Hosanna! Palm Sunday Easter Bonnet

In Australian primary schools it is very common to have a yearly Easter Hat Parade competition. Each child makes or decorates a hat at home to wear in the parade at school. I remember them when I was a kid.

Now that its my turn to supervise the hat making, as a Christian I couldn't bring myself to make a hat full of eggs or bunnies. In an effort to make the most of the opportunity, and try to teach Tahlia how to share her faith, we made a Palm Sunday Easter Bonnet.

When I told my friends I wanted to make a Christian themed Easter Hat, they all immediately thought of putting a cross on the front of a hat. Kinda morbid looking next to a bunch of brightly coloured and fun filled Easter Hats. Of course I didn't want to embarrass Tahlia, and it's probably not the greatest method of convincing people that the Christian movement is something they should join either!

I think we came up with a hat that is equally bright and rivals the fun of any Easter Hat I've seen.

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I would love to see and share your Christian themed Easter Hats!

It is made of painted paper mache molded over a hat and bucket. We made the rim and Jerusalem gateway arch out of aluminium foil, and paper mache over the top. The sign saying "Welcome to Jerusalem" is made from a painted pop stick and marker, and is hung with some elastic and hot glue. 

The battery operated car and track are from one of Tahlia's toys. Jesus on the donkey and the crowd are finger puppets copied and laminated from the book Bible Stories by Twin Sisters Productions, 2005. We used plain old sticky tape to attach them to the hat (and car so Jesus can actually ride the donkey). And as you might have guessed we used felt and hot glue to make the palm tree trunks (and a cardboard hand towel roll for the top one). She wanted the tall one on top because there was a 'Tallest Hat' category. The palm branches are also felt hot glued around some pipe cleaners. They can be taken out and laid on the road or waved around while shouting "Hosanna!"

This hat was inspired by a quiet book page which I am yet to post on the blog. When I do, I'll put a link to the post so you guys can get the template for the palm leaves.

We had a great time making the hat together. Stay tuned for the next few years to see what else we come up with, and if you have any suggestions or requests, please let us know in the comments below!

EDIT:

See the other Easter Hats in this Trilogy

1. Hosanna! Palm Sunday Easter Bonnet - this one!
2. Spectacular Spring Lamb Easter Bonnet - focuses on the first Passover and the Cross
3. Magnificent Butterfly Resurrection Easter Bonnet - focuses on the joy and hope of the Resurrection

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If you have ideas for more Christian themed Easter Hats please let me know in the comments below!

Genesis 1 - Days of Creation Quiet Book Page

Genesis chapter 1 records the events that occurred on days 1-6 of the Creation Week. The seventh day is also included here for convenience.

Memory Verse: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Genesis 1:1.

Materials needed to create the Days of Creation quiet book page:

• A4 felt background sheet. I used black
• Betty Lukens Felt book 01 Bible Stories kit, also available at Koorong (not affiliate links)
• sewing thread to best match the page
• scissors!

Cut out all the pieces for this page and the page itself from the Betty Lukens set. The Betty Lukens FAQ section has posted a cutting tips PDF.

Sew the Betty Lukens page onto the background felt along three sides, leaving the top edge open to form a pocket. Pop the pieces inside the pocket (or better yet - play with them)!

Finished!

Difficulty Level = Easy, plus No Sew version.

A very easy quiet book page!
Just use hot glue wherever sewing is recommended for a no sew version.

Key Learning Areas and Skills

• Genesis 1 - Learn the order of events on each day of creation week
• Matching - Match each piece to the corresponding spot for each day of creation week
• Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
• Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination

Read the Chapter

Genesis 1

Devotional

There are heaps of patterns in the days of creation. The most basic is that in the first three days God creates a space, and days 4-6, He fills those spaces. There are lots of other patterns too, such as numbering some days by their cardinal numbers, and others by their ordinal number. Such an interesting study.

I have discovered that the days of creation, aside from being literal, are actually a prophecy of the Earth's history and coming events.

Day 1 - God created light and separated light from darkness
Millennium 1 - Adam and Eve chose between light and darkness

Day 2 - God separated the waters above and below with a vault (the sky)
Millennium 2 - The Flood occurred

Day 3 - God made dry ground to appear, and vegetation grew on the land
Millennium 3 - God made dry ground appear for the Israelite's to cross the red sea after the Exodus, and the Earth was re-populated after The Flood. David is promised a descendant who will be a branch...

Day 4 - God created the greater light and the lesser light (sun and moon) and the stars
Millennium 4 - Jesus was born and lived (the Sun of Righteousness), announced by John the Baptist (the moon), and the earlier part of this period was characterized by the prophets (perhaps represented as the stars) or perhaps Abraham's descendants have now become a nation and are now as numerous as the stars).

Day 5 - God filled the water and sky with birds and fish
Millennium 5 - The Gospel went to the gentiles

Day 6 - God made the animals and Adam and Eve
Millennium 6 - The Gospel continued to go to the gentiles, and perhaps the second Adam (Jesus) will return (my guess is at the edge of the 6th and 7th Millenniums).

Day 7 - God rested
Millennium 7 - God will provide rest for His people during the thousand year respite/Sabbath in Heaven (after which we return to Earth - re-created for our eternal home).

It's pretty cool when you start recognizing patterns in the Bible and find something like this.

Anyway, if you want some great scientific evidence articles (journal, lay and children's) regarding the young Earth and literal days of creation, you can find some great stuff at Creation.com and Answers in Genesis.

In the Beginning (Chapter 1) - Parable Tunes

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If you can think of a more appropriate activity for Day 7 please share in the comments below!