A new way to use those little plastic eggs!

Every year we do special family devotions for the week of Easter to help teach our little ones the importance of this special holiday.  This year, I decided to simplify things and make it something we could do fairly quickly because I'm really hoping to engage our 3 year old and help him to grasp the real meaning of Easter. Plus, I found a new way to use those little plastic eggs! We started tonight. I let Evan find the little plastic egg with the number 1 on it and then Dylan read Matthew 26:26-29. Evan opened the egg and some pieces of bread fell out. We discussed the symbolism of the bread and explained what happened at the Last Supper. Dylan even explained to his little brother why they were celebrating Passover. I absolutely love hearing my boys talk about the Bible! It warms my heart so much!!

A new way to use those little plastic eggs!

It's so hard to believe this fella is big enough to be reading
Scripture for us!

Evan loved opening the egg to find the bread!

This is the way a 6 month old learns about Easter!

We'll be opening little eggs, reading scripture, and discovering the true meaning of Easter all week. Won't you join us? I've posted our "Simple Easter Family Devotions" below. Seriously, it takes about 5 minutes! If you haven't started yet, you can do 2 in one night, no big deal!

Today I am thankful for family devotions. I honestly had no idea what this was until a few years ago. I had never even heard of family devotions before. It seemed a little silly to me at first but once we started actually doing it and I started to see the fruit it bears in our children, I stopped laughing and started praising! We can't depend on our churches to teach our children. They just don't spend enough time there for it to be the only place they hear about God and His love for them! It needs to be taught in our homes. It needs to be modeled on a daily basis. The Bible needs to be made much of in our homes so that our children see its importance. We do our devotions each night after dinner. We usually read a short devotion, discuss it, practice memory verses, share prayer requests, and then we all take turns praying. It isn't a big production or anything fancy. Honestly, a lot of nights someone is throwing napkins and climbing on the table...but it doesn't matter, our boys are still learning about their Savior! When I heard Dylan explaining why Jesus and His disciples were having the Passover meal, it made my heart jump with gratitude. I didn't realize the correlation between the Passover and Jesus until I was an adult. My (almost) 7 year old gets it already...that blows my mind.  It's not because of anything we've done but because they soak it all up when they're little. Which means teaching them and building a firm foundation is much, much easier when they're young. I am also grateful that God is so faithful! If we are faithful to teach our children, He is faithful to touch their hearts and help them understand it! Oh Thank You Father! Where would we be without you?

Simple Easter Family Devotions

I love making the focus of Easter what it really is....the death and resurrection of our Savior! This easy activity will make it fun to teach our children the REAL meaning of Easter!

You'll need:

7 plastic Easter eggs

permanent marker

Basket

Small items (listed below)

What to do:

Step 1: Write the numbers 1-7 on your eggs

Step 2: Round up the small items and put them in the appropriate eggs

Step 3: Place eggs in a basket

Day 1: Read Matthew 26:26-27, 29

(a piece of bread or communion cup)

Day 2: Read Matthew 26: 14-15

Zechariah 11:12-14

(3 dimes to represent the 30 pieces of silver)

Day 3: Read Matthew 27: 28-30

(square of red or purple fabric)

Day 4: Read Matthew 27:31-32

(small nail)

Day 5: Read Matthew 27:57-60

(strips of white cloth)

Day 6: Read Matthew 27: 60, 62-66

(small flat stone)

Day 7: Read Matthew 28: 5-6

(Empty because HE HAS RISEN!)

The week of Easter, I will allow my 3 year old to find the appropriate egg. I will allow my 6 year old to read the appropriate scripture. We will open the egg and discuss what we find inside and the scripture we read together. We will discuss what the item represents and what the scripture truly means. We will pray, thanking Jesus for all that He went through and praising Him for saving us!