Preparing Our Hearts for Easter

Lent is a glorious 40 day time period to prepare our hearts for Easter, the celebration of all that Christ accomplished on the cross. Traditionally, Lent is a time of fasting and rending our hearts. We spend a lot of time and money preparing for Christmas and Advent and often forget about this period of preparation for Easter, which ironically is at least an equally significant time in the church calendar. At Easter, we celebrate the ultimate accumulation of Christ’s life in his death and resurrection. But how often it usually sneaks up on us with little to no thought or preparation. Over the years we have used a wealth of different books and resources that I wanted to share with you all as you begin putting thought into how your family might celebrate this year. There are 40 days of Lent, appropriately seven weeks, which starts on Wednesday, February 26 and end on April 9th this year. I love pulling out our Cradle to the Cross (pictured above) wooden wreath that allows us to count down the days to Easter with a symbol of Jesus bearing the cross. We light the candles at dinner time or during our family devotion time.

Dying Easter eggs is an annual tradition.

Easter Activities:

Jesus Tree Lent Activity - Make your own Jesus tree! Here is a printable file that includes 40 lovely ornaments that correspond to the story of Jesus in the book of Matthew or John. A fun visual reminder of the life of Christ.

Resurrection Eggs - This 12-piece set of symbols are a fun way of learning about Jesus’ death and resurrection, especially appropriate for littles. Each symbol is contained in a colored Easter egg and tells an aspect of Christ’s story and can be hidden around your home to be discovered and discussed together. Can also be used with Benjamin’s Box or Lily’s Easter Party picture book. Scavenger hunt on Easter is a fun activity.

Resurrection Rolls - the tomb is empty!

Resurrection Rolls - Every Easter Sunday, we celebrate by eating our dyed easter eggs and Resurrection Rolls for breakfast. They are a tasty treat of marshmallow, butter, and spices, wrapped in a crescent roll. These are just a simple fun object lesson about how Jesus’ body was buried in the tomb and vanishes from the tomb once resurrected, as demonstrated through the marshmallow melting while in the oven, leaving an empty tomb/roll when cut open. Not healthy in the least, but something my children anticipate to every year!

Calvary Hill Planting - Another tangible visual experiment in growing grass and building a garden picturing Jesus’ cross and tomb. Throughout Lent, the grass seeds grow, and new life begins! We had a blast making this a few years back.

Chalk Pastels Art Tutorials - We love the online tutorials with chalk pastels during every season of the year, but this free Crown of Thorns tutorial or Easter Cross tutorial are lovely. You can also purchase an Easter Chalk Pastel Art Course. My kids of all ages enjoy these tutorials with teacher Nana.

Family Lent/Easter Devotionals:

The Wonder of Easter: An Easter Journey for the Whole Family by Ed Drew - I am super delighted to be using this resource for our family devotions this Lent season. It is easy to use and doable. It has thoughtful discussion questions broken down into age groups for all levels of understanding. It also includes skit ideas and other fun interactive ideas.

These are other various devotionals we have used over the years and heartily recommend:

Mission Accomplished: A Two-Week Family Devotional for Easter by Scott James
Desiring God’s Lenten Lights: Eight Biblical Devotions to Prepare for Easter by Noel Piper - free download.
Lent Guide by The Village Church - free devotional for Lent that centers around fasting from different things.
Love to the Uttermost by John Piper - free devotions for Holy Week.

Adult Devotionals:

I love reading a Easter themed book during my personal devotion times alongside my Bible reading, and so I usually choose one from this list. Great materials for families with older children or just for your own personal reading.

From the Grave: A 40-Day Lent Devotional by A.W. Tozer
Bread and Wine: Readings for Lent and Easter - by various authors (Lewis, Chesterton, etc)
Preparing for Easter: Fifty Devotional Readings from C.S. Lewis
Journey to the Cross: Devotions for Lent by Will Walker

Easter Picture Books:

Every year, since my kids were tiny, I have been adding one new picture book around the theme of Easter to our collection, just like I do at Christmas time. We now have a wealth of books and I love pulling them out every year at the beginning of Lent. Many of these may also be available at your local library!

The Garden, The Curtain, and the Cross by Karl Laferton - See the story of Christ throughout the whole Bible, and why Jesus had to die and rise again.
God Gave Us Easter - by Lisa Bergren - I love both the holiday themed books in this delightful series!
The Legend of the Easter Egg by Lori Walburg - This series of legends around Easter symbols is delightful and a favorite for all my kids.
The Legend of the Easter Robin by Dandi Mackall
The Legend of the Sand Dollar by Chris Auer
Humphrey’s First Palm Sunday by Carol Heyer (this author also wrote The First Easter)
The Week that Led to Easter by Joanne Larrison - An excellent re-telling of Resurrection week.
The Berenstain Bears and the Easter Story 
The Berenstain Bears Easter Sunday
The Easter Day Surprise by Jane Fryer
J is for Jesus by Debbie O’Neal
That's My Colt: An Easter Tale by Dandi Mackall
The Donkey Who Carried the King - RC Sproul - A bit more lengthy picture book, but with an excellent message!
The Parable of the Lily by Liz Curtis Higgs
The Tale of Three Trees by Angela Hunt - One of my all time favorites!
Peter's First Easter - Walter Wangerin - A look at the Easter account from the eyes of Peter. Insightful.