Empty Tomb Garden Craft

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My grandson was up today to have a fun day with Nana.

Empty Tomb Garden Craft

It’s Feb. 24, so I figured it was a great time to plant our Empty Tomb Garden or Resurrection Garden that we’ve done in the past. The celebration of Jesus’ victory over sin and the grave is the most important event in all of history.

Of the supplies needed: I only had to buy the terra cotta tray which I found at Lowes. The rest of the supplies I had in my shed. You may very well have many of them on hand, as well, which makes this a budget-friendly activity, as well!

The kids get the fun of going out and collecting some pebbles, twigs, rocks- so that is fun for them and a great way to involve all ages in this project.

Supplies for the Empty Tomb Garden Craft

I followed the supply list and instructions from http://wearethatfamily.com/2012/03/diy-mini-resurrection-garden/ You should check it out, too, and make one with your kids, in time for the Easter Season.

  • Terra cotta mini pot (tomb)
  • Terra cotta small tray
  • Small pebbles (one bag was plenty for three)
  • Grass seed
  • One small bag of potting soil
  • Small twigs and Large rock (smaller than a child’s fist) from the yard
  • String or a Glue gun
  • Spray water bottle

Instructions for the Empty Tomb Garden Craft

  1. Begin by adding the terra cotta mini pot which will be your tomb. Place it near the back of the plate so the other pieces can be added in front of the tomb.

Easter Boys craft with dirt

2. For little ones it is easy for them to add the rocks in front to fill in the space.

Working on the empty tomb garden craft

3. Next, cover the top of the tomb with dirt to form a hill over top.

Filling with plate with dirt

This part is fun for them.

Boys craft for Easter

It can get messy but don’t stress. It all cleans up.

4. Now to add the grass seed.

Adding dirt for the craftJust have them sprinkle a little bit all around the pile of dirt and then push the seeds gently into the dirt.

5. Add the Cross made of twigs.

Empty Tomb Garden CraftFor this part you can tie the cross together with string like we did or if you want to glue them with hot glue you can. We like to tie ours together with string.

6. Spray the Easter tomb dirt with water.

A finished empty tomb craftTake time every day to spritz your dirt and grass so that the grass seed can grow tall and green. I have my spray bottle next to our garden and should only be a few days before the grass begins to grow in your Resurrection gardens too.

FAQs about the Resurrection Garden Tombs

How do you get the Resurrection Tomb?

By making one with a terra cotta pot, dirt, stones, twigs, and grass seed. I’ve not seen sets to purchase for these but they are quite simple to make.

What other ways can you make this craft?

The Resurrection Tomb can be drawn by kids who enjoy drawing and there are also ways to make a paper mache tomb and that may be something your older kids would enjoy too.

7. Enjoy the finished Resurrection Garden that reminds us of the death and resurrection of Christ our Savior.

I read The Easter Story According to Matthew to him so he knew what this craft was all about. I LOVE the pictures in this book. The words are taken directly from the Bible.

How fun crafts are with your kids! Hope you enjoy doing this with your little guys.

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My Kids’ Favorite Books: a book list for later elementary to middle school

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Book list

A Book List for Later Elementary to Middle School Age

One of my favorite things to see, as a parent, is my children curled up on the sofa, or sitting outside on the porch swing, or numerous other places reading from our book list! And let me add to that- reading without me telling them to go read….reading because they want to! These wholesome books for middle school and elementary are tried and true books.

So, as I’m thinking about Christmas gifts (or birthday gifts, etc.) for my kids or nieces and nephews, I love to include BOOKS as part of their present.

Reading is one of those wonderful pastimes that is the same as it was 100 years ago. You find a book and you read it. (granted, I suppose you could be reading it on a kindle or ipad or something, now) 🙂 And, it is just as beneficial as it ever was. It stimulates the imagination, it feeds you with knowledge, it broadens your scope of life and history by learning of others’ experiences, it inspires through achievements and endeavors of people before us, it sharpens your spelling skills and builds your vocabulary without ever having to pull out a textbook to do so. What a great gift!

So, with Christmas shopping underway, perhaps you will enjoy this little list of some of my kids’ favorite books to read. I love book lists because they help me narrow down my options instead of having to search through the thousands of children’s books out there and not knowing where to start. There’s a lot of trashy books out there too, so I appreciate lists that give me good, wholesome choices.

We actually used several of these titles for school reading. I buy several books at the beginning of the year and then let the kids choose which ones they will read. When they’ve finished that book, they go back to those options and choose again. They really like handling it this way, as it allows them to have some say in what they read for school.

