We commenced the Easter story on February 21st which sounds very efficient but I’m glad we didn’t leave it any later! Penny started us off with the entry into Jerusalem, linking back to the prophecy in Zechariah 9. “See, your King comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Good on you Penny for teaching prophecy to a 2 year old!

I followed with the Passover, the garden of Gethsemane, the betrayal by Judas and Peter and the trials of Jesus before the High Priest, Pilate and Herod! Whew! I hope that their little heads weren’t spinning!

I brought in a cardboard egg box with a playmobil cup and tiny piece of bread, some ‘olive’ leaves, playmobil swords, clubs and lanterns, playmobil figures for Judas, Peter, James and John, playmobil soldiers, Pilate and King Herod, betrayal coins and a playmobil fire! As we were preparing for our colouring time Ethan had some fun with Herod fighting the soldiers but I had to reiterate that they were actually on the same side!!! I used 3 different story books for the story line.

The colouring sheets were of the sleeping disciples and Jesus being taken away by the soldiers. It was wonderful to have my deputy teacher (Joannie) in with me because she dramatised the story using the playmobil figures and was a first class role model helping Ethan colour in his pictures.

The memory verse just had to be the one from our Saturday club poster…”the Son of God loved me and gave Himself for me.” When I asked who the Son of God is Hadley immediately said ‘Jesus’. He’s one bright two year old! We said the verse several times substituting the ‘me’ with our own names, for example “the Son of God loved Ethan and gave Himself for Ethan”. They seemed to like this. The fact that they get a personal mention in the bible!

The following week we went over the entire story all over again, this time with Daddy in class. I used the flannel graph, and again used the visuals from the egg box and was pleased with how well they actually remembered how each item fitted into the story, especially seeing how much ground we had covered! We also watched a clip from the read and share DVD bible by Gwen Ellis on my laptop which was a great success. A highly recommended DVD for this age. The story progresses very gently and slowly so we were able to talk about it as we watched.

More to come as we continue with the build up to Easter…