Month: April 2017

Easter is so close I can smell it! No, seriously, can anyone else smell the fragrant cherry blossoms? It means that spring is finally here and with it, the anticipation that Lent is coming to a close. This is one of the best times of the year, don’t you think?

This has been a more successful Lent than past years. With C and A getting older, I’m able to do more Lenten projects, and make more commitments for myself and the family, since their comprehension levels and attention spans are maturing. Also, I’m not pregnant or nursing around the clock, which means I have more energy than past Easter seasons, haha!

One of my favorite Lenten projects to do with the kids is Resurrection Rolls. Also, know as Hocus Pocus rolls, these are a quick and easy hands on lesson of the burial of Jesus. C remembered making these rolls last year (at 3!) and could recount the main “take away” points. For that reason I recommend doing this project with even your littlest tots. Just mentally prepare for some mess and sticky fingers, and shirts…possibly hair and pants if you’re anything like us.

There are recipes for these rolls on Pinterest, but I am going to show you my own that incorporates the scripture passage and directions for each step to break it down for little minds. Ready? Let’s go!

Resurrection Rolls

Things you will need:

Puff pastry (homemade or store bought)

~ 12 Regular sized marshmallows

1/2 cup Granulated sugar

2 Tbs Cinnamon

1/4 cup Butter melted

Rolling pin

3 small bowls

Cookie sheet and cooking spray (pr parchment paper)

Passage of John 19: 38-42

 

Directions:

First assemble your supplies, don’t call over the kids yet!

1. Roll flat your puff pastry on a floured surface. I highly recommend making your own to avoid all those gross artificial colors. I love this recipe, and I doubled it. I made my pastry the day before and let it sit in the fridge overnight. It rolled out beautifully. Once rolled about about 1/4 inch in thickness, slice into squares or strips with a pizza cutter as shown below. I’m not exact on this, I just make sure the marshmallow can fit.
2. Melt butter in a bowl
3. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a bowl
4. Put marshmallows in a bowl
5. Pull up scripture passage, on your phone or take out your Bible and locate it.

Now it’s time to call the kiddos over to help out! I like to follow the “Tell, Show, Do” method. Below is a suggested script.

1. Read aloud the passage (or summarize if kiddos are very small) and explain that they get to “act” it out.
2. Hand a marshmallow to each (some sampling might occur, don’t worry, it happens here too 🙂 ) tell them that,
   1. “After Jesus died on the cross, He was taken down and buried. We are pretending this marshmallow is Jesus”
3. Show them how to roll the mallow in the butter, saying
   1. “first they cleaned His body. We are pretending that this butter is the water and aloe they used”
4. Then roll the mallow in the sugar mixture saying,
   1. “then they put spices in His burial wrappings. We are pretending these are those spices”
5. Next wrap the mallow in a slice of puff pastry forming a ball shape and saying,
   1. “then Jesus was put in a tomb, this is our tomb”
6. Have them do it themselves and repeat till all the marshmallows are wrapped
7. Double check the seals on the dough, sealing them all around the mallow by pinching cracks together
8. Place on a rimmed cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or sprayed with cooking spray
9. Bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes, the varying thickness of the pastry can make timing fickle, just keep an eye on it
10. Once you put all the mallows in the oven say,
    1. “Now Jesus was in the tomb three days, let’s pretend that while our rolls are in the oven we are waiting those three days”
11. Once the rolls are done (they should be lightly browned) take them out and slice one open for the kids to see that the “tomb” is empty!

*Don’t be daunted if the script part seems long to explain, it really only takes less than a minute.

* The rolls might pop open and ooze in the oven, no worries! They won’t be ruined and then you’ll be able to see inside them that much better.

 

The rolls are quite yummy, even the next day! I hope you have fun with these folks, the look of surprise on those little faces can be quite amusing. Cheers!