Sunday, April 19, 2009
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Oh, What Do You Do in the Winter time . . .
This post is in honor of my family members who groan, "How can you stand it?" after asking how hot it is here in July. It is also in honor of the author of the Primary song and the author of all of the family magazines ever published who all seem to think that every place in the world has four traditional seasons. (As the lyrics say, "Oh what do you do in the summer time when all the world is green.") Excuse me? All the world? Come now. And I have to say, it chaps my hide a bit to get my Family Fun magazine's endless winter articles about fun in the snow and endless summer articles about things to do outside. Here in the great desert of the southwest, in the Valley of the [eternal] Sun, we do not go outside in the summer unless we are swimming. So I think all of that justifies a little rubbing-in-your-face when I hear reports that it is snowing in Utah in April. Right? So here we go . . .
Oh what do we do in the winter time when our part of the world is green?
We picnic each day, We go to the park to play, without a cloud in the sky.
If that's not what you do, please don't cry.
Oh what do we do in the winter time when our part of the world is green?
We drink fresh lemonade, that we ourselves made, from the lemons on the tree up high.
If that's not what you do, please don't cry.
Oh what do we do in the winter time when our part of the world is green?
We go to the zoo and eat fresh citrus too that we don't even have to buy.
If that's not what you do, please don't cry.
Oh what do we do in the winter time when our part of the world is green? (or maybe not-so-green as these pics show!)
We go on a hike, and we all ride our bikes until the sun has gone down in the sky.
If that's not what you do, please don't cry.
And that signals the end of my creative juices for the night. And don't worry, come September, I'll be the one crying. But right now, we're loving the months of 75 degrees.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Easter Week Plans for Teaching my Kids
Last year we followed this plan the week of Easter to try to make it more Christ-centered, and I loved how it changed the kids' focus and the feeling in our home that week. It's geared towards kids 5 and under, really, so I tried to add in some elements of fun (making some things, looking for eggs with the symbols). I decided to share it here in case anyone else besides me just barely realized that Easter is coming soon. . . .
Easter Week Plans
[Note: the event each day doesn’t correspond exactly with what happened that day for Jesus—some of the events I’ve combined or split for emphasis when teaching young kids.]
Preparation for Week in General
* Make Map of Jerusalem for the wall by the kitchen table to mark each day where Jesus went the last week of his life. Or, download one from the church’s web site (in the Old Testament manual, pg 24).
*Also make faces attached to Popsicle sticks for them to use when we tell parts of the story: happy, sad, surprised, angry, scared.
Monday
Triumphal Entry, GAK (Gospel Art Kit) 223
- Hide plastic egg w/little donkey figurine in it and hide picture of the Triumphal Entry. Have the kids each look for one.
- Read Mark 11:7-9. Tell them the story. Have them hold up faces for how they would feel. Summarize that after coming into
- Make big palm leaves out of paper and wave them and shout “Hosanna!” OR break a donkey piñata if the party store/dollar store has one for a good price.
Passover/Last Supper
- Hide plastic egg w/sacrament cup in it. Hide picture of Jesus washing apostles feet and picture of Last Supper.
- Read John 13: 4-5, 14-15 (Jesus washing feet). Have them hold up faces for how they would feel. Read Matthew 26:26-28 (sacrament).
- Dress up in sheets, like New Testament days. Sit around ottoman on the floor and eat bread, raisins, grape juice.
- Paste pictures of Jesus cut out of the Friend into a book to look at during the sacrament.
Gethsemane
- Hide plastic egg w/ a white cloth in it that I’ve colored w/red marker on or dyed w/red food coloring. Hide picture of Jesus praying in Gethsemene.
- Read Luke 22:41-46. Rephrase. Have them hold up faces for how they would feel.
Betrayal/Trial
- Hide eggs w/3 dimes in one and a thorn in another. Hide picture of the betrayal of Jesus.
- Read Matthew 26: 47-50; Matthew 37: 28-29; Luke 22: 63-67, 70
- Talk about friendship and loyalty: How is Jesus loyal to us, how can we be loyal to him? How can we be loyal and true friends to each other? Play friendship matching game: http://www.mormonshare.com/node/975
Friday
Cruxification/Burial
- Hide eggs w/nail, white cloth, bay leaf seasoning, and stone. Hide pictures of the Crucifixion and Jesus’s tomb.
- Read Luke 23: 33-36. Use flannel board figures to help tell the story. Have them hold up faces for how they would feel. http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Liahona/1978.htm/the%20friend%20april%201978.htm/flannel%20board%20color%20page%20he%20is%20risen.htm?fn=document-frameset.htm$f=templates$3.0
- Make edible tombs. What I need for this: paper plates, choc frosting, cupcake (or Hostess snowball or rice crispy treats to shape into empty tombs), vanilla wafers (for the rock), little He Has Risen signs stuck in a gumball. They can eat it after they tell us the story using the flannel board figures.
Saturday
Night of Darkness
- Hide egg w/mini-flashlight and black piece of construction paper.
- Turn out all the lights in the basement and tell about what happened in 3 Nephi chapters 8-10. Have them hold up faces for how they would feel. Shine a flashlight on picture of Jesus appearing to the Nephites at the temple. Have them hold up faces for how they would feel.
Resurrection Day
- Hide empty egg and pictures of Resurrected Jesus.
- Read Matthew 28:26. Have them hold up faces for how they would feel.
- Make Easter Story booklet http://www.sugardoodle.net/Easter%20Ideas/easterstory.pdf and He Lives Pop-up Craft after church
- Make resurrection rolls. http://www.sugardoodle.net/Easter%20Ideas/Resurrection%20Rolls.shtml What I need for this: crescent rolls, large marshmallows, butter, cinnamon, sugar, cupcake/muffin wrappers
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