We are participating in a Spring Week with a few other fabulous bloggers. Today is our turn. We decided to share an oldie but a goodie. Our Easter countdown.
I LOVE countdowns!
Especially when I get to teach my kids something in the process – double bonus!
I also LOVE holidays, but sometimes all the fun, traditions and decorations outshine the real meaning behind the celebration. Don’t get me wrong, I love dyeing eggs, easter egg hunts and even bunnies, BUT I want to be sure all that fun doesn’t take away from the real reason we celebrate Easter…
My friend Carrie shared with my craft group this great idea that takes you through the last little bit of Christ’s life with Bible references as you countdown to Easter. The best part? It is SIMPLE!
It doesn’t get much easier than stickers on eggs. Actually, I should’ve used vinyl because my sticker sheet ran out of the number 1…don’t look too closely at the number 12. You’re totally going to look now.:)
So what’s inside?…
I thought you might ask.
Each egg is filled with a Bible reference about Christ’s last days and a symbol that goes along with the verse…to help us visual learners.
Here is day 1…
and day 2…
You get the idea.
Most of the items you can just find around your house – or send your kids on a treasure hunt…even better!
This is so SIMPLE to put together, I even made a little kit for each of the kids I teach at church as a little gift. Maybe now they will actually listen to me:)
Or wrap one up for a friend.
I put mine in one of those egg holders you find all over this time of year. Now it is a decoration also.
You still have almost a week to get one put together before it is time to start the countdown.
Here is all the information you need, just copy and paste it into a word document:
1. And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying,
“O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me:
Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt.” Mathew 26:39 (Sacrament cup)
2. Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief
priests, and said unto them, “What will ye give me, and I will deliver
him unto you?” And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of
silver. Mathew 26:14-15 (This fulfilled the prophecy in Zechariah
11:12-14 that Jesus would be sold for 30 pieces of silver.) (3 dimes)
3. When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the
people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death: And when they
bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate,
the governor. Mathew 27:1-2 (piece of string)
4. When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult
was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude,
saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it.”
Then answered all the people and said, “His blood be on us, and on
our children.” Then released he, Barabbas, unto them: and when he
scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. Mathew 27:24-26 (soap)
5. And they stripped him, and put him in a scarlet robe. And when they
had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in
his right hand; and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him
saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they spit upon him, and took the
reed, and smote him on the head. Mathew 27:29-30 (scarlet material or thorns)
6. And after that they had mocked him, and they took the robe off from
him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify
him. And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by
name: him they compelled to bear His cross. Mathew 27:31-32 And
he was crucified…nailed to the cross. Press this nail into your
hand…feel how it must have hurt. (nail)
7. And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots; that it
might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet…And sitting
down, they watched him there. Mathew 27:35-37 (dice)
8. Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.
And behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the
bottom, and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent…Now when the
centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the
earthquake and those things that were done, they feared greatly,
saying, “Truly this was the Son of God.” Mathew 27:50-52 (rocks)
9. Then Joseph (a rich man) went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus.
Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered. And when Joseph
had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in
his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock.
Mathew 27:58-60 (white cloth)
10. And he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulcher, and he departed.
Pilate said unto them (the chief priests and Pharisees), “Ye have a
watch; go your way, make it as sure as ye can.” So they went, and
made the sepulcher sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.
Mathew 27:60, 65-66 (large round stone)
11. And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary, the
mother of James, and Salome, and brought sweet spices, that they
might come and anoint him. And behold, there was a great
earthquake; for the angel of the Lord descended from the heaven, and
came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. And the
angel…said unto the women, “fear not; for I know that ye seek Jesus,
which was crucified.” Mark 16:1; Mathew 28:2, 5 (spices)
12. HE IS RISEN; He is not here: behold the place where they laid him.
Mark 16:6 The Tomb was empty! (empty)
Ready. Set. GO!
Happy Easter!
I would love to hear how YOU countdown or how you keep the TRUE meaning alive.
And if you are looking for something else fun to do with plastic eggs, you HAVE to check out what AmberLee over at Giver’s Log did with hers…your creativity kills me, Amber!
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A special thanks to all the fabulous ladies participating in the Spring Fling Week! Liz, Kellie, Gina & Charlotte . Seriously, some creative geniuses. Make sure to check out their Spring posts this week!
Jessica says
Love this!! Such a great idea and something that I’ve never seen before. Thanks for providing the scripture for us to use! Happy Easter Season!
Monica says
Thanks for sharing this craft for Easter…really helpful to have the Scripture provided! Thanks!
Kim says
This is a really great idea! Thanks for sharing. I’m loving all the spring and Easter ideas! 🙂
Priyam says
I have been visiting your site for a few days now and love all the great ideas. And this one, it is so very special. I will be making these for my kids. Love it!
Melissa says
My guys are a little too young for this now but have saved this to use in the future. LOVE IT!
Valerie M. says
What a wonderful idea! Thank you so much for sharing! My kids are going to love this!
Heather Lynne says
Thanks so much for sharing this & showing pictures. I’ve heard of it before, but seeing it done made me feel I definitely want to do this!
I wonder if you can answer a couple of questions:
Where do you get a sacrament cup??
And how did you “package” the spices??
The Real Person!
I got the sacrament cup from my church, I just didn’t throw mine away after I used it:) I have seen them at restaurant supply stores, though. The spices I just put them in a little piece of that press and seal plastic wrap and closed it up! I used whole cloves, but you could use whatever sweet spice you like.
