Teachable Easter Baskets

Just like we try to be purposeful during the Christmas season we also want to use the Easter season to not only have fun among those we are called to love but to also teach and celebrate what Easter really is.

unEaster Baskets

I mean, its only the day we celebrate the most important event in the history of people. {yeah, I’m Sorry…My Kids Don’t Believe in the Easter Bunny. Don't ask, they'll be confused.} The day a Perfect Man with all resources at His disposal chose to conduct the largest bailout that has ever been and ever will be for all the scanky, dirty, and despicably unworthy- US. I don't know about you, but a creepy bunny bringing cavity inducing goodies to my littles just doesn't seem to do such an event justice.

I got the idea of unEaster baskets from good oh Amanda. Now, don't think this amazingness went down all glamorous with no squabbles, confusion, and utter annoyance at my littles inability to understand simple directions but it was more purposeful than just sitting out baskets of goodies while giving credit to a cute furry mammal.

unEaster Baskets:

Sin Creats Rocky Hard Hearts

  • During their nap I put together their Easter baskets with little goodies I'd been collecting and hid them.
  • As they began waking up I was still finishing up writing egg labels that helped make everything in the basket point back to Jesus in our lives.
  • When they were all awake, I had sat them all at the coffee table with a bucket of rocks and markers.
  • We walked through what sin was: bad choices, and how those sins hardened our hearts like rocks.
  • Then we talked about Ezekiel where is says God is going to take our rocked up hearts and replace them with new ones.
  • After much confusion and worries over whether they would get in trouble for confessing, they each came up with a couple bad choices they had made and we drew a picture of or wrote the word on the rock.

Here comes the fun part:

Start an unEaster Basket tradition with your kids celebrating the real meaning of Easter while being purposeful with gift giving

  • We all walked outside with our sin while we talked about how Jesus said He promised to take our sins away and chunk them as far as the east is from the west: so far we couldn't even see them on the other side of the fence.
  • While we talked, we wondered to the back of the yard where I had hidden their baskets under a red bedsheet.
  •  Then I reminded them that on a Friday, Jesus, who was perfect and never made a single bad choice, picked to pay for all our sin by dying.
  • I ask them to chunk their rocks onto the sheet that was a picture of His blood that paid for our bad choices.
  • When all the rocks were on there, I told them how God redeems all those bad things, takes them away, and replaces them, just like our rocky hearts, with new exciting things.
    an unEaster Basket tradition making the gospel come to life for littles
  • I pulled the sheet off the tops of the baskets while wadding the rocks up inside it, revealing their baskets of gifts.
  • We sat on the trampoline and read through the promises of Jesus and they found what represented that in their baskets as a reminder of that truth.
  • Then we wore sunglasses, ate candy, and squabbled over how to get off the trampoline and how much candy they were allowed to eat at once.
    an unEaster Basket tradition

Just when I began to get annoyed, explaining to hubs that I thought it was a waste, He just smiled and said he liked it. When we were putting everyone to bed {EARLY because of sleep deprivation this week}, Jamin ask Matt what Easter was. Matt told him that it was the day we celebrate Jesus coming back to life. To which Jamin responded, "and taking our rocks?" #winning I think this will be a regular tradition, of sorts.

What kind of tradition does your family have to celebrate the true meaning of Easter?

Ideas for purposing Easter basket goodies:

 Purposeful Easter Basket Gifts

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Comments

  1. What a GREAT idea!! I love this. 🙂 Pinning! and thanks for sharing my article. 🙂
    future.flying.saucers recently posted..The Passion of JesusMy Profile

    • Thanks for stopping by! I’m glad you liked the idea. I’m so glad I came across your site {via our lil friend Pinterest} where you worded so well my thoughts on the Easter bunny! 😀

  2. I love it!! And I can’t wait to look at all your gift ideas. 🙂

    It’s funny when we try to do something all big and meaningful and the kids are rolling around on the floor or talking about something totally not related. But still somehow (well, God does it), they get it!

    Thanks for the link and for sharing your fun twist on the “unEaster” baskets. 🙂

    a
    ohAmanda recently posted..How To Pray for Difficult RelationshipsMy Profile

    • Thank you so much for always have reliable {biblical} ways to teach our little practically. I am always looking for simple ways to teach them “as we are going” and you always help me see how God can use our most basic attempts.
      Thanks for pinning! 😀

  3. Love love love. Taylor Grace has seen the Easter bunny, but I’m not so sure she cared to much! Lol we always go to church on Easter and spend the day as a family. What are your thoughts on kids believing in Santa

    • In short, we don’t really “do” Santa in our house.
      I mean, we learn about who Santa was {a generous Christians who gave in secret to those in need}, have Santa things out at Christmas, watch movies/read books about the magic of Santa {just like other pretend ideas}, and even take a picture with the same one every year. We don’t pretend he is the one who brings gifts, act like he watches us all the time as a bad-behavior deterrent, or any of that kinda stuff. I love the “Veggie Tales St. Nicholas” DVD and “What’s In The Bible” Christmas DVDs- GREAT resources to help teach about the real Santa who lived a long time ago.

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  1. […] sweeten the deal, I encouraged them to use their new gardening gloves each of them got in their unEaster Baskets along with their new buckets. THEN I added that they would be earning an entire QUARTER for their […]

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