While most kids from Christan families know about Easter, few know much about the special days leading up to it. The season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, or 40 days (excluding Sundays) before Easter. It is a season of reflection and penance in anticipation of the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus on Easter.

If you traditionally give up something for Lent, explore ways your children can participate in this. Maybe they could choose to give up video games or television. Help them understand that this “giving up” is intended to remind us often of the enormous sacrifices Jesus made for us.

Spend time together praying and reading Scripture as a family. Choose a book of Bible stories that can be read daily. Encourage older children to keep a prayer journal. Take them to Ash Wednesday services. Spend time explaining the symbols of the season. Answer questions.

Ask a children’s minister for recommendations of books or even children’s movies that help put Lent in kid-friendly terms. Make hot cross buns together. Make popcorn and reflect on how the kernel is transformed. Help them to make the connection to the tranformation Jesus’ love creates in us.

Find fun, yet meaningful, ways to keep journeying toward Easter together as a family.

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