I am so thankful that I teach in a faith-based preschool. That means I can talk to the children each day about God. It also means that I can teach them about the REAL reason we celebrate Easter. My favorite book for teaching this story to young children is The Story of Easter by Patricia Pingry. Patricia Pingry writes a whole series of simple board books about the holidays. I own nearly every title. This book teaches the basic tenets of the Easter story without mentioning the more gruesome aspects which would not be appropriate for young children. We have listened to this story several times within the past few weeks.
On Monday and Tuesday this week some moms came into the classroom to help with a baking activity for Easter. Before the children left the classroom four at a time to bake, I read the book aloud again.
The baking project we did was Resurrection Rolls. I had made these a few years ago with my own sons. They are super easy to make, super yummy to eat, and symbolize the important part of the Easter story.
To make resurrection rolls you need: crescent rolls, large marshmallows, melted butter, cinnamon and sugar.
We found that these work best if you use only half a marshmallow.
To make these, dip the marshmallow in melted butter, then roll it in the cinnamon and sugar. Place the marshmallow on a crescent roll and fold in the edges to completely enclose the marshmallow. It's important to try to seal the seams really well, but know that they will probably still burst open in the baking process.......it will still work out fine though even if they open up.
To emphasize the symbolism, tell your child that the marshmallow represents the body of Jesus once it was removed from the cross. The crescent roll represents the tomb where Jesus' body was placed.
Following are a few photos of some students preparing their rolls for baking........
When we do these baking projects, we bake on parchment paper and write each child's name next to their baked item as shown below. That way each child gets their very own without any confusion.
The best part is after the rolls are baked. During baking the marshmallows melt, but the space they occupied is still there. This represents the "resurrected" body of Jesus. When Jesus' friends went to the tomb on the first Easter morning, they received the good news that his body was not there because he was risen! Good news indeed! Although some of the children could easily figure out that the marshmallow had melted, others were surprised that the marshmallow had disappeared. I'm sure the parents of my students heard some interesting explanations of this project. Hopefully this post will clarify what we did! Have a blessed Easter!
Where are you? You are being missed in the blogsphere!
Posted by: Aude | June 18, 2011 at 11:29 AM
Are you ok?
Lisa
Posted by: Lisa | June 06, 2011 at 05:27 AM
I am a long time follower of yours. I am a stay-at-home mom with an almost 4 year old and a 16 month old. I just wanted to leave a quick comment letting you know how much I have learned from your blog and thank you for all of the information you provide (organization, set-up, activities, everything). It has all been so, so helpful!
Posted by: Shelley | June 05, 2011 at 01:05 PM
Thank you so much for this "Resurrection" teaching. My 2 1/2 yr old now understands so much more about the meaning of Easter than ever! Through the week he's been pretending to be Jesus in the tomb and resurrecting! What a wonderful, important lesson using food!!!
Posted by: Nancy - mom of 2 | April 29, 2011 at 07:05 PM
How cool! That looks like such a fun idea. I'll have to try that with my kids.
Posted by: Heather | April 25, 2011 at 11:07 PM
Thank you for sharing this idea and the book recommendation.
"I'm sure the parents of my students heard some interesting explanations of this project." - That made me laugh. I can just imagine!
Posted by: Storyteller | April 21, 2011 at 12:44 AM