I was so sad last Sunday when I realized I haven't put up any spring or Easter decorations yet. So, I was really excited to be invited to join with some amazing designers in sharing some special Easter printables to help us remember Jesus Christ.
I was inspired by the printables provided by Mandy from Sugar Bee Crafts. She designed an Easter week advent with something special to do each day that focuses on the Savior. I love that everything is all planned out and ready to go... plus adorable!
If you would like to create your own, you can download the overview of what to do each day here. Next Sunday, March 20th will be the first day (#8). You can put little strips of paper into each egg that give the specifics for each day. They are all ready to go! Here are the first 4 days instructions and last 4.
I love that she has some adaptations for younger children and even provides a chronology activity, journaling sheet, and recipe. She thought of everything!
I wanted to share a printable too. So, I designed one that could be used to decorate an egg carton to store your advent in. Download it here. You can begin your tradition this year and reuse it next year too! There will be 4 extra egg compartments where you can store your recipe, chronology activity, etc.
With a new baby and lot's of deadlines at work, I didn't feel like I could commit to following the advent this year. But, I decided to try her resurrection rolls for a family night treat last night. The recipe is really simple and the kids had so much fun making them! My oldest understood the symbolism too.
The hardest part about the recipe is sealing up all the "cracks" in your dough so the marshmallow doesn't run all over your pan. We are sugar addicts here. So, we added a little glaze (powdered sugar and milk). They were a big hit!
A few years ago I helped the 8 to 12-year-old girls in our congregation with an activity. The leaders invited me to take some of the leftover supplies home to make my own Easter story with visuals. Here is a similar one from the Life Your Way blog.
I have to give Mandy credit for inspiring our lesson too. Seeing how adorable her advent is, I just knew I had to finish putting my Easter story together. Above are the supplies I used: papers with scriptures, items to fill the eggs, plastic Easter eggs, my printable to decorate the egg carton, egg carton, marker to label the eggs, and scissors to cut out the printable pieces.
This is how it turned out after I attached the printables. The long skinny pattern fits just right on the back of the carton. My kids were really excited to see what was inside!
After I printed everything out, I noticed there was text inside the egg carton too. But, a quick search on lds.org helped me find some great art to cover that up too.
The kids really enjoyed the activity. Taking turns letting them open the eggs to see what was inside and trying to guess how it applied to the Easter story kept their attention really well. It was a neat lesson and I just wish I would have started this tradition sooner!
Last, but not least, I printed out this pretty "He is Risen" decor. Download the large image here or smaller pdf. You can frame it, put it on an easel, scale it down to use as a tag... I love having a little Easter decoration up now!
I hope this post will help you get some ideas of how you can celebrate a Christ-centered Easter. I would also like to invite you to view this Easter video on Mormon.org. For more ideas, check out Sugardoodle.net!
