Preparing for Resurrection Day

We have been leading up to Resurrection day by sharing in detail the story of Jesus' last days before he was crucified and the reason behind Him dying on the cross for us.  We are using our Resurrection eggs opening one every evening and going into detail about the meaning/story.  This year we are hanging the small symbols from the resurrection eggs on our tree made out of branches we collected outside.  This year we made an "mountain tomb" from Noel Piper's book, Treasuring God in our Traditions and we will make Resurrection Rolls on Sunday morning. 

Like Christmas we wanted to take out the "us" of Resurrection day and focus on Jesus and thankfully as we live in a country that doesn't commercialize American holidays so we can teach our kids the true meanings of holidays like Resurrection day.  No Easter bunny, plastic eggs, and fancy clothes here not that those are bad but we really want the kids to not be distracted by those things and think of candy and hiding eggs as the meaning behind Resurrection day. 

Having our "mountain tomb" out has lead to some great discussions with our babysitter/helper.  I have been able to share with her the real reason why Jesus died on the cross for us. 

 Jesus is still in the works, Ev made him out of clay and is planning on making a crown of thorns and some more things to add to him before we put him on the cross.

We add the symbols to the tree after the story is read.