Holy Week Traditions, pt.1

Last year we began to insert traditions into the Holy Week. Our purpose is to teach the kids about Jesus' death and resurrection. During the past two days we've been busy making a tomb. Here's the process.

To the left is the initial product. Kim mixed together flour and salt. Then she baked it in the oven for about four to five hours. Yep, you guessed it--it was hard as a rock (no pun intended). She inserted a small cup in the larger one while it baked in order to create the small

hole for Jesus' tomb. The smaller one will be the
rock that we roll in front of the tomb.

Then the kids found some sticks outside and they fashioned a small cross to stick on top of the tomb. Of course, the post-hole for the cross was made while the dough was still soft. Also, note the little yellow figure. He comes later. Next...

The kids put on their painting clothes and added some color to the tomb.

This is their finished work.

We used simple pipe cleaners and a wire cutter to make the people.

Here's one of the final scenes. Now that its completed, we'll put this away until Friday night.

We've taken a harmonized account of Jesus' final week and divided it up into eight sections. Beginning with Palm Sunday and ending with Easter Sunday we read one section each night. We try to include some type of tangible prop for the kids to see and handle each night.