How do you point your children/grandchildren to Jesus? How did you when you had little ones at home?

Here are some of my favorites from this year and years past (see last year’s post for more ideas).

• The Garden, The Curtain and the Cross – this is my very favorite Easter book! It goes from the Garden to the Cross.  The illustrations are beautiful and engaging, the dialogue draws kids in and makes it accessible and the story is TRUTH!  It is one of our favorite gifts to give!
• The Easter Storybook: 40 Bible Stories Showing Who Jesus Is:  I bought this book after seeing it on other multiple lists, not really convinced that it could be that awesome.  I just assumed it “made sense” to add it to the list.  I LOVE this book!  My little ones LOVE this book!  40 stories about JESUS!  How great is that!  We are reading 1-2 each morning, because let’s be honest – I would never get through 40 days straight.  Each story had led to wonderful discussion afterwards.  There is an engaging question at the end of each story that I sometimes use, but often I find other things to pull out in discussion.  The stories are pulled from all the Gospels, which means that sometimes Laura Richie is combining from multiple author’s versions of the same story.  At the top of each story is ALL the references (which are also included in the Table of Contents).  This makes the book applicable to use at any time of the year; no matter what you are teaching your children, you can quickly find where that Jesus story is in the book!
• The Story for Children, a Storybook Bible – this is a beautifully illustrated Bible for children. I pick this one up whenever it has a particular story I want to relate to my littles in pictures. 
• The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name – the title says it all! Every story points to Jesus and is related in such a way to communicate how so, to younger children.  We LOVE this one and it was perfect to use when doing the Jesse Tree this past Christmas!
• Benjamin’s Box – This is a new one we did this year (I picked it up at a book sale last summer) and we loved it! My 8-year-old and 6-year-old were on the edge of their seats wanting to hear about the next treasure Benjamin would put in his box. This can be used in conjunction with Resurrection Eggs, as it paints the full story.
•  A Gentle + Classical Easter – I LOVE everything put out by Erin Cox at Gentle & Classical (sign up here to get $5 off)! Beautiful materials, always pointing to Jesus (you will see a post in the next few months on all the materials I currently use of hers – feel free to reach out before then if you want to know more!).

We do do baskets for our little ones – not to be entrenched in all the Easter marketing that is bunnies and chicks – but to give our children resources to help them love our Creator more! 

We have all the resources above, so we put things in the family basket that can be used once Easter is over. This year I am putting Giants: Legends & Lore of Goliaths, The Flood of Noah (both of which we are using with Science next as we explore creation), and the Priest with Dirty Clothes. They all have great reviews, although my own reviews are not yet in. I am also putting in outdoor nature supplies (critter shack, small fish net, and a magnifying glass). These will be used in conjunction with the nature study I do from Gentle & Classical. I can’t wait to take them to the creek as we bask in the beauty of His creation!

How do you help your children love Jesus more? How do you point them to the beauty of the cross?

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