Joy By Jess

Spreading Joy and Encouragement Through Hand Lettering

Teaching Kids About Easter

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Teaching Kids About Easter

The best thing I read recently about teaching young kids the true meaning of Easter is this: Similar to a fairytale, the Easter story has a wonderful beginning, a scary middle, and a happy ending.

When talking about Easter, it’s impossible to remove the death of Jesus on Good Friday. Without the death, there would not be a resurrection on Sunday, or Easter at all. However, since death is a critical part of the Easter story, you may find yourself feeling unsure of how to share the true meaning of Easter with your young kids. I’ve put together a few of my own suggestions based on how we’ve broached the subject of Jesus’s death and resurrection with our 2 and 4 year olds.

1. Read age appropriate books about Easter. We like the Jesus Storybook Bible and the Easter Story Egg (bonus points – this comes with wooden nesting eggs to play with), and the Beginner’s Bible.
2. Keep it simple. You don’t need to go into gruesome detail but you can limit what you share. Don’t skip parts and let your kids ask questions.
3. Remember the basics.  Our sin separates us from God. God sent Jesus to take our sins away.  He lived a perfect life but had to take the punishment of our sins so that we can be with God again. You can keep it this basic when you’re first teaching the story. This is not the whole story but it’s a foundation you can build on when you feel like you want to share more.  
4. Go to church and let the Sunday School teachers help you out! This sounds like a cop-out, but you could also think of it as leveraging your resources.  They likely have prepared age-appropriate lessons for kids to discuss Easter.  
5. Prepare activities that help make the story come to life. Resurrection rolls (see my previous Reel about how to do this), Resurrection eggs (search Pinterest for toddler friendly suggestions), and the Easter Story Eggs (mentioned above) are some good ways to tell the whole Easter story in a fun, hands-on way.

Remember: parts of the Easter story are hard and sad. You can’t take that away.  Without the pain and death, there would be no resurrection or forgiveness of our sins. It’s ok for your kids to experience the sadness but focus on the love and joy that comes out of the sadness.  And most importantly, celebrate the love Jesus has for us.

Do you have any other resources you use with your kids? I’d love to hear!

How To Talk To Your Kids About Easter

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How To Talk To Your Kids About Easter

Does sharing the death and resurrection of Jesus with your kids scare you? Death can be a tricky subject to talk about with young kids, but it’s a critical part of Christianity. I have a few suggestions on how to share the Easter story with your kids in an age appropriate way, but here’s the bottom line:

Sin separates us from God. God sent Jesus to Earth to live a perfect life and take the punishment for our sin so that we no longer have to be separated from God. Easter is when we get to celebrate that sacrifice.

That’s it! If you don’t want to talk about death with your young and/or sensitive kids, that’s a great foundation to lay this Easter season. This is NOT the full story but can be used to build upon in the future. Tomorrow I’ll share a few more options to help you build on that foundation. And if you missed my reel on making Resurrection Rolls, check that out for a fun, yummy activity to help bring the Easter story to life!

Resurrection Rolls

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Looking for something FUN and MEANINGFUL to do on Easter weekend?

Growing up, my family had a tradition of making resurrection rolls on Easter and I’ve carried it on with my kids. They are DELICIOUS and can help aid in teaching young kids about the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Here’s what you need:

Crescent rolls

Large marshmallows

Melted butter (~2 tbsp)

Cinnamon sugar (~2 tbsp)

Here’s what to do:

Preheat the oven to 375°. While it’s preheating, it’s a great time to read the story of Jesus’s death. We read from the @jesus_storybook_bible (page 302 – The Sun Stops Shining) or you can read John 19.

Roll out and separate the crescent rolls on a cookie sheet (parchment paper makes for easy clean up!).

Take a marshmallow and roll it in the melted butter and then the cinnamon sugar. Explain that the marshmallow represents Jesus’s body and the butter and sugar represent the oils and spices that Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus used, along with strips of linen, to prepare Jesus’s body for burial (a traditional Jewish burial custom).

Wrap the marshmallow up in the crescent roll. Be sure to pinch the roll together tightly (it won’t work if there are any holes in the roll). Explain that this is like the tomb Jesus’s body was placed in.

After you’ve wrapped up each marshmallow, place the tray in the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes (until golden brown). This is a good time to read the story of the Resurrection. We read page 310 (God’s Wonderful Surprise) or you can read John 20:1-20. When finished baking, take the rolls out, let them cool, and break them open. Where’s Jesus’s body??? It’s gone! He is risen!

I’d love to hear if you do this with your family or if you have other Easter traditions.

Be Kind and Compassionate

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Be Kind and Compassionate

Yesterday at our @mops_international group, we talked about raising compassionate kids, which went along perfectly with the Bible verse my 4 year old and I started memorizing this week (thanks to @braveseasondesign for the recommendation!).

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”
Ephesians 4:32

Showing everyday compassion to those around us can be hard in the midst of our busy schedules. This week I’m trying to intentionally slow down and do a small act of kindness with my kids each day. Today we’re going to mail out some artwork and cards that they’ve made. What are some ideas you have for acts of kindness with your kids?

In Peace I Will Lie Down

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Do you remember the first Bible verse you learned? What was it? This was mine (even though I left out a word when I wrote it here 🤭)!

In Peace I Will Lie Down

Be Strong and Courageous – Joshua 1:9

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Deep breath😮I’m baaaacccckkkk! To be honest, social media totally overwhelms me but Joy by Jess is really important to me so I’m trying to prioritize it again. I feel extremely vulnerable showing my work and sharing my heart but then again, that’s what God calls us to. So I’m taking some of my own advice I give my kids regularly: be scared and do it anyway. 😬😬😬

Be Strong and Courageous Joshua 1 9

God is Faithful

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Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23

GodIsFaithful

Better to Be The One Who Smiled

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I saw this quote somewhere a while back and I just loved it! You’ll never regret being kind… even if it’s a little embarrassing in the moment. ?

Have You Prayed About It

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Oof, this gets me every time. Tell me I’m not the only one ??‍♀️
Have you prayed about it as much as you’ve talked about it?

Have You Prayed About It