Easter Week - Preplanning

I am posting this year's Easter activities, revised and improved from last year's.  Our activities are based on the book,  A Christ-Centered Easter , and I revised (so it fits) our Easter egg ornament tradition to go with it.  I have countdown calendars for Thanksgiving and Christmas - and for Easter, I have this.  One thing I wanted to do was have something tangible, a symbol, for the day's happenings as recorded in the scriptures.  Hence, there may be one or more ornaments to hang up that day, depending on the events of that particular day.  We also do activities along with the ornament-hanging tradition as described in the book.

You will need: 19-21 empty plastic eggs to put your symbols in, small number tags (so you know which eggs to open!), 1/8 ribbon for the ornaments, 1/2 in ribbon (optional, it makes the eggs cuter though), and a small basket or box to store your eggs in, easter tree (optional, but I like looking at the eggs and having it as a centerpiece all week), and the Gospel Art Picture Book/Kit (available at Deseret Book for $3.50; some are printable online).

To make them into ornaments:

Drill a small hole on the top half of the empty egg (works with either 5/64 drill bit, I am estimating here, but the hole should allow a thin piece of ribbon to go through it).  Cut about 8 inches of 1/8 in width ribbon, fold in half, and thread thru small hole, the cut part going in first.  Tie a knot on the inside like this:

I also numbered the eggs and added a second decorative ribbon to make it all festive:

Now the empty egg can hang on a tree like this one from Pottery Barn Kids or  if you would rather not do the ornaments, you may simply put the eggs in a basket.

Prepare area to display GAK pictures (timeline of the Easter Story) - I use an easel, you can do a more contemporary cable wire display idea using wire and simple clips, like this one from West Elm - the advantage of this is that your kids can see the Easter story timeline in its entirety!

The Tradition:

Day 1 (Sun, this year it is March 28) - Palm Sunday, Jesus' Triumphal Entry 
Scripture: Mark 11:1-11
Symbols in Egg: Donkey or Palm Leaves (handmade from felt)
GAK (gospel art picture kit):  #223 Jesus' Triumphal Entry
Activity: Reintroduce warm fuzzy jar (acts of service - whom can I serve today?), make faux palm branches out of cardboard (for spines) and green paper.

Day 2 (Mon)- Cleansing the Temple

Scripture: Mark 11:15-18 or Matthew 21:12-16
Symbols: Miniature temple or Broom/Mop
GAK: #224 Jesus Cleansing the Temple
Activity: Clean house

Day 3 (Tue)- Parables and Teachings
There are so many parables, you can really do more than just one egg, but I chose the parable of the Widow's Mite so we can focus on the word "sacrifice" and giving our all.

Scripture: Mark 12:41-44 or Luke 21:1-4 (Widow's Mite account)
Symbol:  Penny (looks and acts just like a widow's mite, in my opinion); a mite is an ancient Jewish lepton denomination coin during Christ's time.  A lepton was the lowest denomination coin in all of history.
GAK: #212, #216 or any other picture with Christ teaching
Activity: Make oil lamps.

Information to add on the widow's mite:
The word "mite" is from the 1611 King James Version Bible translation, lepton being the word used in the original Greek language. So while scripture references only the lepton, due to the commonalities of these two coins, today both coins are commonly referred to as 'Widow's Mites'.  In fact, the lepton is probably the lowest denomination coin ever struck by any nation in all of history! The value of these coins during the time of Christ was typically based on combined weight with other coins and not on the individual coin's value.

Day 4 (Wed) - Rest in Bethany
No events are specifically recorded for this day, and assumed that Christ spent the day in Bethany), so we will spend the day discussing later verses such as Mary anointing the Savior and Judas bargaining for the
betrayal of Christ. Or discuss the parable of the 10 virgins and burn oil lamps from the day before.

