Book Review: Faithful families for Lent, Easter and resurrection

Faithful Families for Lent, Easter and Resurrection Title: Faithful Families for Lent, Easter and Resurrection Author: Traci Smith Published by: Chalice Press Price: £9.59 Best for: families looking for simple, spiritual ways to mark Lent and Easter together Best bit: by focusing on spiritual practice, Traci gives us a great range of options to try, while … Read more

Review: At home in Lent

Title: At home in Lent Written by: Gordon Giles Published by: BRF Price: £8.99 Useful for: young people and adults Best bit: a simple, daily three page read for each day in Lent, each taking a different every-day item as its theme Worst bit: as a big fan of audio books, I’d love an audio version to … Read more

Review: Dave the Donkey

Title: Dave the Donkey Author and Illustrator: Andrew McDonough Published by: Malcolm Down Price: £5.99 Useful for: children age 3-8 Best bit: Fun re-telling of Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem, death and resurrection from the view point of the Palm Sunday donkey! Worst bit: Very fast re-telling, with few details of the Easter story – for … Read more

A Family Passover Celebration

We’ve celebrated Passover in our home for a number of years now, and each year it’s different, as we adapt it around who will be there. We tend to have a big feast-like meal interspersed with parts of the service (seder). We include elements which we use each week in our Shabbat meal, for example … Read more

How celebrating Passover could be good for your faith at home

Why would you celebrate Passover if you’re not Jewish? Such a good question! We’ve been celebrating Passover for over ten years now. Our children have grown up in a home where it’s the norm and each year we’ve invited other people to join us. In some ways, we celebrate Passover because we celebrate a weekly … Read more

Review: Make Room

Title: Make Room: a child’s guide to Lent and Easter Author: Laura Alary Illustrator: Ann Boyajian Published by: Paraclete Press Price: £8.99 (Amazon) Good for: Families with children aged 3–10 years old who want to introduce them to the Easter story focusing on the transforming nature of the story Best bit: The book is written … Read more

Encouragement Cookies

This fun activity was created by my friend Caroline. Instead of ‘fortune cookies’, she made ‘encouragement cookies’ simply by writing out blessings on slips of paper then put them inside home-made fortune cookies. Warning: the folding bit is rather hot, so be careful! What sort of blessings you write will depending on who you are … Read more

The best Easter books for children in 2024

In the run-up to Easter, there are always lots of questions about good Easter books for children, so here’s a list of my favourites. Each book has notes about what I like and what age I’d use them with. I hope it helps you choose the best Easter books for your family, and maybe even … Read more

Holy Week Boxes

I don’t know about your children, but mine love things in boxes. So here’s an Easter activity in a box. I’ve used it with my children since they were toddlers, but the simplicity of it lends itself to use with all ages, including adults. And using it each year, gives further depth to each Holy … Read more

Why Pancake Day?

A little story from when my children were a bit younger “What’s pancake day all about?” I ask my 7 and 8 year olds over breakfast. “Pancakes!” my 7 year old replies gleefully. O-Oh. I have work to do here! “What else?” I ask. No response. “It begins with L and rhymes with Bent.”“Lent!” *phew! … Read more