Some of our readers asked for play tips to help explaining Easter from a religious point of view. I (Patcamargo) worked for a long time with groups of children in Catechesis and played games for Easter.
The first thing is to enjoy the moments storytelling to tell the story of Easter to the children. There are several texts on the internet, with views of different Christian religions that can be chosen.
There are also videos on Youtube, like this one, that can help and be cool.
Another thing I always did was to remember the meaning of Easter, more generally. I like to speak of renewal, of transforming what is old into something new, of giving new life. To play with children, how about making recycled paper?
I start by making newspaper sculptures out of uncool things.
Placing the newspaper in the water, we cut the sculptures in the water and make the recycled paper. The post where I teach this game is at the link http://bit.ly/recicladocaseiro.
Search original meaning
Another symbol that I like is the egg, which despite having fallen into the graces of commerce, its origin is religious, and brings the vision of the new life that arrives (the egg as an empty tomb). So, paint and decorate eggs, putting a surprise inside empty egg shells, with Christian meanings (for example, good messages) is cool.
You can make these eggs, with messages of good deeds activities (give a hug, kiss, make a donation). And on Easter Day, you open the eggs and make a contest!
Another idea with the egg and the concept of new life is to plant seeds in the eggshells and watch nature grow. Bean and sunflower seeds grow fast and from today until Easter Sunday, you will already have a result!
Art and Science help religion
How about an art joke? We can do it a crown of thorns (made of paper, for example) and then decorate it with flowers, green leaves so that the symbol of renewal that overcomes death appears at the end of the art.
And yet another joke, which is going to be a fun science joke and, at the same time, a door to talk about Jesus Christ and what the Resurrection means:
You will need water, three clear containers, some iodine (found in pharmacies) and bleach.
Explain to your child that you are going to show what happens when we meet Jesus at Easter.
Take a little water and put it in a transparent container or glass. Put the iodine in another and the bleach in another. Like this. In my case, the water is in the center. Explain that we are all born this way, pure, clean, like water in a glass.
Then, continue explaining that during life we can make decisions and choose things that are neither cool for us, nor for the people who are close to us. And so, we are “tainted” by our bad choices. At this point, drip the iodine, which will color the water.
The clean sin for Jesus
But Jesus during Easter, dies to help us to be pure and clear again and when he resurrects. It proves that we all have a chance to have new life. At this point, explain that the glass of bleach represents Jesus and pour a little into the water + iodine mixture. Her chemical reaction will make the water transparent again!
The cool thing is that if you drip the iodine in the bleach (Jesus) it will not be stained or colored. And if you pour bleach directly into the glass with iodine, it will also be transparent.
Then that’s it. I hope I have helped anyone who asked me about it! Bjs and Happy Easter!
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