Sunday, April 3, 2011

Walking Children Through Holy Week by Wendy


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In our home we have a half wall that separates the bedrooms from the front room. The is half wall is like a big chalkboard for our family. We put up pictures on the wall. We use the flat part as a stage. My son used it as a the tower for King Benjamin giving his speech for scriptures one day. Since we don't have a television, we sometimes put the computer up there and watch a movie together. Last year for Easter we used the half wall as a picture time line of the last week of the Savior's life and His resurrection.
Our Display from Easter 2010
So here is a brief picture outline of what we did day by day to teach the last week of Christ's life and the resurrection. I will explain it in more detail below. The pictures that I have mentioned are in the LDS Gospel Art Book or individual pictures can be ordered through LDS Distribution. A scripture summary is given all of Christ's life with specific events in the New Testament. All the following story references can be found here near the bottom of the page. The Friend April 2011 also has a picture outline with the scriptures attached at the bottom. After I had written this post, I got the Friend in the mail.
Sunday: Plan of Salvation review and what Christ's role in the plan is.
Monday: Triumphal Entry
Tuesday: Purging the Temple and the Widow's Mite
Wednesday: The Last Supper and Washing the Disciples' Feet (Also can be taught are the parables)
Thursday: The Garden of Gethsemane and Christ' Arrest
Friday: Peter's Denial, The Crucifixion and The Burial
Saturday: No Picture. We talked about the Spirit World and Jesus' teaching. Also we read about the darkness in the Americas.
Sunday: Christ Visiting Mary, The Empty Tomb, Christ Visiting the Apostles
Sunday
We start the week by talking about Jesus' role in the Plan of Salvation. In my opinion, the whole plan came together during the last week of Jesus' life. When Jesus was resurrected, the plan came together perfectly. The rest of the plan is up to me to do what I should and to want to return to live with my Heavenly Father and my family.


We found this resource for a simple art project for the plan. It is a coloring sheet and a puzzle. When I printed it, I needed to scale back the percentage from 200% to 175% and have the sheet print on a landscape option.
Source
Monday
Jesus' triumphal entry was a beautiful fulfillment of prophesy.
Source
We put up the picture and explained that the people were so excited to see Jesus that they had a parade to welcome Jesus. We then do a parade in our backyard waving our arms and banging on instruments.


Tuesday
Jesus cleaned the temple. He came through and literally cleaned house. He also taught about the widow and her faith and what she gave was more than the hypocritical show of the others in the temple.
Jesus Cleansing the Temple by Karl Heinrick Bloch
On this day we post pictures of our favorite temples. We talk about how the temple is kept clean and is modest. We then talk about our bodies and how they need to be kept modest and clean.


Wednesday
 This is where we broaden the story. Since we have little ones, we break up the events of Thursday into two days. I am working with short attention spans not necessarily an attempt to dilute material. We share the the story of the Last Supper and Jesus washing the feet of his disciples. The healing of the 10 lepers also takes place and can be included.
The Last Supper by Karl Heinrich Bloch
We generally have a seder or a passover meal. (I will post again about how you can have your own simple passover meal later on in this Easter blog party, so stay tuned!


The Passover was being celebrated at this time. We talk about how God protected the Israelites that were willing to slaughter the lamb and have the blood on their doors so that the Destroying Angel would pass over them. We talk about how Jesus knew that His coming death was similar to the passover. We would be saved from our spiritual death and have a hope for the resurrection.
Source
We talk about how Jesus then washed His Apostle's Feet. We talk about how Jesus was willing to serve and love others. A discussion can take place on how service is important that even Jesus was willing to wash dirty feet of other people.


Thursday
On this day we show the picture of the Garden of Gethsemane and Christ's arrest.

Jesus Praying in Gethsemane by Harry Anderson
 We talk about how Jesus prayed for us and how he hurt. We also talk about how an angel was sent to aid Christ and that we can have Heavenly Father's help.


 We then talk about Jesus' arrest and how Peter tried to protect Jesus because Peter loved Jesus. We also talk about choosing the right and Judas' betrayal. We talk about how it is important to do things for the right reasons even when the price seems so bright and shiny.


