walking into Holy Week with our Littles!

2 hours ago
11 min read

Friday, March 20, 2026

Welcome back to Our Grand Lives!

Today we have a special post for you!

We first shared a variation of this post two years ago

and,

because the topic is near and dear to our hearts,

we’ve decided the message is well worth highlighting once again!

You see, it might be easy to overlook the real meaning of Easter,

between the egg hunts and chocolate bunnies!

The days between Palm Sunday and Easter are known as Holy Week..

for Christians around the world.

These days are reminders of the final week of Jesus’s life,

leading up to the crucifixion and then, three days later,

the miracle of His resurrection!

Today’s post highlights two ways to weave seeds of faith

into the sharing of the Easter story with our young Littles!

The challenge?

Sharing the Easter story with toddler, preschool and early elementary Littles

in an age-appropriate way!

For our Littles , grasping the meaning of Holy Week and Easter

can be incredibly difficult!

It is huge and complicated and can even be quite scary!

This is most especially true for toddlers and preschoolers!

We both feel incredibly blessed to be able to share our faith with our grandchildren!

Our youngest Littles may not understand the details of the Easter story right away…

and that’s okay!

If we continue to faithfully share the stories about Jesus’s life,

our Littles will grow to know Him!

For us, first as parents and now as Grands of young Littles,

this is planting seeds of faith

and, for each of us,

it’s one of the most important gifts we can share with our precious Littles!

Read on for Laurie’s account of a past moment shared with her Little D!

Out of the mouth of babes…

I think I like Christmas Jesus more than Easter Jesus!

- Little D

As Little D reminds us all, we need to be responsive to our Littles’ ages and abilities to understand. We suggest the following talking points as you share the Easter story with young Littles!!

Below, you’ll find two ways we’ve used

- with our own children, with Sunday School classes and now with our grandkids -

to bring the Holy Week events to life!

Laurie first shared this idea last year exclusively on Instagram!

It’s a “puzzle” of an activity that she did with her first grade Sunday School class

during a Palm Sunday lesson!

It would also be a wonderful way to share the Holy Week story

with your own Littles at home!

Ahead of time, I put the following items in a Ziploc baggie (one for each child or for each set of partners): an animal cracker, an oyster cracker, 2 pretzel sticks, 2 red candies, a dark chocolate, a Ritz cracker (a donut hole would work even better!) and a marshmallow.

I invited the children to lay out these items and I challenged them to put them in sequential order according to the events that took place during Holy Week.

With my first grade class, we worked through the items and events so I could help, as needed (Older Littles who know the story well, could attempt this activity on their own!)

The activity was a lot of fun and I was amazed at their insights of Holy Week. The first graders didn’t always match an item to the correct event, but the ideas they had were always spot on. After completing the activity, they were allowed to eat the items and each child then brought home a matching set to challenge their parents to complete the puzzle!

The Holy Week Journey…

Animal Cracker – Jesus riding a donkey into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday

Oyster Cracker – The Last Supper

Pretzel Sticks – Put 2 together for the cross Jesus carried up the hill

Red Candies – The blood when Jesus’ hands were nailed to the cross

Dark Chocolate – The darkness in the world before Jesus died

Ritz Cracker (I wish I had thought of donut holes!) – The boulder that was rolled away from the tomb on Easter morning

Marshmallow – The lightness and purity of Jesus as he rose to Heaven. (One little girl got this spot on!!)

A Final Thought on the Journey…

I just used what I had at home. You can easily adapt the items to what you have. There are so many directions you could go with this depending on the age of your Littles! For instance, my 3 ½ year old granddaughter joined my Sunday School class that day and she just followed along with the story. Later, she was able to tell her mom what some of the different items represented!

Blessings to you as we journey through this week!

Have you heard of Resurrection Eggs?

Both of us used this resource with our own children way back in the mid 2000’s

as well as with Sunday School classes we taught over the years.

When Laura’s oldest was in kindergarten she found this set of Resurrection Eggs at a nearby Lifeway store.

Each of the twelve colorful plastic eggs included holds a different surprise item that takes Jesus' journey to the cross and beyond right into your Littles’ hands.

