Playing Preschool with Busy Toddler: Easter Unit (Part 2)

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This post is a continuation of a previous post: Easter Unit. Start there to read the Introduction and get the supply list.

We've been using Busy Toddler's Playing Preschool for our homeschool preschool curriculum this year, but I decided to take the week of Holy Week off to teach my preschooler about Easter - what it is, what Jesus did and what it means to us. Even though this is a serious topic, I made sure to include lots of hands-on learning fun for the littles. There are also three bonus days that can be used to usher in Spring or as substitutes for non-Christian families.

You may want to see my introduction post for notes about choosing books.

For Christians, Easter is the celebration of Jesus’s resurrection. Jesus loved people so much that he gave his life to save them from sin. Easter happens in springtime, when the world is full of new life!

Bible Verse: Matthew 21:1-11

Shared Reading: Little Colt’s Palm Sunday - Adams, Michelle Medlock

Talking Points: When Jesus entered Jerusalem he was famous! What was he famous for? What miracles did he perform?

Learning Activity: Jesus often laid his hands on people when healing the sick. Trace both of your child’s hands on construction paper. Ask them to count their fingers. Add four additional sheets of construction paper and fold in half, then cut them out (you should have 10 sets or 20 hands). Using a ten frame, show them how to count to 100 by “fives” similar to Busy Toddler’s “How Many is 100?” Activity. (This was part of the Valentine’s Day unit, so building on that concept to introduce a shortcut, but just for the sake of exposure).

Easy Activity: Layer 10 hand prints in the shape of a palm frond, then glue them together and attach craft sticks for the stem. Repeat for a second frond. When the glue is dry, pretend to be part of the crowd at Jesus’s Triumphal Entry proclaiming “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Song Pairings: Listen to Hosanna, Hosanna (Praise Is Rising) or To the King Sing Hosanna and have a dance/praise party)

Book Substitutions:

Bible Verses: Matthew 21:12-13

Shared Reading: The Story of Easter - Parragon Books

Talking Points: Jesus was upset that people were selling things in God’s house, like it was a store. Why would this upset him? What is God’s house for?

Learning Activity: Explain that we use money and coins to buy things. Talk about how different coins are worth different amounts, then make Days With Grey’s DIY Coin Bank to sort them. Supervise children carefully with coins.

Easy Activity: Set up Busy Toddler’s Easter Sensory Bin and hide all the coins in the rice. (Extension: when they find a coin, have them put it inside a plastic Easter egg to be used in Sunday’s egg hunt!).

Book Substitutions:

Book Substitutions for Learning About Money (reword the talking points to match the story):

Bible Verses: Matthew 13:44

Shared Reading: The Jesus Storybook Bible - Lloyd-Jones, Sally: Read “Treasure Hunt!”

Talking Points: Introduce the idea of cause (the action) and effect (the outcome or reaction). A man found buried treasure in a field. What did that cause him to do? What did he get in return?

Learning Activity: Learn about cause and effect by bowling with Easter eggs. Set up toilet paper rolls to use as “pins” and roll eggs to try to knock them down. (Extension: experiment with different kinds (hard-boiled/plastic) and sizes (large/small) of eggs or try filling them with different materials (rice/marbles/rocks) and talk about the effect it has on how they roll (fast/slow, straight/crooked).

Easy Activity: Experiment with the cause and effect of chemical reactions with Busy Toddler’s Easter Science Activity. This one never gets old!

Book Substitutions for Teaching Cause and Effect (reword the talking points to match the story):

Bible Verses: John 8:12 and Psalm 119:105

Shared Reading: The Jesus Storybook Bible - Lloyd-Jones, Sally (choose a teaching or parable and discuss the lesson: “How to Pray”, “The Singer”, “The Friend of Little Children”, or “Running Away”)

Talking Points: Jesus is the Light of the world. His Word shows us how to live. What are some things Jesus said or taught?

Learning Activity: Set up Busy Toddler’s ABC Alphabet Magnet Match by putting letters inside plastic Easter eggs, then hide them around the house. Next, turn off all the lights and make it a Busy Toddler Flashlight Find to show how we need light to guide us. (Extension: instead of the alphabet, write words on the cookie sheet like Easter, Bible, Jesus, light, word. Be sure to hide all the letters your child will need.)

Easy Activity: Let your child decorate a piece of construction paper, then help them make a paper lantern (Extension: draw lines with a pencil and let them practice their scissor skills). (Optional: Write a Bible verse on it and/or add an LED tealight to the bottom to make it glow.) (Song Pairing: Thy Word).

Book Substitutions:

Book Substitutions about Light and Dark (reword the talking points to match the story):

Bible Verses: Mark 14:22-24, 32-46

Shared Reading: The Jesus Storybook Bible - Lloyd-Jones, Sally (“Read The Servant King” and “A dark night in the garden”) (Optional: To learn about Passover and why Jesus and disciples were celebrating Passover, read “God to the rescue!)

Talking Points: What happened at the Last Supper? What happened in the garden later? Go into as little or as much detail as is suitable for your child.