Heather Lynne says
Good idea (the pres & seal)
lol @ you saving your cup 🙂
If I want to do more than one set, I’ll have to get the deacon to look the other way while my whole family saves theirs! lol
The Real Person!
How do you think I got so many.:) I actually had them do it two weeks in a row so now they still whisper to me me before it is passed, “Mom do we have to save our cup again?”
Heather Lynne says
lol I love it!! 🙂
Sherry says
That’s funny!
Brandy F. says
Thanks for the idea! The kids will love it and learn so much at the same time!
Melissa says
Love this! I am always looking for ways to teach my little girl the reason we truly celebrate Easter. Thank you.
Liz Hurd says
We are going to do this for R.S. thanks so much for the idea. I had a similar one that I used for a scavanger hunt, but this is so much fun.
By the way, tell us how you made your 2×4 easter decoration in the background. What font is that?
The Real Person!
I wish I could say I made the 2×4 craft – I bought it, so I don’t know the font…I will have to get Alison on making her own version so she can teach us!
The Real Person!
Really it’s cute! We should make some 2×4 craft like that!
Mandy says
LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!! I almost bought a set of “resurrection eggs” at Lifeway Tuesday! Love this easy craft and what a great way to teach the “real” meaning of Easter!
Brenda says
I LOVE THIS!!!! I’ve been looking for a great teaching tool for the kids for Easter – and this is just perfect. They will love the countdown eggs for sure (and I think it will definitely be more memorable for them than just a coloring page, or reading a book, etc.). Thank you SO MUCH for sharing!
Emily Dixon says
We do this countdown every year… only we just do it for family home evening one night or I’ve even used it in sharing time and primary classes. The kids love it and they sit still to listen to the story and see what is coming next!
Candice says
Fabulous idea!! I also love countdowns as does my son. Every year we make a new style advent calendar for Christmas, but I love the plastic eggs for Easter! I’m going to try & find an egg holder this weekend so we can make an Easter countdown too!
Mindy says
What a genius idea! I always see ways to help kids remember the true meaning of Christmas, but rarely do I see ideas to help them know what Easter really means. I’m totally going to do this! Love love love.
PS Where did you get your egg holder? Am I missing something, I haven’t seen these all over.
The Real Person!
I am so glad you posted this Missy. I was going to go google it and figure out how to make Easter more like Easter. Thanks for the easy copy and paste too. YOu just saved like 2 hours in searching. Thank you!!!!
The Real Person!
Oh and I totally looked at the #1(2).
Caley says
I looked at the #12 too! 😉
Thank you so much for posting this! Easter is one of my favorite holidays but there is hardly ever any mention of why we celebrated it {until we go to church on Easter!}
Thanks again!
AmberLee says
Missy, you are my hero! this is the BEST. this will mean SO much to my kiddos.
i love that your whole crew was in on collecting supplies :). your kids are too cute.
and thanks for the shout out. and for making me blush.
Brittany C says
I LOVE this! So cute and SIMPLE, I can and am actually going to do this. Giving it to my visiting teachees.Thanks!!
Nesleirbag says
You have done it again, Missy! The visuals to go along with the words makes it stick in the brain better, not just for the little ones, but for all of us! Love your creativity!
Angie says
This is fantastic!!
EmilyF says
We do this every year too at a special Easter morning breakfast. We pass the egg basket around the table and take turns opening while we eat. Kids don’t have to be very old to have fun with this. Mine were 5 and 3 when we started the tradition. Even if they don’t get it all, they like opening the eggs. I also stick a bunch of pictures I kept from a Greg Olsen Christ calendar up on the wall for a visual. Great idea, as usual Missy. Mine could definitely be “cute-ified”.
Devi M. says
Words cannot express how awesome this is!!
Jill says
Thank you so much for sharing!!! I wish I had run into this post earlier; kind of feel like it is too late to start them on April 14. :0( But we may just have to do a little catch up! So awesome to see the real reason for Easter portrayed. But absolutely love the topiary of peeps! Who eats those things, anyway! ;0)
Thanks Again!
The Real Person!
It’s not too late! You could open two a day or even do it all on Easter as a special lesson.:)
Ashley says
Thank You SO MUCH!! My son, Houston, has his birthday party the day before Easter. We are going to do an egg hunt and do this message with the kids! I am just thrilled!
kathryn says
so cute! great idea.
kathryn
http://www.thedragonsfairytail.blogspot.com
Sherry says
That’s awesome! I have the store-bought reversion but I like your better. My kids ♥ our kit. I bought one for my Sunday School class too. They REALLY pay attention & get all excited about it. It helps bring the story more to life for them.
Purposeful Homemaking says
Thank you for this! Perfect! Will share with my readers.
Nesleirbag says
Fantastic idea to make learning fun using visuals! Thanks, Missy!
Liz@HoosierHomemade says
Super cute! So glad to have you join us for Spring Week!
~Liz
Edna Owan says
I love the easter bunny doll. is there a pattern available or was it store bought.
Edna
Stacy says
Thank you for this! I really appreciate it! I’ve already got all my supplies together.
Elizabeth says
Thank you so much for this! We’ll be using it this year for sure.
Alea says
I do countdowns, too! I make them for my kids before Disney vacations and Christmas, and last year we had so much fun doing our first Easter countdown! My 7 year old says his favorite holiday is now Easter! Here’s the page on my blog: https://aleasalbums.wordpress.com/2015/03/12/a-countdown-to-easter/