This easy-to-make Resurrection Garden is a meaningful centerpiece for your Easter table. You make the empty tomb out of self-hardening clay two days before. Then fill a large bowl with soil, place the tomb into the soil, and surround the tomb with plants. You will also want to make a cross out of two twigs tied together with twine.
I originally saw the idea for a Resurrection Garden here, so I thought I would do my own version. Melissa Holt is apparently the one who came up with this idea, using grass or mustard seeds that grew all around the flower pot tomb on the week leading up to Easter. My version takes less time because you don’t have to wait for the grass to grow. You could even put the wet clay straight into the dirt and complete the project in less than 15 minutes.
Items needed for the Resurrection Garden:
- large bowl or flower pot
- soil
- terra cotta self-hardening clay
- 2 twigs
- twine
- plants
Cut a slab of terra cotta clay off the main hunk of clay by using a butcher knife. Form the clay into a ball. Press your fist into the ball to made a cave-like indentation. Make a circle or oval of clay for the rolled-away stone as well. Place both pieces of clay (the tomb and the stone) on top of wax paper to dry for two days.
Fill a bowl or pot with soil. Place the tomb into the soil. Surround the tomb with shade plants from around your yard. Or you can purchase small indoor plants just for this project. Choose leaves of different colors and textures for maximum beauty for your scene.
Snap some twigs to the correct size for a cross, based on the size of your tomb. Join the pieces together with twine. Tie the knot in the back so that it can’t be seen. Stab the cross into the dirt on the side of the tomb. Now your Resurrection Garden is complete.
Why not celebrate the coming of spring with a Spring Scavenger Hunt? Go on a fun nature hike and see if you can find the following items. Snap a picture of each item as you find it, and add the pictures to your nature journal. You can add descriptions under the photos, or older students can sketch the items into their journals, using the photos as a guide.