Learning Activity: Write the names of Jesus and the twelve disciples on craft sticks. Ask your child to identify the first letters/letter sounds in each name and if they recognize any of the disciples' names? One by one, insert them into an egg carton turned upside down. Retell the events of the Last Supper and Jesus’s arrest, emphasizing prepositional words (i.e. Let’s put Jesus between James and John. First, Jesus washed the disciples feet. Next, Jesus broke bread. After supper, they went to the garden (use a small planter to represent the Garden of Gethsemane).

Easy Activity: Set up Busy Toddler’s Pouring Station and add purple food coloring, then tell them to pretend to pour the wine. (Alternative: set up a foot washing station similar to Busy Toddler’s Baby Doll Bath. Use a doll or wash each other’s feet.)

Book Substitutions:

Bible Verse: Mark 15:33-34 and 15:37-39

Shared Reading: Shared Reading: The Jesus Storybook Bible - Lloyd-Jones, Sally (Read “The sun stops shining”)

Talking Points: Jesus was innocent, meaning he had never done anything wrong. Why did Jesus have to die? What does His sacrifice mean for us?

Learning Activity: Draw a cross on a piece of paper. Ask your child to tell you things they consider to be “sin” or “evil” or “wrong”. Write their responses on the cross, then have them paint over it with red paint to symbolize how the blood of Jesus covers our sin if we repent and believe in Him. (Alternative: draw the cross on a window and write the words, then let them use a sponge to symbolize how Jesus forgives and washes away our sins.)

Easy Activity: Make a hill out of play dough and build three crosses out of craft sticks to represent Golgotha. (Optional music pairings: Jesus Paid It All or Jesus Paid it All (Kids Version) At the Cross (Love Ran Red), What Wondrous Love is This, His Mercy is More)

Book Substitutions:

Bible Verse: Exodus 20:8-11

Talking Points: Today is a day of rest. But for Jesus’s friends, it was a day of great sadness.

Learning Activity: Rest and reflect on what Jesus did (or if your Easter Sunday is going to be a busy one, skip ahead to Day 8).

Bible Verse: Matthew 28:1-10

Shared Reading: The Jesus Storybook Bible - Lloyd-Jones, Sally (Read “God’s Wonderful Surprise”)

Talking Points: What happened on the third day? Isn’t that the best news ever? What questions do you have (give wait time for them to process and respond)? Who do you want to tell the Good News?

Learning Activity: Easter eggs are a symbol of the stone that was rolled away. Practice matching letters with Busy Toddler’s ABC Easter Egg Upper and Lowercase Letter Match or click here for lots more ways to learn and play with eggs.

Easy Activity: Celebrate the stone being rolled away with Busy Toddler’s Easter Egg Roll and Paint process art activity. (Music pairing: Christ is Risen)

Book Substitutions:

Shared Reading: When Spring Comes - Henkes, Kevin

Talking Points: March 20th is the First Day of Spring. Tell me about springtime. What happens? What do you notice?

Learning Activity: Practice vocabulary about springtime and nature with Busy Toddler’s Nature I-Spy activity. (Extension: Make a scavenger hunt like the one we did during Busy Toddler's Summer Camp at Home: Nature Week).

Easy Activity: Practice scissor skills and science with Busy Toddler’s Nature Cutting Bin. (Extension: Make a collage with all the scraps).

Book Substitutions:

Shared Reading: Five Little Bunnies - Yaccarino, Dan

Talking Points: What animal reminds you of Easter? What words can you think of to describe bunnies? What do they look/act like?

Learning Activity: Practice with patterns to create a wreath using at least two colors of Marshmallow Peeps Bunnies. Use floral wire or unravel a wire coat hanger and bend in half, then tell your child to let the colors “take turns” as they push them onto the wire to make an ABAB pattern. When it’s full, twist the ends in together and tie a ribbon to hang it. (Extension: add more colors to make more complex patterns.)

Easy Activity: Give your child a few pastel colors of paint and let them stamp with Marshmallow Peeps Bunnies on a piece of paper. (Extension: Glue on cotton balls as tails)

Book Substitutions:

Shared Reading: The Story of the Easter Bunny - Teegan, Katherine

Talking Points: Who is the Easter bunny? What does he bring? What is something fun we do at Easter?

Learning Activity: Set up an easy sensory bin similar to Busy Toddler’s Sensory Bin with Shredded Paper with jelly beans, chocolate or eggs and have them find and count the items using a ten frame (Extension: practice counting a dozen using an egg carton).

Easy Activity: Dye eggs using a traditional method or try a recipe using Cool Whip, shaving cream, or watercolor.

Book Substitutions:

I hope you enjoyed this week full of Spring fun with Busy's Toddler's activities! Stay tuned for more pairings of books and learning through play activities for upcoming holidays!

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See Also: Playing Preschool with Busy Toddler: Valentine Unit, Playing Preschool with Busy Toddler: Christmas Unit, Playing Preschool with Busy Toddler: Thanksgiving Unit, Playing Preschool with Busy Toddler: Halloween Unit, An Introduction to Playing Preschool with Busy Toddler