Jesus Christ Ascending Craft

We made this craft of Christ ascending into heaven over the General Conference weekend with our friends who joined us for the Sunday morning session and brunch.

I didn't get the best picture of this craft, but it looks like this:

All you need to create this craft of Jesus ascending into heaven is:

a paper cup

a wooden star

string

scotch tape and glue

cotton balls

blue paper

an image of Christ

UPDATE:  The image we used is no longer available, but you can use this one.  Just copy and paste into a word document and size it accordingly.

It's pretty self-explanatory:  Cover your cup with the blue paper and add clouds using the cotton balls.  Print and cut out the image of Christ.  Poke a small hole in the bottom of the cup and flip upside-down.  Bring the string through the hole and tape the star on one end Christ on the other as shown.  Now when you pull the star up, Christ will appear to ascend into heaven (or the cup)!

The children had a lot of fun with this craft, of course!  It's very interactive.  We laughed that this can also demonstrate Christ "descending" from heaven like he did when visiting the Nephites in the Americas (his "other sheep") who he appeared to in his resurrected body after appearing to his Apostles in the old world.  If only we had a temple to depict this story more fully...enter Beau with his Bisquick box temple.  What a good sport and a good daddy!

We paired this Christ Ascending craft with the book "Three Days Without Light" by Timothy Robinson.  This is a good story for those already fairly familiar with the account in the Book of Mormon of Christ visiting his "other sheep", but the nice thing is that each page has the Book of Mormon scripture reference for you to read along with the story, if you so choose.

I love that we have more than the Bible to testify of the fact that Christ died for us and was resurrected.  From the Book of Mormon we learn that ALL of God's prophets knew and testified that Christ would come in the meridian of time to atone for the sins of the world.  

These two witnesses together, the Bible and the Book of Mormon, unite the testimony of two nations to further testify to us that He Lives.

PS - Congratulations to Katie (Comment #28), the winner of the Jenny Phillips CD from
Tami's Eclectic Corner!  Please email me, Katie!


PPS - Please remember to check out Heather's Family Home Evening Blog Hop today and all week at Women in the Scriptures!

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He Took Our Sins Upon Him

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Jesus Christ was sinless and guiltless, yet he allowed himself to suffer for the sins of all mankind, so that we could become spotless through his merits and would not have to suffer for our mistakes, if we repent and call upon his name.

Isaiah tells us that "though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow."

Here is an activity that we did with our children to illustrate the fact that Jesus Christ took upon himself our sins.  It's not a perfect example, but it makes these concepts a little more tangible.

Start with one white carnation.

Add about 20 drops of red food coloring to the water.

  

And wait.

(We shortened the stem to speed up the process and added extra dye.)

After about a week, your pure white carnation will gradually take on the color of your dye.

Like this...

We did this activity the day that we read "In The Garden" by Caralyn Buehner, and we all enjoyed watching our flower closely for changes.


Scarlett liked this book so much, she immediately asked me to read it again...a very nice read.


(I picked up the white carnations at my local grocery store...
You could run out and pick some up for FHE tonight!!)


TIP:  Cut the stems down to about 8 inches and the experiment will show results very quickly!

FIND MORE CHRIST-CENTERED EASTER ACTIVITIES HERE.

PS - You can find more neat Easter activities at Thriving Family magazine.
Thanks to my friend Kimberly (again) for floating this resource in my direction!

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Paper Plate Tombs

Like what you see?  You can find 30 more Christ-centered Easter Activities here!

We made these paper plate tombs to accompany our reading of "Easter In The Garden" by Pamela Kennedy.  This craft could not have been easier, and the children loved it!!

You will need:

Paper plates (I used the sturdy kind with a "lip".)

An image of Christ (I used the image found here.)

Brown scrap paper (paper bag) to crumple

Scissors & glue

Directions:  Cut one plate in half.  Then cut an "entrance" in one half.  Glue halves together.

