Celebrating Easter with crafts and song!

As Holy Week approaches, I remember all the Easters past and reminisce about the traditions I grew up with...

Starting on Palm Sunday, we always had (and still do) Palm fronds at church to remember when people lined up along the road and welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem with Palm fronds, singing 'Hosanna!'


We would also sometimes make crosses out of the palm fronds. There are instructions on how to make your own palm frond cross here.

Then, in between Palm Sunday and Easter, we would make jello eggs, using real eggshells as the mold! My mom would make a small hole on top of the egg and take the insides out, then gently wash it in water and pour in the jello mix and let it set in the fridge. Then we would peel off the eggshell, and voila! Yummy jello eggs to enjoy:)  Here's how to make your own, using a mold.

We also used to dye eggs, and sometimes paint on eggs as well! Here's one that my sister made when she was a kid:

 And we would decorate styrofoam eggs with pins and sequins, like the ones pictured below:



On Thursday that week we sometimes went to a Maundy Thursday service, which is to remember the Last Supper, when Jesus and his disciples ate together before Judas betrayed Jesus and had him arrested.

Good Friday remembrances were next, when Jesus was beaten, mocked and killed on a Roman cross...dying for us all so we might have eternal life through him! All who accept Jesus' free gift of his own life for theirs will be saved from eternal death, and have eternal life with him in heaven! A life far better than this one could ever be:)

Here's Old Rugged Cross, one of my fav Easter songs, take a listen:



Then, early on Easter morning, we would get our Easter baskets, full of tasty treats like chocolates and jelly beans:)

Then we would go to the 'Sonrise' service to celebrate Jesus' resurrection, when he conquered death once and for all! We would have a skit about the morning when the women and disciples found that Jesus' tomb was empty, and later seeing Jesus before them with the wounds in his hands and feet and side that he took for us.

We would also sing several songs, like Because He Lives:



After this, we would have a big Easter breakfast at the church. Then we would go home for a couple hours and have a jelly bean hunt before going back to the regular morning service.

In the afternoon, we would have an Easter dinner with family before going on an Easter egg hunt. My mom also used to give us kids clues, which we had to follow until we found our present!

Easter is a good time to remember all the things Jesus has done for us, and to spend time with family and friends!

What are some of your Easter traditions? Please share in the comments below!

Happy Easter!

Rachael

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