The past two weeks, we have been learning about the 10 plagues God sent on Egypt and about Passover.
We learned about 2 plagues each day. We read the applicable Bible passage from Exodus, sang the appropriate part of the Ten Plagues Song (sung to the tune of “This Old Man”).
In case you don’t remember the plagues in order, here they are:
1. Water turned to blood
2. Frogs
3. Gnats (or lice)
4. Flies
5. Livestock dies
6. Boils
7. Hail
8. Locusts
9. Darkness
10. Firstborn dies
The two older kids were assigned a verse to copy on special plague paper and a corresponding coloring page.
The two younger kids had corresponding preschool level activities (dot-to-dot, coloring, trace the lines, pre-writing skills, etc.)
For plague 1, trace the waves with a red marker….
For plague 2, a dot-to-dot of a frog…
For plague 3, make dots on the page to represent gnats or lice.
For plague 4, count the flies, circle the number, draw a line from the number to the correct group of flies. I was amazed at how well Brian did this page!
For plague 5, a dot-to-dot of a cow…
Jeffrey’s man completely covered with boils from head to toe. I think this was his favorite activity!
I also tried to make some kind of snack or treat each day to go along with one of the plagues we learned about.
Nile water… (colored with a bit of strawberry juice)
Frog pancakes…
I was going to stick frog pictures in their beds, pajamas, etc. before they went to get ready for bed, but I forgot. Maybe next year!
Cupcakes covered with gnats or lice or flies, take your pick…
(baking chocolate grated over cupcakes with cream cheese icing)
“Cow Pie Pudding” (chocolate pudding with crushed graham crackers and chocolate chips)
Heather made a cloud and lightning out of pattern blocks:
locust cakes:
A play-dough house, painted with “blood” on the doorposts and lentil
(Thanks to Church House Collection for coloring pages, writing paper, and snack ideas.)
On Passover night (March 25) we had a Passover celebration with Ronnie’s family.
Grandpa Russell spoke about the origins of “Easter” and how it differs from the biblical Passover.
Grandma Russell explained the different elements in the modern Jewish Seder. (And there is Elaine talking to her cousin Hadassah.)
After our meal, Uncle Adam and Aunt Janet went through the 10 plagues, with some “visual” aids for each one. I didn’t get a picture of all of them, but here are a few…
Frogs and livestock…
Boils…
Hail (marble-size)…
Locusts…
And painting the doorposts with “blood”…
But it is not enough to just talk about the plagues and the first Passover. God commanded the Jews to remember the Passover every year for all their generations, forever. Jesus celebrated the Passover, and in fact was our Passover lamb. As John the Baptist said, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." The Jews celebrated Passover to remember how God saved them from slavery to the Egyptians. We celebrate Passover to remember (and to proclaim) how God saves us from slavery to sin.
Ronnie presented a PowerPoint slide show about the last supper (Passover) that Jesus celebrated, and about Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection.
At home, we made a “Resurrection Garden” thanks to an idea at Home School Creations.
First we soaked some wheat berries and “planted” them on our “garden tomb.”
By the next morning, they had started to sprout…
This is what it looked like on Day 4…
Day 5…
On the night of Passover, we sealed up the tomb…
After three days and three nights… “He is not here. He is risen, just as he said!”
We also made “Resurrection Rolls”.
The dough represents the tomb…
The marshmallow represents Jesus’ body and the butter and cinnamon sugar represent the oil and spices used to anoint his body for burial…
Ready to bake…
and ready to eat…
The marshmallows were supposed to melt and “disappear” to represent the empty tomb. They didn’t quite. I think my dough might have been too thick.
(Thanks to Travis for most of the pictures of the rolls.)