Cut out Jesus and color if you'd like.  Glue into back of tomb.  Crumple brown paper and place in front of tomb entrance.

One of the really special things about this book is that it tells the story of Christ's death and resurrection from the perspective of a child.  As you can see from this picture, the topic of death, can be scary and make a child's world seem uncertain.  Because the main character is a child, the story speaks peace about the message of Easter to the youngest audiences.

Click here to find 
30 more Christ-centered Easter Activities and Crafts!

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Chocolate Tomb Easter Treats

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Chocolate Tomb Easter Treats

+++Also: Access over 30 Christ-centered Easter Activities here!++++

You and your kids will love these yummy Easter treats.  They are very easy to assemble, especially if you can find small hollow chocolate eggs.  I could not find the size that I wanted, so I made my own by melting chocolate and pouring it into halves of plastic eggs.  It was a bit tricky to get my chocolate shells out of the eggs, but well-worth the end product.  We then use Nutella to adhere the chocolate egg shell on top of a chocolate covered Oreo cookie (but you could use any chocolate covered cookie or make your own.)  Then we made little crosses out of toothpicks and stuck them in the cookie to complete our empty chocolate tomb treats.

We paired our craft with the reading of "My First Story of the First Easter" by Deanna Draper Buck.  This is a very straight-forward story of Easter with really nice illustrations.  It also explains what we as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints know to be true about Christ's visit to his "other sheep": the Nephites (the people of the Book of Mormon) living on the American continent at the time of Christ, people who looked forward to his coming.

This story helps reinforce to young readers that Jesus was the Savior of ALL the world, that he cared for and ministered to all of his children, and that the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the symbol of his empty tomb is the message of hope and freedom to all people who have ever lived, where ever they have lived.

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Time to announce the winner of the MIX TAPE giveaway from LDS Music Now.





Out of 116 entries, Random.org picked comment #15:
Jackie at House of Sarager!


Remember that each one of YOU is entitled to a free song download at LDS Music Now
when you enter "TALKOFCHRIST" at checkout!


Thanks, LDS Music Now!

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Handprint Lily: The Jesus Garden

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The Jesus Garden: an Easter Legend by Antoinette Bosco is an amazingly creative telling of the Passion of Christ from the point of view of nature.  This legend explains how the robin got his red breast, why the dogwood tree has cross-shaped blooms, how the morning glory got its name, and why the red-heart flower cries.  In the story, Jesus spends time in a quiet garden where he is beloved by all of the plants and creatures. When he is crucified, his garden friends mourn, and the robin even tries to come to his aid.  


The night that we read this story, the kids were kind of on edge.  After a series of dinnertime meltdowns, we sat the kids on our laps and read this story to them in a soft voice.  It really had a calming affect on them.  My children seemed to know instinctively where the story was going and their little imaginations seemed to be writing the story in their minds as I read.

Following the story, we made these hand-print lilies.

The children just loved them!

This is an incredibly easy craft, and fun for the kids 

who use their own hand prints to make the petals.

All you need is paper, pipe cleaners, scissors, and tape.

Find out how to make them here.

Now to announce the WINNER of this week's giveaway:
the Scripture Easter Countdown poster from Activity Banners!


Out of 100 entries this week, Random.org, chose comment #52
CK of Made by Bedtime Tales!
Email me, Carrie, so you can receive your personalized
Easter Advent!




Thanks to Activity Banners for this fine giveaway!

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The Birds' Gift: Showing Kindness to Others

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I enjoyed the Ukrainian Easter tale "The Birds' Gift" by Eric A. Kimmel, so much that I decided to bring the story to life for my little ones.

The story tells of how a family and then an entire village provides shelter for hundreds of birds who have been caught off-guard by an unexpectedly harsh and early winter.

The villagers open their homes and even their church to these birds who in turn make the long winter seem more bearable.

I love the line by Father Roman who, when opening his church to the little birds says,

"There is no better deed than showing kindness to others."

