Journey to Easter with this Family Devotional and Unit Study!

Get ready for the most exciting Easter ever!

The Easter holiday is a perfect time to try a unit study!
If you are looking for a “gentle” couple of weeks of schooling that will emphasize the Biblical celebration of Easter, this might be exactly the balance of what you’ve been looking for!  Homeschooling during holidays presents us with such a great opportunity to LIVE, LOVE, and LEARN TOGETHER!
You can read a full post about Homeschooling Through the Holidays HERE!

To begin…

What is the story of Easter?

If you answered that it is the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection, you are right!
BUT you might be surprised to know that this is only part of the story, and NOT where the story begins at all!
The Easter story actually starts a very, very long time before that, thousands of years before Jesus’ crucifixion and the day He rose from the dead, and is still unfolding! 
 This exploration of Easter will take us on a journey from the beginning of the story, all the way up to how it is unfolding today!

How can we understand the whole story? By knowing the One who wrote it! 

Each day we are going to be learning one new “attribute” of God that will help to tell us the story of Easter. In case you are not sure what an “attribute” is, it is just another word for a characteristic that makes someone/something who/what they are. 
 For example, one attribute of God is love. God doesn’t just love us, He IS love!  And His LOVE tells us one of the most important parts of the story!

You see, the story of Easter is really the story of who God is!

 

 

 

 

+FREE Journey to Easter Family Devotional
+Easter Family Devotional Printable PDF Version

 

 

 

 

+Easter Story Hunt
Are you looking for some ideas to make Jesus the focus of your Easter celebration?  Maybe that sounds silly, since Easter is ALL ABOUT Jesus.  But between all the family, fun, easter egg hunts, chocolate bunnies, and bountiful buffets, He can get lost at His own party!  OR sometimes it can feel like we are just “inserting” the real meaning of Easter into the day.
This Journey To Easter Story Hunt will keep your celebration FUN and MEANINGFUL!
Each printable card goes along with the FREE The Journey To Easter Devotional, and also with the Journey To Easter Unit Study and Printable  Activities .
This would be a great activity for your Sunday School or Youth Group as well!
Set includes directions!

 

 

 

 

+Journey to Easter Unit Study 
+Journey to Easter Printable POWER Pack

 

 

 

 

 

I have included Day 1 of the Unit below for you to try out!

What you’ll find in the Unit Study-

+An Introduction- “To Begin…” section
+An Attribute of God to focus on each day that will tell the story of Easter
+Printable chart to add His attributes.
I stick this on my fridge so that I will be reminded to think on these frequently throughout the day.
+Reading!
Online lessons, devotionals, object lessons to dig deeper, and Scripture verses for memory, or just to highlight each day’s attribute.  Also, several fun holiday short stories or poems to read together, or independently. I like to print these out for extra language arts practice (see explanation below).
+Watch!
Under this heading, you will find videos to emphasize each day’s attribute and the part of the Easter story we are learning.  I have watched every single one of these videos, but PLEASE be sure to preview them to be sure they are appropriate for your family, and also to be sure that they haven’t been changed.
+Create!

In this section you will find ideas for a homemade crafts and decorations that will make fun Easter decorations or gifts, and serve as a beautiful reminder of each day’s attribute!
+Cook!
This section is a win win! You get some holiday baking done, and your kids are learning concrete lessons in fractions, measurement, chemistry, and more! Most of these will freeze well too! Make a double batch to share with someone who needs a reminder that Jesus is ALIVE and may be needing a hug from Him. Each recipe ties in with the daily lesson as well.
+Notebook!

