

And a fisher of men and souls (1 fish [brad]),

He had twelve apostles (12 colorful beads, I used Tert's and Filia's favorite color),

Who spread the Word of Christ (1 clear bead).

Because of our sins (3 black beads)

He was crucified (1 silver cross)

Shedding His blood for us (1 red bead)

He rose and is now in Heaven, seated to the right side of the Father (1 blue bead)

He sent His Holy Spirit (1 dove [brad])

And He did all this because of His great love for us (1 heart [brad]).

Filia kept her bracelet, and Tert is giving his away.

To get a little 'Life of Jesus' card with the little poem on it, click here.

I also downloaded some Easter printables. Click here to go to Erica's blog and download her preschool printables. They are really great, and a lot of them are non-consumable.
 Leo and I also dyed Easter eggs with the kids. We just used some kits Mom bought in the store.

The eggs are ready to go!

 Tert dyed his first egg yellow, of course!

 I don't know how the kids got their hands so colorful!

 Rus dyed his egg green so that he could say he had 'green eggs and ham.'

 Mom made an amazing dinner of ham, cranberry and orange sauce, peas, asparagus with gorgonzola cheese, sweet potatoes, and pineapple stuffing.

I made some lemon white chocolate mousse to go with it. I'll be doing a post soon with the recipe for it.

 We went down to Grandma and Grandpa P's church for Easter. It was so nice visiting with them!

Happy Easter Everyone!