Easter is the most important celebration of our faith. It is the very essence of what makes us Christian. Therefore, it is important that we find meaningful ways to celebrate its significance with our children in order to build a deeper level of understanding as they mature in their walk with the Lord.When my children were young in the early 80's, we began making "Holy Week Baskets" at home to celebrate Easter. I began to gather items that represented events from Holy Week. As we added an item, we would talk about it, look up the corresponding scriptures, and weave them together into the rich time line tapestry of Holy Week. I noticed how my children's interest and knowledge grew and deepened as they became engaged in this interactive learning process.
So, as head of school, I decided we would make Holy Week Baskets at school. Later as minister to children at our church, we made them at church. My children became my "Happy Helpers," and for the month before Holy Week, we would gather the items, organize them, sort jelly beans by colors for the Jelly Bean Prayer, and prepare items so hundreds of children could create Holy Week Baskets. Palm Sunday would find us taking around wagons over-flowing with items for little fingers to touch, and later teach others about Holy Week.
It became our Easter tradition: in our home, in our school, and in our church. I saw children, parents, and teachers get excited each year and ask, "Are we going to make Holy Week Baskets this year?"
I began to teach about them at school and church conferences. I wrote about them in my book Cherishing and Challenging your Children 20 years ago! It seems like only yesterday. Now I am doing them with my grandchildren.
There are numerous items we put in our Holy Week Baskets, but I would vary them depending upon the ages of the children. For example, I would not put in a nail for younger children. I would add more items each year as they get older and their ability to understand abstract concepts grows, such as the curtain in the temple torn in half.
When children get to about age 9 or 10, the enthusiasm they had in previous years may turn to, "Do I have to make a Holy Week Basket again this year?" Before you let it be a knife to your heart, realize that this is part of growing up. I respond with, "I would love for you to be my helper. You are so good at creating and explaining the importance of the Holy Week Baskets. I need you to show the "little ones" how to make them and what each item represents." They love "being in charge" and this gets you through this transition time. Plus, there is no better way to learn anything than to teach it! Even better, your children's understanding continues to grow as the Holy Spirit works in their hearts through their words and action when they help teach the little ones. Everyone is blessed.
Question: "Well, I already have on from last year. Why am I making another one?" Answer: "I am so glad you asked that question. This one can be for you to give to someone who doesn't know Jesus. When you give it to them, you can tell them the story of Easter." Thus, your Holy Week Basket becomes an excellent evangelism tool!
Holy Week Baskets can also be called "Resurrection Baskets" as we have called them some years. They make lovely centerpieces for you to give to Grandparents and other people in your family, especially those who may not know the Lord. It's a joy for children to have the opportunity to explain each item in the basket, much to the amazement of adults who have no idea what the Resurrection is all about. Some may naively think Easter is just about bunnies, and those who do know about Jesus might not understand the depth and glory of the Resurrection story. There is no better way to share the Gospel than through this Holy Week Resurrection Basket.
OK, so what goes into your basket? Here are some suggestions. Again, select the ones that are age appropriate and add items each year as your children grow in the Lord.
As you take each item out, teach your children about the significance of every piece. Look up the scripture together as a family or in your classroom. If you put them in a basket, add lots of grass and they make a lovely, as well as meaningful, centerpiece. Items may include:
- donkey and/or palm branch to represent Palm Sunday
- 1" piece of towel: washing of feet; symbol of service
- unleavened bread and communion cup: to represent the Passover and Last Supper
- silver coins to represent Judas' betrayal (I used play money from the Dollar Store)
- cross: made with popsicle sticks
- nail: (only with older children please)
- rock: placed over the tomb where Jesus was buried
- scroll with mini-gospel such as 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 or John 3:16 (type the verse, copy, cut into strips, glue popsicle sticks on either side, roll each side to the center and you have a scroll)
- 2" black cloth: world turned dark when Jesus was on the cross
- 2" purple cloth: temple curtain torn in half when Jesus died
- 2" linen cloth: shroud to wrap Jesus' body
- grass: new life when you believe in Jesus
- cotton ball: Jesus will return through the clouds to gather all those who belive in Him (share the Gospel!)
- Jelly Bean Prayer (I put the jelly beans in a baggie with a copy of the prayer) The Jelly Bean Prayer can be downloaded from my website under "articles".
Bonus! When the children get to 3rd grade, I encourage them to read one of the Gospel accounts of Holy Week each year. For example:
- 3rd grade: Matthew
- 4th grade: Mark
- 5th grade: Luke
- 6th grade: John
Activities to challenge older children:
1. Create a time line of all the items in their basket with corresponding scriptures from each of the gospels.
2. Add items to represent each day of Holy Week. for example, what did Jesus do each day during that week? We tend to know what happened on Sunday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. But often the extraordinary teaching that occurred on Monday and Tuesday gets eclipsed by the profound events of the rest of the week. What was happening on Wednesday? Let your children be "Bible Detectives" and find out! Have the children put items in their baskets as symbols from those teachings. For example:
Monday: What could they put in their baskets to represent Jesus' teaching about the Barren Fig Tree (Mark 11)? Or, what happened when Jesus went to the temple?
Tuesday: The gospels are filled with the amazing teachings of Jesus from Tuesday.
Wednesday: What happened? Check the Gospels!
Parents and teachers, may I encourage you to take time to find an activity that teaches the profound message of Easter and one you can build upon each year as your children grow older. You may want to bring out your Holy Week Basket from the previous year and review it with your children. A word to the wise: children love repetition when they are young. As they get older, they may begin to become cynical and say, "I already know that..." and not want to participate. Remember, this is a good time to invite them to be the helper and/or leader with the younger siblings or students. Or if they are the youngest, I simply say that since the truth of this activity is so important to our faith, it is worth hearing again. You may suggest that we might learn something new this year as we explore it together. I know I do each time I read the gospels! These meaningful memories become beautiful threads in the tapestry of our children's spiritual hearts. These windows of opportunities are worth every minute of the investment of our time and energy, as they reap rich dividends...for eternity.
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