Michelle's 1st/2nd Homepage: Lent and Easter Ideas

Easter Websites: Click the chick to visit the site described below!

The Hip-Hop Easter Page for the K-3 Teacher by Colleen, creator of the Teaching is a Work of Heart website!

E-mail the Easter Bunny!

Billy Bear 4 Kids Easter Page: Print out coloring pages, Easter clip art, cards, and much more!

Nuttin But Kids Easter Ideas Page: Lots of ideas for fingerplays, art, and cooking just in time for Easter

Stations of the Cross: St. Bron's Parish in Plover, WI has developed an interactive Stations of the Cross online. In English and Spanish!

Domestic Church.com Ideas for Families: Check out Exploring Lent, Putting our Sins on the Cross, and Be a Friend to Jesus.

Carolyn's Universe: He is Risen - Easter page: Includes a great shockwave presentation about Easter, stories behind Easter eggs, Easter lilies and more!

Teacher's Helper Lent and Easter Ideas:

Lenten Activities

Welcome to my Lent/Easter page. I am currently teaching 5th grade in a Catholic school, so I have been looking for great activities to do during the seasons of Lent and Easter. I am including both secular and non-secular activities and websites! Happy Easter!

Lenten Bulletin Boards: The following ideas were posted on the Teacher's Net Private School Chatboard

Make a cross with your students. Have them take the crosses home and talk to their parents about what they will be giving up for Lent. Display as a bulletin board. Idea from Sandy/K/MO

Try making a pastoral scene with Jesus as the Good Shepherd. Each student could make a sheep. Each time they do something for Lent they can glue on a cotton ball. By the end of Lent they have a nice wooly sheep with Jesus. Idea from Paula.

We have had our kids trace their feet on purple construction paper and write 1 way they will follow Jesus during Lent. The
caption reads: WALK WITH JESUS. We put them up on the walls of the main hall and it's quite effective. Idea from a friend.

To encourage sacrifices and good deeds, each classroom will have a Lenten paper chain. Each link will contain something for the students to do that day. These will coordinate with our daily themes which will be read over the pa system.After the announcement we will remove the link and read the deed to do that day. For example: one theme might be Appreciation. So each class would have a link that deals with appreciation. Idea from Disney Cathy k/PA.

You could have paper branches run down the hallway. Then during Lent the different classes could add leaves, fruit, flowers to it. That way they are visually journeying from death to life. Idea from Paula.

We put up a section of tree branches on a bulletin board. The children then decorated wooden clothespins with markers and glued on wiggly eyes to represent caterpillars. We then wrapped them up tightly in a piece of cloth and clipped them on the branch. After we painted coffee filters with watercolors and unwrapped the clothespin (cocoon)we then clipped on the beautiful wings.(coffee filters - AFter Easter). We also added pipe cleaner antennae. They turn out beautiful and give children at that age the idea that Lent is a time to change and grow. (cocoon to butterfuly) Idea from Carol.

Lenten Ideas:

Today we made our first project. We use hinged clothes pins and put pom-pom balls going from the mouth large to small. We then put google eyes on the large one and attached a magnet to the bottom of the
clothes pin. This represents the caterpillar in which we too grow and change during Lent. When Easter arrives, we take a ziplockbaggie and fill it with little cut up squares of various colored contruction paper. Gather it up in the middle from the bottom to top and wire it into a bow shape with a pipe cleaner. Shape the left over pipe cleaner to make them twirl out like antennae. Clip the baggie butterfly into the clothes pin caterpillar and you
have a Lent to Easter story. Great to help explain the death and resurrection. A caterpillar must leave it's caterpillar life to rise to it's glorious butterfly life. When they are done it is also a great refridgerator magnet keepsake. Idea from Mo/1/FL.

We've cut out hearts and wrote a promise to God on them. We also put bean seeds in a paper towel & zip lock bag and talked about how they thought that God could change that bean, after all Mom cooks those. We decided that if God can change that bean then we can become more like him and tattle less, be nicer in line and other things. I can't wait to see their faces when they sprout. I also made prayer cards for their families to fill out.Each day after recess I will pick the next one in line and we will say 5 Hail Mary's for their families intentions. Idea from Sandy/K/MO.

I drew a butterfly large enough to take up a sheet of paper and divided each wing into ten sections. We talk about how Lent is a time to change our behavior and be more like Jesus. We give specific examples of things we can do (help someone pick up a spilt crayon box, hold open a door, etc.) Then every day during Lent they color one spot in, usually when I catch them doing something nice. (If at the end of the day they haven't colored anything I have them tell one thing they could do at home that night then color a spot.) It's nice because everyday they have to work to "earn their spot". And they get to watch the butterfly become more beautiful with every good thing they do, just like their heart gets more beautiful. We all like it. Idea from TK.

Crosses: You get two cardboard cartons from a dozen eggs. Each student has two. Then the children paint the cartons purple on the outside and then cut in the shape of a cross (one being a bit shorter then the other).

The Happy Easter Page

Kids Domain Easter:

Holidays on the Net Easter Page

The Big Internet Easter Egg Hunt

I'm just bouncing with joy! Are you looking for your own little chick? Check out Kid's Domain!

Wendy's World of Crafts: Fun things to do and make at Easter.

Marshmallow Peeps: Website for the famed easter snack!

He is Risen: Lots of Easter links and religious background on this holiday.

Family Fun Magazine: Easter Egg ideas

Jelly Belly Online: The World's most premiere jelly bean is also online with lots of fun activities. You may even get free Jelly Belly Jelly Beans by completing an online survey.

Click the Chick to visit these Lenten and Easter sites.

Need some Jelly Bean activities? Check out my Jelly Bean page by clicking the chick!