Palm Sunday

The day that mom made stick donkeys and let everyone run through the house and outside down the sidewalk. That was a fun day. A day we learned about Jesus.

We started with reading the story in our favorite Beginners Bibles. The triplets are only 3, so I will find the place and mark it with a card, then allow them to flip through their Bible until they find it. Sparrow and I have already talked about Old Testament and New Testament and where to find the stories of Jesus. She will flip through on her own to find the story. As we read through the story, we also acted it out with our peg people. We talked about the word Hosanna and what it means. Jesus had fed them, healed them, taught them, performed countless miracles. The people were ready to make them their King and lead them to freedom from the Roman government. But that’s not why Jesus came. That wasn’t in God’s plan for Him. In Luke’s telling of this story, we see Jesus overcome with emotion as He saw Jerusalem and realized they did not see Him for who He was to be. His plan for salvation is so pure and perfect. And they (and often the rest of us as well) missed the whole point.

After we read and talked through the story, we collected our palm branches and donkeys and headed outside to take turns acting out the story. One child would ride down the sidewalk, while everyone else lined the streets calling, “Hosanna! God save! Here comes Jesus!”

In repetition and play, stories come to life and sink into little hearts.

Don’t let the stick donkeys scare you. They were super simple.

All you need is a dowel rod, 3 pieces of felt, stuffing of some sort (I used poly fil), a hot glue gun and googly eyes, I’m attaching a pattern for the donkey face. Print one copy, cut two felt pieces from each.

With your third sheet of felt, cut a strip 2/3s width. Fold in half and cut strips (careful not to cut all the way through, leave approx. 1/2 inch intact.) Hot glue face pieces together, only around the edges, leaving the bottom of the neck open for stuffing. Fill to your liking. Insert dowel rod. Push it all the way up to touch the inside top of the head, and add extra stuffing as needed for support. Glue closed. Put a dot of glue at the bottom middle edge of each ear and pinch to form a slightly “cupped” ear. Glue ears and eyes to donkey. Position felt mane over donkey’s neck and hot glue so draped both sides. Done!

For the paper palm branches: fold a sheet of green paper in half length-ways. Make a cut up and diagonal at the bottom to form the stem. Cut a slight diagonal at the top and cut thick strips down the length. Open and fan. “Hosanna! Hosanna! Here comes Jesus!”