Easter Tradition: Create a Resurrection Garden

Are you looking for something meaningful to do with your children this Easter weekend?   Last week a Quirky Momma shared how to encourage kindness in our children this Easter.   This week, our family was inspired by Ann Voskamp   and Multiple Mommy (who linked up her garden to our It’s Playtime, Kids Activities Meme) to plant a little resurrection garden this past week, and I was pleasantly surprised at how many questions and how much natural  interest it sparked in the Easter story with my children.

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Making the Easter Garden

We used a basket, some stones, and an assortment of succulent  plants to make our garden because we wanted something small that we could keep on our coffee table.  I personally like succulents for children because of all the interesting textures and the fun names (“Hen and Chicks” and “Baby Toes” are two of my favorites).  For a lusher, greener indoor garden use tropical plants and ivy.  If you have a large outdoor space, you could plant colorful spring annuals.

To make the tomb we turned an empty flower pot on its side and packed soil around it on all sides except the open end.   For now, we have  a stone covering the entrance, but on Easter morning we will roll back the stone and I will put a small battery lit tea light inside.

Learning about the Resurrection

There are many tasks your kids can do as they re-create the resurrection garden.   Older children might be able to make the garden almost entirely on their own, but even toddlers can help.

Young children can:

•  Fill the basket with the potting soil.
• Help decide where each plant should go.
• Pat the soil around each plant after it is placed.
• Hunt for small stones and a large rock big enough to cover the entrance.
• Place the stones to form the path leading up to the tomb and covering the tomb.

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Making it Meaningful

Here are some ideas of things to talk about from the story as you work:

• I wonder what the women were thinking as they walked on the path up to the tomb.
• I wonder how heavy the stone at the entrance was.
• Let’s try to think of all the people that the bible says were in the garden at some point in the story.
• What could we put in the tomb to represent Jesus’s death?  What could we put there on Easter morning to show that He has risen?

For more Resurrection Garden inspiration, check out this version that uses grass seed instead of plants.

Check out this 7 days of creation Christian craft!