Religous Easter crafts for four to five year olds ...

[Countingthegreyhairs]

I help out with art & crafts at dd's (traditional Catholic) school and we have the egg baskets and Easter bonnets covered, but I've been asked by the headmistress to come up with an idea for an Easter craft project with "religious significance" for the four to five year olds. Please can anyone (Sunday school teachers perhaps?) help me out with ideas .. I'd be extremely grateful ....

Easter gardens?

Mmm, I like the sound of that Panda G. Thanks. Presumably including a rock, a cross (lolly sticks), an empty tomb ... is that the sort of thing ..? Do you have any further details please (or can you point me to where I might find them) regarding containers, materials etc ...

yes, can be a a group rather than individual activity, so in a planter or a large tray. If you use a planter you can plant real plants to make a garden which could be on display in the playground. can make a path out of chippings or moss. I use a little plant pot for a tomb, you can cover that with moss, then a stone in front of it.

if you want to do individual ones to take home you could maybe make them on biggish paper plates with a lip, soil, moss etc, and decorate with fake rather than real flowers.

Thank you. Preferable if it is something each child could take home. Thinking disposable tin foil trays (but wondering if a little flimsy if filled with soil - could be too heavy). Will ponder, thanks again.

Any other ideas please? (I'm trying to build up a reserve folder of ideas so I don't have to research each year. Thxs.)

Seed trays from a garden centre are better, and aren't that expensive, particularly if you can get used ones that just need a wash...

Christian Easter crafts are tricky...i've been pondering exactly the same thing for children of various ages and different contexts.

Will watch this thread...

we do resurrection cookies too - recipe and instructions here

no good for at school, but might work for you tassis.

am about to go back to this site and look for more ideas

Off the top of my head:

Easter gardens are good. You can make miniature ones from Fruit Corner yoghurt pots. Bend the smaller hole up through 90 degrees - that's your cave. Stick a circle of card to one side - that's the stone rolled away. Fill larger hole with cotton wool, apply water and cress seeds, wait for garden to grow.

Or how about paper palm branches, for Palm Sunday. Or donkey masks.

Frankly, I would include anything involving planting seeds, as long as it is linked to some sort of discussion about new life. Similarly, anything involving lambs or chicks, because they are representative of new life - and of the Lamb of God, in the case of lambs.

I've seen a nice craft consisting of a very simple lamb shape, cut out in felt and stiff card. Glue felt lamb to card lamb, to add stiffness. Wind fluffy wool around its tummy, to make it woolly. Apply wiggle eye (from craft shops), for child-appeal.

Also have a look here:
www.dltk-holidays.com/easter/religious.html

In fact, look at that site for ANY crafts with that age group. It's great!

Can you tell I run a toddler craft group!

Thank you (again) PandaG, MaryBS and Smithagain .. those are good ideas ...it is a bit tricky isn't it tassissss ...realisation dawning that I may have left this prep just a tad too late as usual (ponders whether we can eat 18 fruit corners by Thursday!!!) It's a very good idea though (and seed tray idea) will definitely use them next year if not this.

Will be doing the palm leave branch too.

And like the seed idea.

Dithering at the moment but definitely have much more to go on now - thanks everyone - all the ideas are much appreciated!!

Some great ideas here!

Panda, I love the cookies idea and will definatley do that with our wee ones at some point.

Do try the fruit corner thingy before you eat 18, counting, as I once tried to do this (after getting a whole churhc to eat fruit corners) and I just couldn't make it work!