Creating An Attributes of God notebook is such a meaningful and fun way to keep the memories of this season together all in one place. I STILL have my children’s Christmas notebooks. I bring them out each year to laugh over, and reminisce. Their thoughts, drawings, coloring pages, and handwritten Scriptures in these binders are some of my most treasured belongings. I included a printable page for each day, but they can be as creative as they want and design their own!
PS…it’s also a great way to keep up with grammar practice!
+Explore More!
Exactly what it sounds like- ideas to explore each day’s attribute a bit more.  You will find related science experiments, printables, stories, online interactive sites, etc…
+Sing!
Each lesson has several songs that are fun to sing, and also tie in with the day’s theme.
 +EXTRA Learning Ideas
You will also find my best ideas on how to extend these lessons with daily grammar, math, etc… in the Unit Study.

So, here we go!
Wishing you and your family a warm, wonderful, and RELAXED season of living, loving, and learning together!  Praying that this study will make memories you’ll cherish for many years to come!

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Day 1- The Living Word

Today’s Scripture Suggestions:

 –Genesis 1-2
 –John 1:1-4
 –Psalm 19:1-4
 –John 17:5

The story of Easter begins so long ago, that we could say it began even before there was time!
The story of Easter begins with God… and God has no beginning!
It’s kind of hard for me to imagine something that didn’t start somewhere.  Is it for you too? 
But this is the truth about God.

Before everything we know on earth began, He was.
And He was alive in a perfect place, in perfect completeness with Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
We don’t know much more about that time other than that. 

Until He SPOKE!
God is ALIVE, and when He speaks, His Words bring LIFE to things everywhere!
He is… the LIVING WORD!

“God said… and it was so!”
And from that moment when He spoke, we on earth measure time.  The earth began, and everything in it.  Tall leafy trees, soft grassy meadows, fragrant flowers, majestic mountains, soaring skies, endless oceans… quiet butterflies, and loud roaring lions, and fuzzy bunnies, and scaly lizards, and even animals we don’t know about! 

And then… He made His crowning creation. 
God took some of the earth, and formed man, and He breathed HIS OWN life into man’s body!  And God looked over all He had created and it was PERFECT!
Each part of His creation was reflecting His very own attributes of beauty, and perfection, and glory!  And God told man to be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and rule over it all.

The WORD spoke… and there was LIFE!  And it was good!
Jesus, the Living Word!

Are you wondering what the creation story has to do with Easter? 
It seems like a long. long time from when the earth was created all the way to the cross, which we think of as the Easter story. But this is where the story begins…in the Garden where
Jesus, the Living Word spoke, and everything came ALIVE!

 

*Read!
+Online Reading-
–In the Beginning    
–Creation
–Animals & Humans   (Read and Think!)
–Who Is Jesus?   (Great for discussion starter!)
–Story of Creation   (For early readers)

+Bible:
–Genesis 1-2
–John 1:1-4
–Psalm 19:1-4
–John 17:5

*Watch!
–God’s Story of Creation
–Creation Story
–Jesus Is the Word
–The Word  (great for older students too!)
–What Does It Mean To Be Made In His Image?

(Good for a Science lesson-  from ‘Answers In Genesis’)
–What Is God Like?

*Sing!
–So Will I 
–The Word
–John 1:1-2
–John 1:1-3    [song & dance 🙂 ]

*Create!
– Make your own WORD Puzzle , sun catcher or bookmark!
–God the Creator Craft

–Light Boxes 
–Torn Paper Creation Story
–Creation Bingo Game

*Cook!  (aka Science & Math)

–Days of Creation Lunch
–Creation Pretzel Rods
–Earth Cookies

*Notebook!

–Make a “The Living Word” page  (Be creative!)
–Creation Mini Book

+Coloring Pages-

– Creation Coloring Pages  (for older kids too!)
– Creation     (Coloring page, crossword puzzles, etc)
– God Makes Adam and Eve
– The Garden

– John 1:1 

*Explore More!

–Creation Interactive
–Complete Lesson on John 1:1, Jesus the Word   (includes lots of games and ideas!)
–Fun John 1:1 Object Lesson and Games
–Online Creation Jigsaw Puzzle
–Elohim   (complete lesson)
–Creation Printables
–Days of Creation Scavenger Hunt

–In the Beginning

–Days of Creation Science!