Thursday, April 21, 2011

Telling the Easter Story to Children

Today in children's church they discussed the last supper. There was an actual crown of thorns in a glass display at the welcome desk at church. Morgan calls it the crown with the pokies.  We talked about how the people made Jesus wear it because they were making fun of him and that they did not believe that he is our king. We have gone over the Easter story and the boys just watched a video called The Awesome Story of Jesus. Ok, and get ready to cry... the pic above is Gabriel and Morgan pretending to the be the cross and Jesus. I didn't realize how difficult this is to explain to children. In a nutshell they have been told that Jesus died and came back to life so that our sins can be forgiven and we get to be in Heaven with God. Jesus is alive today. Sin was explained as when we do bad things like be mean or lie. But, that God forgave/forgives us and that is what Easter is all about.


I'm hauling out all of the children's Bibles and we are looking at the different pictures and stories that relate to Easter. The kids really side tracked me when they started talking about our dog Bali that died on Christmas. They kept asking me when Bali was going to come back to life. I told them that Bali is in Heaven with God.

Gabriel told me that he thinks that "Jesus is cool". I was really worried about explaining this to them because I didn't want them to be scared. But, they really like the story and there was A LOT of emphasis on the fact that Jesus came back to life. I also know that they will be discussing the story at children's church during the service. So, I wanted to go over it with them before Sunday.


We have about 10 different children's Bibles.  Here are our three newest ones and they are our favorites for the four year age range. 

This one is both Morgan and Gabriel's favorite. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0781444039 It has pictures like icons inserted in the text and the adult points to the picture so the child is actually reading alongside the adult.  The kids think that it's a lot of fun and remember the stories.  Thanks Allison for turning me on to this book.
The See It and Say It Bible Storybook
The Jesus Storybook Bible is good because it isn't just a random collection of stories.  It ties every story to Jesus.
The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name
My ABC Bible Verses is great because it focuses on character traits.  It also teaches the ABC's by starting with a verse, followed by a modern story about a child's dilemma.  Then, it has a follow up question section and a short prayer.  Each section is a two page spread.  So, it's a really easy add on to story time at night since it's so quick.
My ABC Bible Verses: Hiding God's Word in Little Hearts
Good luck to everyone looking to explain the heavy issues to sweet young minds!  And, happy Easter to everyone!

1 comment:

Hillary 2.0 said...

When I first saw the pic before reading the explanation, my first thought was "I'm flying Jack!" HAHA!