Scripture: Matthew 26:14-16 Judas Conspires to betray Christ
Symbol: 3 dimes (30 pieces of silver)
Activity: Burn oil lamps

Day 5 (Thu) - Last Supper, Jesus' Prayer and Agony in Gethsemane
Scripture: Mark 14:22-24
Symbol: Sacrament Cup
GAK: #225 The Last Supper, #227 Jesus Praying in Gethsemane
Activity: Passover Dinner (simple dinner with foods common in Jesus' Day, I have picky kids!); Make matzah

Info on Matzah:
Matzah (the plural form is Matzot) is a form of unleavened bread and represents Israel’s abrupt and swift escape from Egypt—a flight so sudden that the Israelites could not wait for their bread dough to rise but had to bake it while it was still flat. Leaven causes dough to rise through a unique fermentation process that transforms, or corrupts, the original ingredients. Subsequently, gasses are produced that case the dough to rise. Anciently, leaven was generally associated with the corruption of sin and, specifically, with the inflated self-importance of pride. The use of unleavened bread during the Passover, then, suggests the quick surety of the Lord’s redemptive word and at the same time cautions the children of Israel against moral corruption and pride.

Day 6 (Fri) - Jesus' Trial and Crucifixion
As there are 11 symbols to tell this great story, you may choose to do 5 in the morning and 6 in the afternoon to coincide with the events as recorded chronologically in the scriptures.

Symbols/Scriptures/GAK:

Between Friday midnight and 3 a.m.:
hershey kiss - Mark 14: 42-44, GAK #228 Betrayal of Jesus
rope - Matthew 27:1-2 or Mark 15:1

Between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m.:
chunk of soap - Matthew 27:15, 17, 21, 24-26
red cloth - Matthew 27:28-30
nail - Matthew: 27:31-32, 33, 38, 37 GAK #230 The Crucifixion
dice - Mark 15:24

Noon to 3 p.m. (Jerusalem)
small rocks (put in small baggie) - in Jerusalem: Matthew 27:50-54; in the Americas: 3 Nephi 8: 5-23
In the Americas: 3 black fuzzy balls (to represent 3 days of darkness in the Americas when Jesus died)


Before sundown:
white cloth - John 19:38, Matthew 27:59

spices (cinnamon stick or whole nutmeg, bay leaf) - John 19:39-40, Luke 23:55-56

big flat rock - Matthew 27:60,  #232 Jesus' Tomb

Day 7 (Sat) - Jewish Sabbath, Christ teaches in the spirit world
Scriptures:
Matthew 27:62-66 (setting watch over sepulchre),
Luke 23:56 (rest on the Sabbath)
1 Peter 3:18-20, D&C 138:19-24, 29-30 (While His body laid in the tomb, Jesus visited the righteous in the spirit world)

Symbols:
small Roman soldier
a small white hand puppet (when Jesus died, his spirit left his body and went to heaven, when he was resurrected, his spirit came back to his body - you may use this symbol again to explain what happens during the resurrection in Day 8)

Day 8 (Sun) - Jesus' Resurrection and Appearances
Scripture: Mark 16:1-6
Symbol: Empty Egg
GAK: In Jerusalem: #233 Mary and the Resurrected Lord, #234 Jesus Shows his Wounds; In the Americas: #315 Jesus Appears to the Nephites, #316 Jesus Teaching in the Western Hemisphere, #317 Jesus Healing the Nephites
Activity: Prepare and eat Easter breakfast rolls (rolls that are hollow in the middle)

On Easter Sunday, the kids get an Easter basket but they get new scripture markers, a new journal, scripture helps, or a gospel-related book.  Last year I did CTR rings/tacks and books, mixed in with some candy.  This year is great, as Easter falls on Conference Weekend, our usual "Conference Binders" and awesome materials and treats will just be a part of the basket.  (Usually the Conference stuff is something separate).  For all the time I spent putting all this stuff together, I am glad I can cut corners this year!

Enjoy your Easter Week! And do include in your comment if you are planning on using this Easter Tradition - I'd love to hear feedback and see how you did it in your home!