With Passover coming up, I wanted to come up with some good ways to share the true meaning of Passover with my preschooler. At his age, it can be tough to know how to teach him the message of the gospel in a way that he understands. And even though he won’t fully understand it yet, it’s important to expose him to it at least.
I found/came up with a pretty cool Passover activity that I love. But I also wanted a good craft we could do too. So, I came up with this simple little craft that is fun to do, but also provides a great opportunity to share the gospel with your kids.
The Cross of Jesus Suncatcher Craft Supplies Needed:
- red tissue paper
- two sheets of black cardstock (or brown)
- scissors (and safety scissors if preschooler will be helping)
- x-acto knife (optional)
- pencil
- glue sticks (or regular school glue)
- contact paper
- tape
Cross of Jesus Suncatcher Craft Instructions:
First gather your supplies. Nothing too fancy and all things that you more than likely have on hand. Be sure to use tissue paper here because regular paper won’t have the suncatcher effect that you’ll want to get.
Next cut up some of the tissue paper into little squares. They don’t all have to be the same size (in fact, varying sizes looks pretty good). It’s easiest just to take a big stack and cut them that way, it’s a lot faster that way too!
My preschooler wanted to help with this step, although it was kind of hard for him to cut the tissue paper with safety scissors. But he tried. 😊
As you cut up the tissue paper with your little one, tell them about how this tissue paper represents the blood that Jesus shed for our sins.
During the very first Passover, a lamb was supposed to be sacrificed in place of each family’s firstborn son. The reason being that God is holy and His justice demands a payment for the sin we commit. But He loves us so much and He knows that nothing we can ever do will pay for the sins of the world once and for all.
So, He sent the only sacrifice that would do that, and that is Jesus. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). He is God come in the flesh and He is God’s only begotten son.
Now take one of the black sheets of cardstock and draw a cross on it. Make sure the cross is wide enough for there to be enough room for the sun to shine through it. After you draw the cross, stack both pieces of the black cardstock and either cut them out with the scissors or an X-acto knife.
As you do this continue telling your child the story about Jesus. Tell them that this represents the cross that Jesus died on. But Jesus didn’t just die, He rose again because He is God. And we will do the same if we ask Jesus to forgive our sins and believe on Him.
Next take the roll of contact paper and lay it over top of the sheets of cardstock so that you can see what size you need to cut. Cut two pieces of contact paper. Then, peel off one sheet of contact paper.
Then, take one sheet of cardstock and lay it down on top of the wax paper that just came off the contact paper. This is so that the contact paper you stick on the cardstock will not stick to the table underneath too. Stick one sheet of the contact paper to the cardstock.
Now flip the cardstock so that you have access to the sticky side. Have your child help you to put the pieces of tissue paper on the contact paper.
As you do this tell them that when we repent of our sins, we nail them to the cross of Jesus and they are crucified because He has forgiven us for these sins. So, when we sin, it’s important to trust in God to forgive us because Jesus died for our sins.
As you help your child put the tissue paper on the cross make sure that you don’t leave any empty spots. Tissue paper can (and should) layer on top of each other. It’s pretty easy because it doesn’t have to be (and actually shouldn’t be) perfect. It will look good with lots of layers and overlaps.
After you finish putting the tissue paper pieces on, lay the other piece of contact paper on top so that it seals in the tissue paper from both sides.
Now have your child help you to add glue to the other piece of black cardstock. Then lay that piece on top of the other piece. This will cover up the edges of the contact paper and give it a more finished look. If the glue stick doesn’t seem to be sticky enough, then you can add some regular school glue as well.
As you do this you can continue talking about the lesson. Maybe even ask them some questions about the lesson if they’re old enough to answer. Ask them how we can talk to God so we can ask for forgiveness. Or other things like that.
Once you’re done, hang it in the window with tape. At this point tell them that even though we have sinned, Jesus is the lamp that lights our feet and a light to our path (Psalm 119:105). Jesus tells us what we should do in the Bible, which is the Word of God. It helps us to know how to keep from sinning and do what’s right.
And because Jesus washes away our sins, we no longer live in darkness, but are now light in the Lord (Ephesians 5:8).
I hope you and your child(ren) enjoy this Passover craft and that it helps you to teach them the glorious truth of the gospel. Please feel free to leave a comment if you do, I’d love to hear about how it goes!
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