Easy Cross Crafts for Kids to Make on Good Friday

Good Friday is a day for reflection and prayer. However, when you have a toddler or young child underfoot, the reflection is usually reflected back in your face! Teaching your children the meaning and the solemnity of Good Friday is something that takes time and effort. However, you can teach them a little each year and do it in a fun way. By using crafts to teach the symbolism of the cross, you can begin to teach your toddler the reason for this holy day. Here are three different crafts to do with your child that are all about crosses for this Good Friday.

Good Friday Craft #1 - Egg Carton Cross

Items Needed

Cardboard Egg Carton

Hot Glue or Super Tacky Glue

Scissors

Ribbon

Lace

Silk Flowers

Instructions

Cut the egg carton into strips. For each cross you make, you need one strip that is 1 egg cup wide and 6 egg cups long and another strip that is 1 egg cup wide by 5 egg cups long. Your 6 cup strip is the up and down arm of your cross. Take the 5 cup strip and position it so that the middle cup is nestled into the second cup of the other strip, forming a cross. Glue the two together in this shape. When the glue is dried, you can decorate the cross. Wrap the cross with ribbon or lace. Glue a small cluster of silk flowers onto it. You can also paint or color the cross in any way you wish.

Good Friday Craft #2 - Popsicle Stick Cross

Items Needed

Popsicle sticks OR craft sticks

Mini craft sticks OR shorter Popsicle sticks

Glue gun

Glitter Glue or Paint

Fake gemstones or beads

Yarn or ribbon

Instructions

You need either one large and one small Popsicle stick or one craft stick and one mini craft stick for each cross. The two sticks need to be carefully glued together to form a cross using the smaller stick as the cross piece. Allow the cross to dry. Decorate the crosses any way that you or your children would like. You can wrap the crosses in yarn or ribbon, use paint or glitter glue to make them pretty or even glue beads and fake gemstones on them. Your children will love decorating the crosses and you can then use them as a teaching tool or a reminder if you wish.

Good Friday Craft #3 - Mini Kite

Kites are a great way to use a cross in an every day object. The cross pieces of the kite are the cross and the way that a kite floats and soars into the air symbolizes the ascension of Christ to heaven. You can teach your children about this as you make these mini-kites.

Items Needed

Popsicle sticks or craft sticks

glue gun

tissue paper

tacky glue

yarn or ribbon

Instructions

Follow the directions for the 2^nd cross craft above to glue your cross together.

Once the cross is dry, cut pieces of colored tissue into diamond shapes that will fit the cross. Use dots of glue on the tips of each stick and a thin line along each stick to attach the tissue to the sticks. Allow this to dry completely. Cut a "tail" for your kite and attach it to the kite using glue. You can then attach a piece of ribbon tot he top of the kite (on the stick) to hang the kite in a window or on a wall.