Family Devotional Activity for Lent and Easter	

Craft Idea:
Find a dead branch from a tree or bush. Paint the branch white, if desired. Fill a coffee can or other container two-thirds full of plaster of paris, fine - grain patching gement and place the branch firmly into the mixture. Allow mix to harden.
Supply an assortment of cross forms to be cut out of cardboard or tagboard. These are to be decorated in a variety of styles i.e. colored with crayons, markers, or paints, decorated with collage materials such as colored tissue paper pieces or magazine pictures, glitter, or other craft scraps. Hang the crosses from the branch with an attached piece of nylon fishing line or filament thread.
At Easter, replace the crosses with Easter eggs and spring blossoms.
Learning: The tree of crosses is taken home to be used as a focus for family devotional time.
Preschool through early elementary classes: emphasis on the cross as a sign of God's love. a walk through the sanctuary and church "looking for the crosses" is a supplementary learning activity.
5th grade + : Research the signicance of the different cross designs - the history of which faith communities used the design, when they were used, and why?