Celebrating Holy Week in the preschool classroom is all about familiarizing young students with the story of Jesus’ sacrifice in a meaningful, multisensory way.
Holy Week marks the culmination of Lent as we meditate on the story of Jesus’ journey into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday until He is in the tomb before the joyful hope of His Resurrection on Easter Sunday. Early childhood students can start to understand the story of our salvation by experiencing it in a variety of ways.
Keeping reading for ideas to implement in your classroom this year.
Focus on the Story
Read aloud the scripture stories of Holy Week to your class. Use a children’s Bible with pictures or break the story into small parts to help younger students better comprehend them.
In addition to scripture, I love sharing The Three Trees folktale during Holy Week. It is a beautiful story about three trees, their dreams for themselves, and how their stories changed when they became part of Christ’s life. Find a copy HERE. (affiliate link)
Pray the Stations of the Cross
Meditating on Jesus’ journey to the cross is one of the most meaningful ways to spend Holy Week. For young students, using a simplified version with pictures allows them to take in the story without being overwhelmed.
This printable includes simple pictures and wording of each station, along with a prayer booklet that students can color. Display the posters of each station and walk through them with the students, pausing to pray at each one. Get a copy for your classroom HERE.
Holy Week Sensory Bin
Using a sensory bin is a great way for young children to experience a topic in a multisensory way. Use what you have on hand to create a bin full of rice, dry beans, or sand as your base. Fill it with objects (or even pictures on small laminated cards) for them to find with their hands, small shovels, or cups for scooping.
As a follow-up activity, have a discussion during one of your weekly circle times to ask children what they found and why each object relates to Holy Week.
A few ideas for objects: Wooden cross, palm leaf, tattered cloth, wooden chalice, loaf of bread (look in your play kitchen for a plastic one to use!), silver coins, a stone, etc.
Easy Reader – Holy Week
I love using emergent readers as a project to work on throughout the week to revisit the theme and work on a variety of skills, including print recognition, coloring, cutting, and sequencing if students can put the pages in order themselves. Depending on their current skill level, you may want to cut and staple ahead of time.
After introducing Holy Week through a story or discussion in circle time, have students begin by coloring these Holy Week Booklets as morning work or during center time.
Then, come back to them the following day, asking students about the pictures they colored. They can be used for multiple days in centers. Work your way up to having kids follow along with their fingers on the text circles as you read the book aloud with them.
This easy reader also comes with additional activities that help your young learners sequence the events of Holy Week!
Holy Week Sequencing Puzzles
Puzzles are a fun, engaging math center. I love these Holy Week puzzles because they remind students of the events that took place on Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday while they practice sequencing numbers 1-20 and letters A-Z. Easy to print out, laminate, and cut apart to use year after year in your classroom.
Act it out!
Use simple props to let students role play the different events of Holy Week. This could be done as a class, or as part of a center.
They could wave palms as Jesus enters Jerusalem, pretend to wash feet before sitting down for the Last Supper, say a prayer in the garden, observe Jesus being arrested and taken before Pilate, and help Him carry the cross to Calvary.
