Resurrection Garden

April 4, 2012 in: Devotions

A fun new Easter project I tried this year was to create a Resurrection Garden.

It didn’t turn out quite as impressive as this one that inspired me, it was still worthwhile. After seeing the example on the Internet, I decided it would be a good project for my toddler Sunday school class. But early on, I realized it was more for me than for the toddlers.

Start with the large base of a flower pot and a small terra cotta pot laid on its side to create the tomb. I used a chunk of Styrofoam to add to the back of the “hill.” It was all covered with potting soil, then grass seed sewn on top.

Grass seed requires a lot of moisture to germinate and keeping this garden properly watered was a challenge. The soil was only a half inch deep on top of the top of the hill. Some lessons from soil conservation class came to mind as I tried to pour water on the loose soil. Spraying water out of a squirt bottle worked best to wet the soil without washing it away. I kept the garden on the back porch and gave it a good dousing every time I walked by.

It was pretty exciting to watch the soil each day and suddenly see tender green shoots. A simple reminder of the miracle of new life. A few twigs were snipped to create the crosses. I glued the pieces together, then wrapped them with twine.

The toddlers created their own gardens by planting grass in cups they decorated, then putting crosses in them. The concept of life and death can be difficult to explain to toddlers, but we emphasized that Easter is a happy day because Jesus is alive.

A Sunday school project

My sister-in-law said she made similar projects with older students using a Styrofoam meat/produce tray and half an Easter egg for the tomb. I took my little garden out to the front porch to take a picture, then decided to leave it there so perhaps those passing by will see the message of Easter – He has risen just as He said!

~Susan Mires