ACTIVITY: Empty Tomb and Mount Calvary Garden for Easter / Triduum (FREE PROJECT)

I’ve talked before about my amazing MOPS group when we created the Stations of the Cross magnets and the inspiration the craft provided. This past week we created an adorable representation of the three crosses on Mount Calvary (referred to as Skull in the Bible) and the covered tomb, which would be found to be empty on Easter Sunday as part of Jesus’s resurrection. The best part? It’s a living garden! There are little seeds of grass on the mount that will grow by Easter Sunday. So…start yours soon! Besides, this is super easy and you probably have everything you need at home already. Again, credit for this idea goes to my MOPS group – seriously, they are the best.

The idea behind this project is not only educational but interactive. The three crosses on the mount show Jesus (in the center) but the two criminals he was crucified with (Matthew 27:38, Mark 15:27-28, Luke 23:33, John 19:18). The tomb represents the tomb into which Jesus was buried, only to rise again on the third day. The interactive part here is the rock covering the tomb…it remains in the covered position beginning on Good Friday and rolls away to reveal an empty tomb on Easter Sunday. Love this! Another perk? This project is probably FREE for everyone. Seriously, you can just use items laying around your house. Read through the “what you need” list below and you’ll see there’s no cost involved in this project. Love it even more. 

WHAT YOU NEED

• plant potter dish, old plate, or anything else you have around the house that has scooped sides. This will serve as your base.
• soil / dirt from your yard
• one egg carton “bowl” (just one of the 12 bowl-holes that the egg sits in…I have no idea what those things are called!)
• popsicle sticks, toothpicks, sticks, etc. 
• one larger rock, about 2″ in diameter, from your yard
• smaller pebbles from your yard
• grass seed (optional)
• glue gun
• small piece of ribbon

HOW TO MAKE

• Mound a pile of dirt into your bowl, keeping it pretty lose
• Push the egg carton piece into the mound, which will serve as the tomb. press the dirt down now, lightly packing it down so it holds its shape. (optional) if you want, sprinkle grass seed onto your mound
• Place a few of the small pebbles at the entrance to the tomb along the front of the bowl
• Place the larger rock covering the tomb entrance
• Cut three popsicle sticks to be shorter, three to be longer. I recommend cutting off the rounded ends if yours have them so they have flat edges. Glue them together to make three crosses.
• Drape and glue the ribbon around one of the crosses. 

• Gently press the crosses into the mound.
• Recommended: squirt the mound with a water bottle to keep it moist, even if you didn’t add the grass seeds. This will help ensure it keeps its shape.
• Watch your grass grow! A few squirts of water will keep the soil moist and your grass should grow in a few days. Watching it grow was half our fun!

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