easter peg people

After a full day of life with homeschooling and little ones, I'm finally able to share a little non-tutorial with you about the Easter peg people I crafted this week to accompany our Easter Garden. I wish I had more photos of the process, but as most mamas out there with several little ones can understand, attempting to do any serious crafting and juggling the kiddos in the background, supper preparations etc. is often non-conductive to photo-taking during the process. As I didn't have a pattern, I just eyeballed the costumes from my little peg dolls on paper, tried them on them and then traced and cut out the felt. The arms are made from pipe cleaners, which I glue-gunned on to the backs of the bodies, and the bodies are painted with watercolours. If it looks complicated, please feel free to ask me any questions you might have, but if you google "peg people tutorial"', you'll find hundreds out there, so I leave it to those mamas who have more time on their hands to prepare these lovely tutorials for you! Interestingly enough, I did a thorough search on-line and on Etsy and I could not, for the life of me, find any peg dolls created specifically for the Easter story. So feel free to share, link to your blog if you want, but if you do so, please link back to me and give credit for my photos and handiwork...that's all I ask! These were a labour of love for my children that I hope other mothers might be inspired to create for use in their home. Honestly, I crafted all of these in one afternoon, so I didn't make them super fancy, and everything is attached using a glue gun for simplicity's sake. Let me know what you think. I would truly be blessed by your feedback! I wanted these photos to tell a story and give you an idea of how you can use figures like this to play out the Easter story with your children. We have several children's Bibles in our home, so reading them the narrative and then putting out the garden and dolls is a lovely way to watch their little imaginations go to work. My children are ages eight, six, four and two and my four-year-old son is currently the most interested in the set, specifically because: he helped paint the soldiers, and he insisted that their be four instead of two! He also added the toothpick swords! Above we have Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. His apostles are sleeping while he prays and contemplates his upcoming Passion. He returns to find them this way and asks, "Could you not watch with me one hour?" (Matthew 26:49). This question is an invitation to prayer for our children, and for all of us.

Jesus is arrested in the garden. His apostles flee (this is St. Peter with Him). Do you think that I cannot call upon my Father and he will not provide me at this moment with more than twelve legions of angels? But then how would the scriptures be fulfilled which say that it must come to pass in this way? -Matthew 26:53-54

We haven't set up any sort of Calvary scene for the garden, although some people transform the tomb into a hill with three crosses which then becomes the tomb. For us, the children's play goes straight to Jesus in the cave-tomb (He's in there, I promise!). The soldiers stand guard, keeping watch to make sure the apostles don't come and steal his body to fake his Resurrection.

Here's a shot of our four peg people soldiers. Jeremiah insisted that we make four, which, as my theology professor husband (who happens to have been teaching Scripture at a small liberal arts college for the past eleven years), tells me, was theologically accurate. I have a meager B.A. in theology, but my husband is the go-to guy for most Biblical knowledge in our family. He happens to teach Greek and Hebrew as well!

Behold, our resurrected Lord!

His appearance was like lightning and his clothing was white as snow. The guards were shaken with fear of him and became like dead men. -Matthew 28:3-4

The angel said...''Do not be afraid!" -Matthew 28:5

Mary Magdalene (who our oldest daughter is named after!) approaches the tomb. The angel proclaims, ...I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified. He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. -Matthew 28:5-6

Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni," which means Teacher. Jesus said to her, "Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, "I am going to my Father and to your Father, to my God and your God." -John 20:16-17

Jesus meets His apostles. Then he said to them, "Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have. -Luke 24:38-39

The players (minus the soldiers) and including Mary, the Mother of God. You are witnesses of these things. And (behold) I am sending the promise of my Father upon you... -Luke 24:48-49