A preschool Easter lesson is great! Here is one called “A Sad and Happy Story.”
The story of Jesus dying on the cross has the potential of being too graphic for our little ones. However, though this may be true, we don’t want to ignore the fact that Jesus died on the cross, but carefully broach the subject with sensitivity. Here is an Easter Sunday School lesson for your preschoolers that I think will help you present the great story of Jesus’ sacrifice in an appropriate way.
Our preschoolers already know that bad things sometimes happen. No doubt they’ve already had multiple “boo-boo’s” and they may have even experienced someone or something die. We all know that little ones can see both events as equally tragic. They are usually very aware when they or their circumstances are happy or sad. Why not take this knowledge and add it to the story of Jesus dying on the cross?
A preschool Easter lesson is perfect for sharing God’s love and for this one you will need to do the following:
Here is my suggestion. Pick a story of Jesus dying on the cross that you think is appropriate for your young ones. You can usually find a nice one in a preschool Bible or here is a series of 3 stories for the trial, crucifixion and resurrection you can use from one of my favorite curriculum providers, MissionArlington.org: (Just scroll down until you find the preschool version of the Easter story.)
I particularly like this version, because it lends itself well to the rest of this activity. Read the story slowly and stop after each sentence and let your children decide if what you just read was a sad point of the story or a happy point of the story.
To make it extra fun, you could give each of the children “happy and sad” stick puppets. You can copy the faces from this link: Happy and Sad Faces
Now, just cut them out, (don’t forget to laminate), and glue them onto popsicle sticks. Or you could get really creative and have the children make their own puppets during a craft time.
After each of the sentences, ask the children to hold up the appropriate puppet for the emotion. Soon, you and your children will see that the story of Jesus’ death is not just filled with sadness, but also joy.
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“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Romans 3:23
(Click here for a sample of this Bible verse song.)
