Explaining Easter to Children

Our kids are so looking forward to Easter this year. I am sure your's are too! As we prepare for family, friends, and dinner, we need to consider our chilren's understanding of what Easter is all about. Allow yourself to think about what Jesus endured before He went to the cross. It is painful. We tend to try to skip over that part when it comes to our little ones, and move right to the glory of His Resurrection. Here is a quote from a resource that Jeanne found:

"How do I explain Easter to my children A good starting point is to realize that Easter is bigger than any of us fully understand, so we do not have to know all the answers. No one ever does. Easter is a new life, an empty tomb, forgiveness, resurrection, and more. That is not something to understand. It is a reality we have to grow into. The truth is that we understand very different aspects of Easter better at different times of our lives. Adults respond enthusiastically to the Easter promise of victory over death because we understand the finaity of death. Our youngest children, however, have a hard time grasping the reality, especially the finality of death....for them, the empty tomb is the ultimate victory of the good guys (God, Jesus) over the bad guys (Judas, the high priests, Pilate, the soldiers). On Easter morning, Jesus blasted right out of that tomb and proved once and for all that God is more powerful than even the worst evil that the worst bad guys can inflict. The natural response to that is to celebrate belonging to God, who is the most powerful power there is in the universe!

To our older children...Peter's experiences with Jesus are significant. For Peter, the resurrection happened when Jesus forgave him, welcomed him back as his friend, and put him to work building Gods Kingdom. Such Easter forgiveness is worth celebrating!"

Share the Easter story with your children! Make great memories with your family. Celebrate Gods love for us! Share the struggles that Jesus endured. Let your children understand that when they face hard times in life, Jesus faced them too! That is one of the amazing things that make Jesus a perfect "forever friend" for our kids!

Easter Egg Hunt

Just some information about some upcoming events with the kids!

The Easter Egg Hunt is this Saturday March 22nd at New Hope Church. It is from 10:30 am to 12:00 pm. We are planning a very simple event this year, for the kids to relax and enjoy! Parents, please come and enjoy watching your kids have a great time!!!!


Good Friday night, New Hope is planning on viewing the video "The Passion of the Christ" at 7:00 pm. We will have child care available for your little ones, and they will have a chance to watch a movie too! It will be a great night for everyone!

You can post any questions or email them to me or Jeanne. Thanks!!!

Easter Cookies (so cool!!!)

Thanks Christine Cammack for this awesome recipe! Check this out and spend some time with your kids the night before Easter! Cookies with a lesson! Cool.

1 Cup Whole Pecans
1 tsp. Vinegar
3 Egg Whites
Pinch of Salt
1 Cup Sugar
Zipper Baggie
wooden spoon
Tape
Bible
Wax Paper covered Cookie Sheet

Preheat Oven to 300 degrees (this is important-don't wait until you're half way done with the recipe!)

Place pecans in zipper baggie and let kids beat them with the wooden spoon to break into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested, He was beaten by the Roman soldiers. Read John 19:1-3.

Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 tsp. vinegar into mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross, he was given vinegar to drink. Read John 19:28-30.

Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life. Read John 10:10-11

Sprinkle a little salt into each kids hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers, and the bitterness of our own sins. Read Luke 23:27

So far, the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add 1 cup sugar. Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know and belong to Him. Read Psalms 34:8 and John 3:16

Beat with mixer on high speed for 12-15 minutes until still peaks are formed. Explain that the white color represents the purity of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus. Read Isa. 1:18 and John 3:1-3.

Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper covered cookie sheet. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid. Read Matt. 27:57-60

Put the cookie sheet int he oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF. Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door. Explain that Jesus' tomb was sealed. Read Matt. 27:65-66.

Go to Bed!

Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus' followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed. Read John 16:20 and 22

On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the first Easter, Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb empty. Read Matt. 28:1-9

Share the Easter Cookies and story with friends and family!

March 9th Update

This week, our Bible verse was John 18:1-27. We focused on Peter denying Jesus 3 times. We all fall on our face when we are trying to be more Christlike. No one is perfect. We are so thankful the God forgives us when we seem to fall short. We talked about what Peter was feeling when he denied Jesus. We also talked about the changes in Peters life in the months that followed Jesus' death. We looked at a fictional page out of Peters journal. The kids noticed how Peter changed and became very strong for Christ after Jesus rose again and Holy Spirit came to him and the other disciples.

During out small group time, we partnered up and sat back to back, one of the kids drew a picture, and without telling their partner what they were drawing, they tried to explain to them how to draw what they were drawing. You can imagine that most of the pictures looked nothing like the other! The kids said that it would be a lot easier to draw the same picture if they were able to see the other picture. We talked about how God wants us to love each other as He loves us, and that He sent Jesus to be an example for us. We said, the same as the picture, it is a lot easier to try to live like Christ because we are able to see how He lived and loved.

This week, talk to your kids about Peters denial of Jesus. Talk to them about a time when they feel like they let someone down. Make sure they see how they were forgiven and how God never gives up on us!

Update for weekend 3/2

Sorry that I missed an update. Things have been rather crazy in the McBride household. Our Bible passages this week are John 17:1-11 15-20. We focused the lesson on Jesus' prayer for himself and his disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane. We learned that Jesus wanted God to be glorified in all that He did, that He wanted us to go into the world and show God's love by our actions, and to be unified in Him and one another. Jesus wanted His disciples to live in the world, but not be affected by it. To help explain this, we made some Italian dressing. We showed the kids that the ingredients help make the dressing whole and each are important, but never truely fuse together. We talked about the fact that when Jesus was praying, He was praying for us too. And all those in the future that follow Him! This week, you can talk with your children about how God sent Jesus here and that He sent us here too. Engage your kids asking them about some things they think that God sent them here for. Give them some ideas that they can do to help our world and our communities.