Friday
There aren't many pictures of Jesus' trial or what happens to Him before his crucifixion. We talk about Peter, Golgotha, and the burial in the tomb.
Peter's Denial by Carl Heinrich Bloch
We talk about Peter and how either out of obedience or out of safety denied knowing Jesus. We talk about how scary it must have been for Peter.

The Crucifixion by Harry Anderson
We talk about how the Roman soldiers put nails in Jesus' hands, feet, wrists, and ankles. We get out a nail and a hammer. We show where the nail was put and put press on each of our hands. We have our boys point to Mary in the picture and how sad she is. We point to different parts of the picture and ask what is happening. We talk about when Jesus died the temple veil tore and how special the temples are.
 
Burial of Jesus by Carl Heinrich Bloch

Just before bed we talk about how the friends of Jesus raced to get his body into a tomb before the sun set and how special the body is. We also talk about how Jesus' spirit is no longer in his body. An example is shown with a glove. The glove represents the body and the hand the spirit. We talk about where the body and the spirit go. We don't talk about the reuniting of the body yet because the resurrection hasn't happened yet.


Saturday
We review all the pictures. We talk about the Nephites and how they sat in darkness and heard a voice from heaven. We also mention the sadness of Jesus' friends and Apostles. We also talk about how Jesus goes to the Spirit world and teaches.


Sunday
He Is Risen by Greg Olson
 Mary goes to the tomb and finds it empty. She is sad to think someone has stolen Jesus. She sees angels and hears the voice of Jesus. She learns that He has resurrected. She announces it to the Apostles.
Behold My Hands by Harry Anderson
Jesus shows himself. He lets them touch Him. He show that the plan has been fulfilled. We take the glove and show about the resurrection and how Christ was with out His body for three days.


This is what we have done. It has helped my older son know Christ better. We will do it again. As our children grow older we will add more.
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You can find more useful tips and lots of yummy recipes from Wendy at her blog 


20 comments:

  1. Great, great post! And I neglected to mention that Wendy will be back next week to tell us how to have our own passover dinner with our families.

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  2. Well done! Wendy is giving her children a tremendous gift.

    =)

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  3. Perfect, I'm definitely using this to teach my children this Easter week. Thanks for sharing.

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  4. Woa. I'll be using this also...thank you Wendy for sharing this! So much time and effort put into it...Looking forward to the Passover meal too!

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  5. This is incredible! How helpful of you to share this! I have a wall that would be perfect for this...thank you! I should also say that I was reading this just now, getting ready for conference to start and I was listening to MoTab in Music and the spoken word, and I just felt the Spirit really strong about how blessed we will be if do truly teach our children of Christ and his life, and this is such a wonderful way to do it at easter time. You are awesome! And ca't wait for the passover meal idea!!!

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  6. Thanks for sharing all these resources on Easter. I've been gathering ideas, our traditions, plans, etc. in an Easter binder today. Looking forward to the fun we will continue to have as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus!

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  7. Love this idea for making Easter more Holy. It is wonderful, and I even have a gospel art kit!!

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  8. Thank you! What a wonderful lesson plan, I think we are going to try this!
    -CK

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  9. I did this with my girls, now ages 21 and 26. It was a tradition we all looked forward to and continued for many years-even when they were teenagers!
    The effort to do it is well worth it

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  10. I love this idea and I can't wait to share it with my family! Thanks for sharing :)

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  11. Your post on the Savior is beautiful. I am going to share it with my children and then hopefully they will share it with my grandchildren.
    I love this site and I am excited to follow it.
    Blessings to you! LeAnn

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  12. I'm so glad I stumbled upon your blog. This is a wonderful way to help my family remember the Savior leading up to Easter.
    I was so sad the other day when purchasing Easter buckets for my kids, they said "Happy Spring" rather than "Easter." The one holiday that really should remain a holy day is turning into so much less. This will be nice to borrow. Thank you for sharing!

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  13. thank you for sharing

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  14. I am going to use some of your ideas for teaching Easter at my school. I am a mormon that teaches in an Anglican school :) So obviously some bits needs to be left out, but I love the order and pictures :)

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  15. I am going to use some of your ideas for teaching Easter at my school. I am a mormon that teaches in an Anglican school :) So obviously some bits needs to be left out, but I love the order and pictures :)

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  16. Sharing Easter with the family!

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