Preparing for Easter

One of my new goals is to be more purposeful in what I do. Making the best decisions I can as I educate these children. Choosing activities that widen their world. Exposing them to truths of God's word. Encouraging them to develop their personalities.

This year we decided to observe Lent (the weeks before Easter). Rather than just thinking of this as a time to "give something up" (which in fact we have all given up a favorite special food), we have used it as a time to prepare our hearts for this season. I wanted to share some of what we are doing as a family. First off, we are reading the Purpose Driven Life (which should take 40 days). I thought that would be a good book since it is designed to be done in 40 days (which is about the length of Lent). It has been a great book to read and discuss as a family each night. And even though it may be geared for adults, it is still applicable to kids.

Then each day after we are done reading the chapter in the book, we choose an activity. I had printed out a list of Lenten activities that I had down loaded from Homeschool Freebie of the Day (HERE). Each day is a different activity that the kids "draw" from and we do the suggestion (I cut the list up into strips and put them in an envelope). Some of the ideas might be to read an extra Bible passage, or an Easter related book, act out the parade on Palm Sunday, sing an Easter related song, or maybe a craft.

Our favorites have been the crafty ones. One night we talked about Jesus being the lamb of God and we made a lamb craft out of cotton balls.Aren't these lambs sweet? Chucked helped come up with the idea of how to make them.
Another night the craft idea was to make a poster or picture that said "He is Risen" or "Our Redeemer Lives". On that night, Chuck's parents were here and participated in our craft time. Everyone had a different idea and each one turned out great.
We decided to use construction paper instead of markers or crayons. And it was Chuck's idea to rip the paper for the craft instead of cutting it.
I find it really helps to have lots of craft making supplies on hand and ready to go for things like this. Chuck had neat Easter songs that he found on You Tube playing in the background. It really was a fun evening. Again, being purposeful in our family activities.
The back of our front door is a great place to display our art. I love all the different designs. And it looks so springy around here with all these crafts on display.