Family Faith Formation Resources | Easter

This article is part of the Family Faith Formation Toolkit - a collection of resources for equipping ministry leaders, parents, and caregivers with family faith practices and resources, brought to you by Faith Formation Ministries.

In the following links you’ll find creative resources and practices for Easter to use both in community and at home. These ideas can be seamlessly woven into existing church programs and into family life.

Easter: In Community

One way to be intentional about weaving family faith nurture into all you do as a community is by providing resources that connect church and home to people of all ages.

• We love these ideas from the Methodist Church for Holy Week Devotions for Families and Singles because they include suggestions for all ages. Use them as inspiration for creating take-home devotions that will work in your church context.

• Consider inviting a senior’s group to bless families with young children at your church by making and giving them Holy Week in a Box sets or delivering to their home the tools for a Resurrection Garden. Another idea: Offer an intergenerational event in which you make such gifts together.

• One of our favorite blogs is Worshiping with Children by author and Christian educator Carolyn Brown. Open the Topical Index on her site to access a multitude of ideas for forming faith in community during Lent, Holy Week, and Easter.

• This Holy Week Flag Art Project uses inexpensive supplies to created colorful, symbolic artwork as the stories of Holy Week are read. Consider making this activity an intergenerational experience and displaying the results on Easter morning for the whole community to enjoy.

Easter: At Home

• God’s Big Easter Story: A Holy Week Journey for Families is a wonderful, downloadable (and free!) resource which provides families with a simple, meaningful way to grow in faith together as they remember the events leading up to Jesus’ death and celebrate Jesus’ resurrection. Churches, consider printing and gifting a copy to each family in your congregation.

• 6 Tools for Building Faith with Children at Easter contains practical ideas for the families in your congregation, including one involving Legos. Share the full post or share the ideas from it one at a time.

• 6 Creative Ways to Include Children in Easter Worship (Virtually or In Person) contains ideas that are both meaningful and doable.

• The Gift of the Cross: Celebrating Christ Through Holy Week by Brandon Helder guides families and classrooms through the stories leading up to Christ’s death, his sacrifice on the cross, and his resurrection. Accompanying Resurrection Blocks add a memorable visual/tactile element that kids will remember from year to year. 

• Planting a Resurrection Garden is a fun family activity that helps build anticipation for Easter Sunday. Consider providing the supplies for a scaled-down version (using smaller containers) and making them with families after church.

• These ideas from Carolyn Brown for Celebrating Jesus Week are also worth sharing.

• What might a one-page handout or a download of practical ideas for celebrating Easter look like for the families at your church? At the Presbyterian Church of Sweet Hollow it looks like this. And here’s how it looked when Heather Roth Johnson put together these Holy Week for Preschoolers resources at her church

QUESTIONS?

If you’re part of the Christian Reformed Church in North America and you have questions about how to equip ministry leaders, parents, and caregivers with family faith practices and resources, one of Faith Formation Ministries’ Regional Catalyzers would love to talk with you about ideas and strategies.