Holy Week Activity Guide for Families

Have I ever mentioned that I’m the Coordinator of Next Generation Ministries at my church? In my pre-nanny life I was a kindergarten teacher at two different Lutheran schools in Arizona. From a super young age, I have always felt a call to serve the Lord in some capacity. One of my favorite parts of teaching in a Lutheran school was being part of sharing Jesus with my class. I loved our daily devotions, Jesus time, and Wednesday chapel services. When I left full time school ministry, I was missing a huge part of my heart. Now that I’m back involved in church ministry, my creative juices have been flowing!

My church is new and small with a ton of toddlers! I’ve forever felt that this age group is often over looked when it comes to curriculum. I believe strongly that parents are the first teacher in everything, including faith, but have a hard time knowing where to start. For Holy Week I wanted to create something interactive that parents would feel empowered to share the story of Jesus’ last week with their toddlers.

I was highly influenced by a few older blog posts, but mostly by this post here.

You’ll Need:

Activity Guide-Click Red Link Below to Download

Holy Week Activity GuideDownload

Small brown box, I used these from Hobby Lobby but you could use a small jewelry box.

Peg Doll, this size fits the boxes above

Small piece of white fabric

While each day’s activity is outlined in the printable guide, I’d like to share a few ways each scene could be presented to your child!

Palm Sunday

I covered the lid of the box with the white fabric to represent the coats the crowd threw down then added the palm branch with Jesus next to the donkey. If you have a toy donkey, feel free to add it to this scene! In the guide, I mentioned adding other toy figures to be the crowd yelling Hosanna!

Maundy Thursday

The white cloth is draped over the box with Jesus standing behind the bread and wine. The wording about the Lord’s Supper in the guide is very Lutheran, because it was written for my church. Feel free to change it for your families practice of communion. Side note, if you want to talk about communion from a Lutheran standpoint I’d love to share our beliefs with you!

Good Friday

Holy Saturday

Some churches call this day Easter Vigil. Keep the box closed all day. Don’t forget to take Jesus out before you go to bed that night!

Easter Sunday

How exciting this empty box will be for your family if you’ve journeyed to the cross and tomb together all week!

I’m praying for your family as you walk with Jesus this Holy Week. Please share with me if you download the guide! I’d love to hear your thoughts. If you have any questions you can find at theteachingnannyblog@gmail.com