So, here you go:

Book List for approximately grades 4-8 or ages 9-13

Continue reading My Kids’ Favorite Books: a book list for later elementary to middle school

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Empty Tomb Cookies

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These cookies are an excellent activity to make with your children as your family prepares for Easter. We’ve given you a recipe before for Resurrection Rolls. This one is similar- Empty Tomb Cookies. I recently made them with 5 of my grandkids! Thanks to Faithful Provisions blog for the fun and excellent idea.

This activity involves making special cookies- where each ingredient and step is a representation of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection. Have your Bible with you as you make them! There are passages to read and thoughts to discuss as you make the cookies. It’s really a neat experience.

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Making a Resurrection Garden

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Have you seen the Resurrection Gardens that are all over Pinterest? (like the one pictured, below)

I think I first saw this project displayed on Pinterest by Melissa Holt. Thanks for the wonderful idea, Melissa. I’ve been wanting to do this for a few years now, and today we finally did.

I am currently watching 5 grandkids as their mom just had a new baby boy yesterday, and this seemed like a perfect project to attempt.

The kids gathered the pebbles and rock for the tomb from their creek this morning early before they came over. We had to run to Lowes to purchase the terra cotta tray. It cost $4.00.

Today we planted the grass seed. I am going to use this as a centerpiece for the Easter Season. Today is Feb. 28th and Easter is April 1 this year, so the grass should be growing well by then and we can enjoy it all during the season!

Here’s how our completed project (before the grass has grown) turned out:

Continue reading Making a Resurrection Garden

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Peanut Butter Christmas Kiss Cookies

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Peanut Butter Christmas Kiss Cookies have been a long-time Christmas cookie tradition in our home for many, many years. Everyone looks forward to these special sweet treats! This version of the recipe includes colored sprinkles and peppermint kisses!

This is a great cookie recipe for kids to make with you, too, because they can easily help with many of the steps…such as rolling the dough into balls, coating the balls with sugar or sprinkles, unwrapping the chocolate kisses, and also adding the kisses to the cookies.

So, gather your little ones in the kitchen and make some Christmas memories!

Here’s the recipe.

  • Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup softened butter
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup peanut butter
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • Christmas sprinkles
  • Peppermint Hershey’s kisses (any kind work, if you don’t care for peppermint)

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Chocolate-Dipped Pretzel Rods

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‘Tis the season for so many wonderful things. Every day in December seems to bring about some sort of special activity, festive sounds, nostalgic feelings, or sweet treats to eat! It really is a special time of the year.

Some of my grandkids were with me last week, so we decided to make these yummy chocolate-dipped pretzels.

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Pilgrim and Indian “Hats’ Craft (with printable pattern)

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Pilgrim Hat Template - Craft for Kits

My last post had suggestions for teaching your kids about the true meaning of Thanksgiving. Here are a few activities I did with my kids every year to help them celebrate Thanksgiving in a way they could relate to:

My kids LOVED to dress up and act out the first Thanksgiving. We eventually bought Pilgrim and Indian costumes and the kids got hours of use from them. (My grandkids are still using them now). Kids retain information so much better when they can act it out and role play.

But if you don’t want to get the entire costume, here are some Pilgrim and Indian hats that are super easy to make:

DIY Indian Hat Kindergarten and Early Grades

(Taken from our Character Concepts for Preschoolers Mom’s Guide)

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What is Thanksgiving All About?

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Does your family know the true story of how Thanksgiving came about?  I have been so surprised by the lack of books that tell the story of Thanksgiving. Ultimately, our celebrations should be about offering thanks to God from whom ALL blessings flow, but also about this American tradition of setting aside a day to focus on offering thanks.

I had a mom recently thank me for the little reading book, The First Thanksgiving that we sell on our website. She said growing up in the public school setting she had always learned that Thanksgiving was about the Pilgrims thanking the Indians for helping them through the hard winter.  She said it was really eye opening to learn that they were really setting aside a day to offer gratefulness to God.

Continue reading What is Thanksgiving All About?

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Q & A: Did You Tell Your Kids There Was An Easter Bunny?

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Q:  Did You Tell Your Kids There Was An Easter Bunny?

A: We chose not to tell our kids that the Easter bunny was real.

Why? Early on, we decided that we would not tell our children things that weren’t true. We never condemned anyone who chose otherwise, but so much of the Bible is supernatural and I didn’t want to confuse my kids with truth and fiction. (“So, now you’re saying the Easter Bunny isn’t real, but you still say Jonah in the belly of the whale really is real??” )

Continue reading Q & A: Did You Tell Your Kids There Was An Easter Bunny?

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