Last night I did a presentation for our Relief Society on activities to help make our Easter celebrations more centered on Christ. Here are my top five ideas with a bonus:
1. Watch Lamb of God: The Concert Film by Rob Gardner, DVD, 2021.
Watch for free on BYUTV:
Highly recommended!
2. Jerusalem Dinner like the one Jesus may have eaten (ie. naan bread, cheese, olives, dates, grapes, raisins, cucumbers, honey, fish). Sit on the floor, dress in costumes. Very memorable.
3. Empty Tomb Rolls: https://www.northcarolinacharm.com/empty-tomb-resurrection-rolls/ This website has the story.
I have to confess I have not actually made these rolls myself but someone else made them for our meeting and they tasted pretty good. They also look pretty easy to make, using refrigerated crescent roll dough from the store.
Resurrection cookies are another option but require a little more effort. There's great narrative that goes with them though!
4. Empty Tomb Garden: https://www.cranialhiccups.com/2012/03/the-living-christ-calvarys-hill-or-empty-easter-tomb-garden-craft.html
I have made these for several different Easters. This year was my most successful and I think it was because the dirt was quite wet before I put it on the cup and pie plate. The wheat berries loved the moisture and I kept it covered until it sprouted. I also had plenty of time to grow the grass since I started it about 4 weeks before, so my wheat grass actually needed several haircuts. It kind of looked like a hedgehog before I added the other props. It was so cute.
You can also go a different direction with it and grow wheat berries in a little pot and give it as a gift of hope at Easter (idea from Emily Freeman):
5. Dye eggs using onion skins. I got the idea from Emily Freeman's book called "Celebrating a Christ-centered Easter" and this was an interesting project for me. I collected onion skins for about a month (you're supposed to have skins from 15 onions). Then you boil skins in a pot with 4 cups water and 2 Tbsp. vinegar for 30 minutes. Let cool to room temperature, then add 6 eggs and boil gently for 20 minutes. After it cools, refrigerate the pot overnight. In the morning, you remove eggs and let dry, then polish with some olive oil. The red eggs symbolize Christ's blood. The tradition comes from Eastern Europe where people kept their beliefs alive during communism which was trying to stamp out religious belief. During the Easter season, people greet each other by saying, "He is risen!" And people respond, "Indeed He is risen!"
Bonus Idea:
This comes from Emily Freeman's book also. She tells the story of Simon in the scriptures who carried Christ's cross for him (see Matt. 27:32). The tradition she adds is to take a piece of jute rope and make it into a bracelet with a knot to "forget knot" to serve others as Simon served Christ. I like the idea and I'm going to try it this year.
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