For many years after, both daughters would pull this set out of storage and tell the Easter story together, in their own words, using the eggs to do so! Laura’s family loved the Resurrection Eggs so much that they donated a few sets to the Children’s Ministry program at church. (NOTE: The photos above are from the original sets purchased from Lifeway in the late 90’s or early 2000’s. If interested, here’s a link to a commercial set currently available at Amazon.)

As you may recall, Laurie was Laura’s oldest daughter’s Sunday School teacher for many years! She used one of the sets of Resurrection Eggs that had been donated to the Children’s Ministry program with her Sunday School class and then - leave it to Laurie - she followed up by having the children in the class each create their very own set!

(If you are wondering... yes! We both still have the Resurrection Eggs set that our kids made in Sunday School with Laurie! 🥰

In recent years, we found ourselves wanting to replicate this idea with our Littles

(for us - our young grandkids)

but we also knew that 12 eggs filled with objects from the Easter story

would be too heavy for them to comprehend…

Remember, we are all about planting seeds!

So… we tweaked this idea, and came up with our own…

Resurrection Eggs for Young Littles!

We’ve both found this storytelling tool to be so helpful

in sharing the Easter story with our Littles each year!

Our version features 6 eggs that each highlight an event from Holy Week!

Below, you’ll find what simple item we added to each plastic egg,

a related bible verse

and a few easy ideas for expanding on each event!

Laura also purchased this board book to share with her Littles.

Its simple illustrations and text are wonderful!

NOTE - We are not compensated for any items we share or link up….

We simply love sharing!

Egg #1 - A Leaf (Palm Sunday)

“Hosanna! Blessed is He!”

(Matthew 21: 9)

Make Palm Leaves to Wave Together! Trace your Little’s hand onto green paper three times! Cut out the three leaves and glue or tape them to a long piece of brown paper or a wooden dowel. You can also trace your own Grand hands and cut those out, too, as shown below! Wave these palm leaves as you shout Hosanna!

Shout Hosanna! Your Little will love saying this word with you! Begin by telling him/her that when you are saying Hosanna you are greeting Jesus with joy! You can say Hosanna in loud voices or soft voices, in fast mode or s-l-o-w-l-y! Try playing “Stop and Go” by saying the word over and over when you signal “Go” and stopping at the word “Stop”! Repeat, repeat, repeat!

On the Road to Jerusalem!

Lay down old T-shirts and dish towels (or even pieces of paper) to represent the coats and palm leaves put down for Jesus as He entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Littles can then jump, leap, step and even crawl on all fours like the donkey down “the road”. Challenge your Little(s) to only step on the cloth/paper trail!

Egg #2 - A Cracker (The Last Supper)

“Take and eat!”

(Matthew 26: 26)

Eat a Simple Snack Together! Invite your Little to enjoy a special snack of crackers (oyster crackers, mini Saltines or Goldfish perhaps) and juice together. Explain how this reminds you of the food Jesus ate during his last meal - the Last Supper - with his friends. Say a prayer together, too!

Dinner Time Sharing! During a meal together, have everyone at the table share who they’d invite to a special dinner. Talk about each person and how that person is loved. Share the message that Jesus loved his friends very much, too!

Make Bread Together! Find a simple bread recipe (or even a box mix) and make a loaf of bread together!

Egg #3 - A Cloth (Jesus Washes HIs Disciples’ Feet)

“Wash one another’s feet.”

(John 13: 14)

Wash Your Little’s Feet! Take turns washing each other’s feet! Set a basin of water on the floor (add a towel underneath for added protection) and wash your Little’s feet as you remind them how much you love them and how much Jesus loves them! If your Little is old enough, invite him/her to wash your feet in return! Be sure to talk a bit about how Jesus washed his disciples’ feet after their last meal together… a true act of service and love!

The Shoe Game! This game is one Laurie played with her Sunday School class to remind them of Maundy Thursday and to keep them busy at the same time! Have one Little take off their shoes and hide them while the other Littles hide their eyes. When ready, everyone searches for the shoes and when the shoes are found, everyone kneels down and puts them on that person’s feet.