Winter is not quite over when the birds begin acting funny, gathering near doors, and flying into glass windows.

The villagers consult with Father Roman who advises the villagers to let the birds go free.

The people are sad to see their little friends go...

But in the spring, Easter returns, and so do the little birds who leave beautifully decorated eggs as their gift for the kindness that the village people have shown.

The villagers make pysanky Easter eggs every year to remember the eggs left by the birds.

This is really a nice book.  I especially enjoyed the sermon given by Father Roman where he talks about "a time to come, when lions would lie down with lambs and all creatures would live in peace."  Of course, that time is the time when Christ will return again to the earth.  

His sermon brings the Easter narrative full-circle.


At Easter, we celebrate what Christ has done for us.
We follow his example of kindness to others, and we look forward to his return.

The birds are really quite easy to make.  I found the directions at Family Fun.  That was the first time I'd ever blown out an egg, so that was neat, and our dining area is so magical now with our special friends flying around reminding us the importance of serving and caring for all of God's creatures, at Easter and always!

I just had to include this video of my daughters blowing out an egg...
so easy, a two-year-old can do it! :)

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Little Bunny's Easter Surprise: Bunny T-shirts

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She looks happy, no?

Very....

very...

...HAPPY!

I saw these bunny tees online and just had to make some for my kids.
They're so easy to make.  You just paint them on.
You can find a free pattern here.

I paired this craft/Easter gift with this sweet little book called "Little Bunny's Easter Surprise" by Jeanne Modesitt.  The illustrations, by Robin Spowart, are just so warm.  I love how well the artist communicates family love, both through the plot and through the interactions of the bunny family in the pictures.  In every picture, the individual bunnies are turned toward one another in such an affectionate way.  Here's one of my favorite pages:

The whole family is so engaged with each other.  It's a nice subliminal reminder to express love toward members of our families, by hugging, smiling, listening, caring, and just being attentive.  I'd love to have a print of this particular image to hang in my home as a reminder of this desire that I have to be attentive--with my eyes, my arms, my hands, and my heart.

The story is a very simple and beautiful illustration of how to find simple ways to love others...especially in the home.  It also shows that even a child can add so much love to the family and the world just by thinking of and serving others--the way that Christ did.  


The story takes place on Easter morning.  After the children finish finding their baskets (and thanking their parents for their treats), sister bunny announces that she has hidden baskets and treats for her brother and parents too.  All are delighted to be sent out on another egg hunt, and sister's thoughtfulness makes everyone in the family feel loved and appreciated.  


When sister bunny goes to sleep that night, she is already thinking about what she'll do to surprise her family next Easter.  As she lays her head down to sleep, she discovers that brother bunny has left her a special gift under her pillow.  And so the pattern of giving and loving others is repeated in the younger sibling who has clearly watched his sister's example.


It seems like we hear these kinds of stories illustrating "the joy of giving" mainly in Christmas storybooks, so I appreciate that someone has recognized that giving, sharing, serving, loving can (and should) also be associated with the Easter holiday and it's springtime traditions and fun extracurriculars!


And I am so pleased with how happy this little bunny shirt (which we're using as a dress) has made my baby girl today.  I love you, Scarlett!  (PS - Scarlett painted the eyes on her bunny shirt...She came down in the morning and found the shirts, which had been laid out to dry overnight...so she picked up the paintbrush and finished the job...What a talented painter I have on my hands!)

Now to announce the WINNER of the PopRocks Design Giveaway!

Out of 151 entries...Random.org picked comment #76Wendy of Recipe Cut Outs!!
Thanks to everyone who entered and to PopRocks for the very cool prize!
(Remember, every comment on every post qualifies you for an entry in our weekly Easter Party Giveaways, so comment every day for more chances to win!!)
Lots of you loved what you saw at PopRocks, so don't forget that you can still receive 10% off of your purchase at PopRocks when you enterEASTERBLOGPARTYat checkout.

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