Hi

As we move towards Easter, I'm reminded of an Easter years ago when I was working at a Montesorri nursery. During Lent, the mother of the head teacher died. She was also one of the teachers in the school, much loved by the close-knit staff family. It was a very difficult time.

And in the middle of it, they wanted to share the Easter story with the children. But the Easter story is a hard one to share appropriately with under 5s, even more so when you're grieving.

I face similar challenges in my work now as a Children's Hospital Chaplain. In a place where children are very poorly, many are palliative, and some won't make it, the Easter story needs to be told in a very sensitive, appropriate way.

Here are three ways I think would work well.

The key to choosing which you use is to think of the needs of your listeners; with young children and with the children I work with in the hospital, that often includes their families and older siblings too.

What is the key message your listeners need?

The death and resurrection of Jesus is central to the Christian faith. But it may not be the most pertinent message a person needs this Easter. They may simply need to know it's ok to mourn. Or that they are loved. Or that it's ok to feel confused and uncertain. The Easter story contains all of this and so much more. Once you've identified what message your listeners need, you can hone your story telling to focus there. We'll never get to tell the whole Easter story in one sitting - it's just too long for that - but it is possible to share it in a way that helps people find just what they need.

Here's three creative ways to share the Easter Story:

1 Story bag

Whether you're looking for a way to share the Easter story with a group or at church or if you'd like something simple to use at home with your family, I think this story could help you.

The Easter story is a LONG one, and different in each gospel so it's hard to work out how to explore it in a simple but meaningful way. 

This story method is very Godly-play, using items to help tell the story. It would take a little preparation but I don't think it would be too tricky.

Click here to see the details

2 Play dough and play people

Another way to tell the Easter story,especially with younger children, is using play dough as a base and play people to act out the story. I've done this by pressing play dough into a cake tin lid, then creating four ‘rooms’ in the play dough a table using jenga blocks for the last supper; a few sticks and some lavender sprigs to make a garden for Jesus to pray in; a play dough hill with a cross in the top (two sticks tied with string) and a play dough cave with a rock for the burial and resurrection.

Then I used a collection of play people to tell each part of the story. You can use Godly Play People of God or peg doll people or any other play people you have available.

The advantage of using play people and play dough as a base is that you can make them stand up easily while storytelling. And afterwards (or maybe even during) young fingers can take part via play, moving the people from scene to scene, acting out the story.

If doing this in a service, you could split the story telling into four sections with songs and other activities in between.

3 Picture cards and story book

If you're after something with pictures, I've made a set of eight picture cards telling the story from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. Each picture card has a one sentence story on the back, and when you've collected all 8 cards you can glue them into the storybook which has a few more sentences for each picture, plus a wondering story to give you ways to connect with the story and what it could mean for you.

See more here

I've had someone ask if I can make these pictures available in a larger printable format, so if that's something you'd like, do ping me an email and let me know.

That's all for this week.

I hope you find some sunshine to bask in and some blossom to admire.

Victoria

PS The Easter Story Treasure Hunt Pack will be back from the printers this week, so if you'd like one, there's still time to get your order in.