Switch roles to keep things interesting!

You could even say a group prayer for each child as the shoes are found and put back on!

Egg #4 - A Cross (The Crucifixion)

“Jesus died on the cross.”

(John 19: 18)

A Cheerios Cross! The cross is a reminder of how much Jesus loves us all and is a symbol Littles can learn to recognize early in life!

Try making this simple version with your Little(s)!

• String Cheerios on to 2 pipe cleaners. You may need to hold the pipe cleaner for a young Little while threading, to keep his/her hand steady..

• Twist the 2 pipe cleaners together to form the cross.

Paint a Cross! Use painter’s tape or masking tape to make a cross on a piece of white paper. Then let your Little use watercolor paints to paint the white copy or construction paper as shown. (You may need to guide young Littles as they paint.) At this point you could sprinkle some glitter on the wet paint. Let your project dry. When completely dry, remove the tape!

Egg #5 - A Stone (Jesus Laid in the Tomb)

“He rolled a big stone in front of the tomb.”

(Matthew 27: 60)

Dramatic Play - Jesus in the Tomb! Make a simple paper Easter scene with a cross, a tomb and a picture of Jesus (we found our picture from a Google search). Tell a simple story of Easter with your Little… Jesus died on the cross for us. They put him in a tomb and sealed it with a big rock. In the morning the rock was rolled away! Your Little will enjoy the simple steps of moving Jesus from the cross to the tomb, and pushing the big heavy rock away!

Look for the Biggest Rock! Head outside with your Little and take a walk. See if, together, you can spot the biggest rock and then lift it and carry it back home. Is it heavy? Would it be hard to move it? Can your Little find a little rock or a colorful one? You could also play Hide and Seek with a rock or two and you could create a sculpture with rocks!

Build a Tomb! Your engineering Little can use blankets, wooden blocks, furniture and/or legos, to create the tomb that Jesus was placed in.

Egg #6 - An Empty Egg (Jesus is Risen)

“He is not here! He is risen!

(Luke 24: 6)

Jesus is Alive! Alleluia! This activity is an active one that will reinforce the meaning of Easter! Sit or stand in a circle (with 3 or more people) and play catch with a plastic Easter egg. (You can also do this activity with only 2 people.) Each time a child catches the egg they say, Jesus is alive! Alleluia! When you are finished playing catch, have your Little open the egg! The Easter egg is empty just like Jesus' tomb was empty! Jesus is indeed alive… Today and always! Alleluia!

Sing Jesus Loves Me!

This well known children’s song is the perfect one to sing with your littlest Littles! What better message is there to reinforce with them! As an added bonus, try teaching your Littles the sign language for the song (or for the chorus only). Here’s a link to a Youtube video that shows you how to do it!

Below you will find an outline of what’s included with our

Resurrection Eggs for Young Littles!

We each made a copy and put it inside the lid of the egg carton

holding our Little’s set of Resurrection Eggs!

We invite you to do the same if you’d like.

Simply screenshot the graphic and print!!

And here’s a graphic of the carton cover…

Just in case you want to copy and use that, too!

(we recycled and cut an egg carton in half for this project)

Our hope is that by starting these traditions with our Littles

we can then nurture those seeds of faith from year to year!

Please feel free to comment at the end of this post

If you have any thoughts to share!

We’d especially love to hear if you have special ways of sharing

the Easter story with the Littles in your life!

We love learning from each other!

THANK YOU!

As always, you can find Laurie sharing something new

on our Instagram and Facebook sites!

We’d love it if you stopped by!

We’ll be back next Monday

first with a post to celebrate National Chip & Dip Day!

Then, later in the week, we’ll continue with today’s theme

by sharing edible ways

to bring the events of Holy Week to life for our Littles!

We’d love to have you join us.

In fact, you may want to subscribe to our site,

so you don’t miss a thing!

As we share the Easter story with our littlest ones, we’re not just telling a story… We’re gently planting seeds of faith that God will grow in His perfect time. In simple words, loving moments, and age-appropriate truths, we help our Littles’ young hearts begin to understand the depth of Jesus’ love. It doesn’t have to be perfect or complete—just faithful.