Christ the Lord is Risen Indeed, Alleluia! Happy Easter to one and God Bless you and your families this Easter season.
Today, on Easter, this image of theRelated articles
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Day 139/365: Rose of Jericho, Resurrection Plant, A Sunday School Lesson
Grow a Resurrection Plant for Lent and Easter
I love teaching Sunday School. I especially when I have a visual aid that gets the kids excited. Kids Sunday School lessons are always more fun, engaging and memorable when you kids can relate everyday items, events, and discoveries to Jesus and the Bible.
Here is how to grow a Resurrection plant
On Palm Sunday I used this unique Resurrection Plant
Sunday School Ressurection Lesson
I’m always looking for ways to keep kids interested and looking forward to attending Sunday School. When kids reach 4th-6th grade they often are bored with fill in the blanks, coloring, and crafts. A Sunday school resurrection lesson is perfect for Easter or Holy week but works just as well during other church seasons.
During my 25 years of teaching Sunday school at Trinity Lutheran Church I have learned a lot, and obviously every year I teach the kids about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. It is difficult for kids to wrap their tiny brains around “everlasting life”. It’s hard for adults to grasp as well.
The best way I have of getting kids to remember their lessons from week to week, or even from one year to the next is to give leading questions and they supply the answers. They discover the true Easter lesson of resurrection, life everlasting and how the water from their Baptism gives life to their faith.
Introduction:
- Does this plant look dead to you? Why? What makes it dead (get input from all the students, going around the room)
- Do you think it could ever come back to life and be green again? (again get input from kids)
- What if I said I can make this plant live again. Would you believe me?
- Pass out the bowls, pour about 2 inches in each child’s bowl
- What’s in the bowl? (obviously water- use references to baptism)
Give each student a Rose Jerico (Resurrection plant
If you are doing this lesson on Palm Sunday this same Sunday school activity continues the next week as an Easter Sunday lesson.
You can discuss how every living thing needs water. We can go without food for several days, but we can’t live without water. We can’t live without water, we can’t truly live in Christ without Baptism.
Word Association Lessons: Sunday School
- Everlasting life – life everlasting – heaven
- Water – baptism – life
- Reborn – rebirth
- Resurrection – miracle
- Faith – feed your faith – water it on a regular basis – How? Answer: Scripture, attending church
What is a Resurrection Plant?
The Resurrection plant is also known as the Rose of Jerico
They appear dead without water, yet when their roots are placed in the water this grey dead (seemingly) plant uncurls, opens up, turns green and comes back to life. Much like water in baptism gives you new life.
We placed the Resurrection Plant in a bowl of water and I promised to take pictures during the next 24 hours and bring them the next week, along with the plant. Here is the sequence.
The kids decided they wanted to plant this remarkable plant and keep it in our classroom as a reminder of the miracle of Christs’ death and Resurrection. I think that is a good idea. Sounds like another Sunday School activity to me.
Where to Buy A Resurrection Plant
It’s a good idea to purchase one for every student, then they can take it home after Easter as a daily reminder. You can purchase Rose Jerico plants in bulk from several nursery suppliers on Etsy.
They don’t have to worry about watering and killing the plant as the Jerico fern keeps coming back to life.
Time Lapse Video of a Resurrection Plant
It was actually very amazing how fast the plant opened. The video below of the Rose of Jericho plant opening is obviously a time lapse.
But in just a few hours from the start of Sunday school at 9:30 until when church was dismissed the plant had opened halfway. I did use warm water, that might have an impact. All I know is the kids loved it.
So do you think you might be using a Rose of Jerico (Resurrection Plant) for your Easter Sunday School Lesson this year?
Photography Tips: You will notice the photo at the 10 hour mark is distinctly “off color” and the others are pure white, even with the SOOC, straight out of the camera. I left this on purpose. I have been experimenting with my cameras white balance and none of the preset options (fluorescent, incandescent) gave me the results I wanted, so I tried the custom and LOVED the results.
Mind you I don’t have a fancy camera, just a I never get tired of bragging about the students at Elmwood-Murdock High School, especially when my son and daughter are involved. Here our choir performs at the district music contest the song “Things That Never Die”. They received “1’s” from all three judges receiving the highest score of a 1+ for the second year in a row. Twelve schools competed and only two schools received the high score. For your listening pleasure here is the video from my YouTube Channel.
If you have followed previous articles you know we are a small rural school district from a community of less than a thousand people in Eastern Nebraska. Our high school has a student body population of less than 120 students. That’s approximately thirty students in each graduating class. To have this many students (almost 50%) in choir is simply amazing and the credit has to go to Mrs. Betty Colbert our choir director. She has made choir “cool” and coaches the students to find their voice. Many students sang solos at districts (including my son) and the girls sang Italian Sonatas earning top scores. The students participate in honor choirs and learn from top vocal practitioners in the field. In 2009 they even were invited and sang at Carnegie Hall, an experience I’ll never forget. The television show Glee and movie High School Musical and Pitch Perfect has helped make high school choir and singing cool again. That and American Idol. It doesn’t matter why, but I’m glad. Many people have made fun of Glee and don’t like the mashup covers of popular songs but it has elevated music programs around the country. Glee style show choirs are extremely popular Glee – The Complete Series The west side of my yard has a large patch of violets blooming, they are so pretty, so tiny that I don’t want to mow them over. So I’m using them as an excuse for why I haven’t mowed yet. Most were a purple violet in color, but these were the only white violets in the yard. A mutation? Don’t know, but I thought they were special. BTW: For regular followers I decided to change my header yesterday, with my theme of flowers lately it only seemed an appropriate header for spring,…I’m already thinking of my summer header…Day 137/365: Choir Performance Wins Top Score at District Music Contest
Glee Has Made High School Music Cool
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