How Our Kidmin Celebrated Easter

Like most of my kidmin friends, the weeks leading up to Easter kept us busy.  They were action-packed – extra services, egg hunts – lots to do to help children and families celebrate our Savior’s Resurrection.

Here are a few things we did for Easter:

EASTER EGG HUNT

On Saturday, April 12, we welcomed children and families into our building for a morning of games, prizes, egg hunting, candy (lots of candy actually!), refreshments and Journey to Easter stations, which chronicled the last week of Jesus’ life.  Each station had a skit that helped the children understand the Easter story better.  The children also completed a progressive craft as they traveled to each station.  What makes this time so special is that many children hear the true meaning of Easter for the first time during this event, which is why we put a lot of attention into this particular area.

Here are a few pictures:

 

 

 

 

Our Empty Tomb, which served as our Photo Booth
Our Empty Tomb, which served as our Photo Booth

 

PALM SUNDAY

On Palm Sunday, our preschoolers and elementary children learned about Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem.  We marked the celebration with our very own palm parade – our very first palm parade!  Our elementary children and preteens created a human pathway for our preschoolers to parade through while everyone waved palm leaves.  The children paraded through our elementary area to Israel Houghton’s “You are Good”.  It was such a fun time!

Here are a few pics:

Our elementary exit ramp  welcomed our preschoolers to the parade!
Our elementary exit ramp welcomed our preschoolers to the parade!

 

The right side of our elementary stage
The right side of our elementary stage

 

The left side of our elementary stage
The left side of our elementary stage

 

EASTER SUNDAY

On Easter Sunday, I decided to change things up a bit in our elementary area.  Because some of our leaders were going to be away, we designed the morning’s schedule to look a little different.  We had 4 activity stations for the children to choose from when they arrived: a coloring page area (for younger ones); a craft area; and 2 game areas (we used one game from our printed material and one Easter Minute-to-Win-It game – that was a BIG hit!).

We then had our large group worship time but we set up chairs for the children – they usually sit on the floor.  Having the chairs changed the atmosphere and allowed the children to focus a lot better, so we might continue to set up chairs each week.

After worship, we had our large group teaching time, followed by a game and then a snack.  The snack was a real treat because we don’t serve snack every week.  We had the children construct edible tomb snacks (you can find the directions here).

It was a great morning and a sweet way to end Holy Week.

How was your Easter? Did you try anything new this year? I’d love to hear about it!

 

Easter Reflections

This week, I am in total “chill” mode. Since our children are home on Spring Break, my husband and I took time off this week to have some good quality time as a family. This time together is precious and priceless to me because, if you work in ministry, you know that preparing for Easter keeps you very busy. Now that things have settled down somewhat, I’ve been reflecting on the flurry of activity I’ve experienced over the past 10 days.

Here’s a peek into what my world has looked like recently:

For the past several months, we have been busy preparing for our church’s annual Easter Egg Hunt. This year, I provided oversight for the Registration Team. As a team of nine, we welcomed over 120 families and over 200 children to this highly anticipated event. This year’s event included four activity areas: games, 4 “Journey to Easter” stations, refreshments and the actual Easter Egg Hunt. It was a lot of work but seeing so many faces, especially new ones from the neighborhood, made it all worthwhile.

Good Friday was the next highlight for me. My entire family and I (16 of us) attended my parent’s church because my mom was participating in the service. The scripture passage for the evening was Isaiah 53:1-5. Five different members of the church leadership (including my mom) took one of the verses and shared their gained and personal insights into their assigned verse. My mom did a fabulous job – she made us proud! The evening was also special because I served my 5-yr old niece her First Communion. I will never forget sharing that special moment with her.

By the time Easter Sunday rolled around, I was in overdrive mode. I had tidied classrooms, recruited additional volunteers to serve, hung banners, and set up various activity stations for our elementary and preteen students. After church, we hosted a family dinner for 20+ family members at our home.

While the season was busy, we are now thankful to take some time for much-needed rest at one of our favorite vacation spots. School and work resumes next week, but for now, we rest.

Are you taking some time for rest this week? What restores your soul?