Hi, friend! Thanks for dropping by to take a peek at our homestead and homeschool! Today, we’re sharing all of our family’s favorite April activities; “spring things” to do in the kitchen, garden, cuddled up on the couch, and gathered around the dining table! We hope you enjoy and find a little inspiration to add to your basket for a beautiful, blessed April!
EASTER; Our Family’s Favorite Festivities!
~Reading the Easter Story~
Christian mamas and papas, let’s not forget what Resurrection Sunday is all about and ensure our kids don’t either!
Our favorite Children’s Bibles to read the Easter story from:
- The Jesus Storybook Bible (especially with kids under the age of four)
- Easter by Gail Gibbons (for a well-rounded and inclusive history of Easter traditions)
- Egermeier’s Bible Storybook
- The Children’s Bible by Golden Press
~Healthy, Homemade Easter Candy~
Check that candy box with a sweet flourish, and a healthy one at that!
These delicious jewel-tone gummies can be made with the kids in just 30 minutes and boast only 3 ingredients (of which sugar is not one)! And these to-live-for Cholate Date “Snickers” are made with only four impressively healthy ingredients.
Get the recipes and full tutorials here: ~HOMEMADE EASTER CANDY TUTORIAL~
~Resurrection Garden~
There is no Easter centerpiece that shouts “HE IS RISEN” quite the way a Resurrection Garden does! This is such a beautiful and intentional activity to do with your kids on Good Friday. When you finish your mini garden, cover the tomb with the stone and consider singing a hymn together such as “Jesus Paid it All” or “Nothing but the Blood of Jesus.” Then, on Easter morning, roll the stone away with your children and shout “He is RISEN!” Our family also loves to sing “Christ the Lord is Risen Today.”
What you need to grow a Resurrection Garden:
- large garden pot or bowl
- potting mix
- an assortment of flower starts
- a small terracotta pot or other “tomb”
- a stone to roll in front of the “tomb”
- optional: moss, pebbles, little animals, a “He is RISEN!” banner/sign
*Simply arrange and plant the starts in the soil around a mound with the small terracotta pot/tomb half buried as pictured above.
~Bunny Books for a Hopping Easter~
What could be a better way to foster a love of reading in our children than making BOOKS front and center in all our holidays and celebrations?
Every turn of the season, I bring out that magical plastic bin where we store special holiday books. Each is only displayed on the shelf for a few weeks every year, and yet are some of the most cherished of our family library. Our kids LOVE this tradition. It’s like reuniting with dear, old friends. And absence certainly makes the heart grow fonder when it comes to books. I also like to splurge and buy a few new holiday books each season to add to the growing collection. I often wrap the new books and give them to the kids as a gift leading up to the next holiday. For Easter, I love wrapping them and putting a scavenger hunt together for an early Easter hunt. An Easter basket brimming with beautiful books is just too lovely for me to resist 😆 !
Check out all the hare-raising titles here: Our Family’s Favorite ~BUNNY BOOKS~ for a Hopping Easter!
~Easter Hymns~
There’s a lot of fluff at Easter . . . especially on the back side of the Easter Bunny. No, I’m not here to hate on the Easter Bunny! Don’t worry, ole Long Ears and I are on good terms. But I don’t think Resurrection Sunday should all be bunny-butt fluff, if you know what I mean. Especially when it comes to our kids and what we are trying to instill within them. Singing Easter hymns together is a great way to set aside some time to center on our risen Savior.
Check out our family’s favorite Resurrection Day hymns here: I-Have-Hidden-Your-Word-in-My-Heart ~EASTER HYMNS~ for Little Lungs and Eager Ears!
EARTH DAY; a Creation Celebration!
~Creation Celebration Books~
To me, reading to children is really no different than planting seeds in a garden. I invite you this month to join me in sowing seeds of inspiration, hope, and beauty in the minds, hearts, and souls of our children . . . for both their sake and the earth they will inherit. This Earth Day season, let’s marvel with our children over the wonders of the earth, gaining a respect and reverence for creation both through practical life activities, and through living literature!
Get the list here: LET IT GROW! ~Earth Day Read-Alouds~
~Listen to our Earth Day Playlist~
This is a really fun playlist that both kids and parents can enjoy together for an Earth Day, Creation Celebration! We especially love listening to this mix while we’re planting seeds or doing other green thumb projects.
~Make this Earth Day Vegan Chocolate Mousse~
Finally! An easy, healthy, to-live-for Chocolate Mousse with just three ingredients and minutes to make!
Get the recipe here: Earth Day ~VEGAN CHOCOLATE MOUSSE~
~Make a Worm Compost Bin~
Ok, stop squirming! And whatever you do, don’t try to worm your way out of this activity! It’s fast, easy, so much fun, and I promise it really isn’t gross at all! It’s been a year since we made our worm compost bin and it’s thriving. We highly recommend this project to everyone for managing food waste and growing fast and fabulous compost!
Learn how to make an easy-peasy worm compost bin with your kids here: Make a WORM COMPOST BIN!
~Grow Caterpillars in a Cup~
If you haven’t grown butterflies with your kids yet, I can’t recommend it highly enough! It’s just so much fun and truly incredible to watch the transformation from caterpillar to butterfly in your very own home!
Read our full tutorial and see the complete slide show of our experience with our butterfly kit here: #HappyHomeschooling is . . . a cup of CATERPILLARS (poop and all)!
Thanks so much for reading, friends. May you have a blessed Easter and Earth Day!
Love, Candace Arden
~Our Holistic Homeschool~
