Week 1

What are we learning to do?

• Identify a special time they celebrate and explain simply what celebration means. 
• Identify some ways Christians celebrate Easter. 

Lesson 1 - Shrove Tuesday - What do pancakes have to do with Easter?

Key facts

- Shrove Tuesday this year happened on the 16th February. (Last week)

- People traditionally cook and eat pancakes.

- A pancake is a thin, flat cake, made of batter and fried in a frying pan.

- A traditional English pancake is very thin and is served immediately. Golden syrup or lemon juice and caster sugar are the usual toppings for pancakes.

- For Christians, Lent is a time of giving things up.

- Pancake Day (or Shrove Tuesday as it is properly called) was the last chance to enjoy a delicious treat before giving things up. 

- Traditionally, it was the day people would use up the foods that aren’t allowed in Lent because of fasting such as fat milk and eggs. 

- Pancakes are eaten on this day because they contain fat, butter and eggs that were once completely forbidden during Lent.

- The name ‘Shrove’ comes from the old word “shrive”. The word means to confess – that means 'to admit all the things that you have thought or said or done that are wrong.

Learn about how people prepare for Shrove Tuesday

Watch to learn about Shrove Tuesday

Activity 1 - Make pancakes a home using the recipe you were shown

Learn about pancake races

• In the UK, pancake races form an important part of the Shrove Tuesday celebrations – an opportunity for large numbers of people, often in fancy dress, to race down streets tossing pancakes.
• The object of the race is to get to the finishing line first, carrying a frying pan with a cooked pancake in it and flipping the pancake as you run.

Activity 2 - Have a pancake race. 

You will need:

• a frying pan. 
• a partner to race with. (note - if you only have 1 pan you could take it in turns to run a distance and time it. The fastest competitor wins)
• a pancake, tortilla wrap, beanbag, pair of socks or circle of card/paper or material to act as your pancake. 
• optional - fancy dress items - e.g. an apron, a hat or other fun clothing. 

Rules:

• You must flip the pancake over 3 times before crossing the finish line.  

Activity 3 - Flipping competition

Other resources

Week 2 

Lesson 1 -Ash Wednesday - The Start of Lent and Holy Week

What are we learning to do?

• Identify some ways Christians celebrate Easter.
• Collect examples of what people do, give, sing, remember or think about at the religious celebrations studied, and say why they matter to believers. 

Key facts to share with your child

• Ash Wednesday is the day after Shrove Tuesday and signals the start of Lent.
• Lent lasts for 40 days. 
• Many Christians during Lent will give up eating certain foods or other luxuries, to help them concentrate on God. This is also a reminder of the fact that Jesus did not eat for the 40 days that he was in the desert. Many Christians will also set aside whole days of fasting and praying.
• Christians might think about whether they are living in a way that makes God happy.
• Christians might ask for God’s forgiveness for the times they messed up.
• Christians might ask for God to help them to live in the way that he wishes.
• They might go to an Ash Wednesday service  or 'ashing' service in a church. 
• The priest or vicar (the leader of a church) makes a sign of the cross in ashes on the forehead of each person.
• The ashes are usually made from burning palm crosses that were kept from Palm Sunday the previous year.
• Ashes are used in the Bible as signs of sadness or sorrow for the wrong things done.

Research Ash Wednesday and Lent together using the following resources

Activities you can do to show what you have learnt today

What can we learn from Lent?

• Have you ever tried to give something up for a period of time?
• What was it and why did you give it up?
• Was it easy or difficult? Why?
• A lot of Christians believe we can learn a lot when we give up things that are special or essential to us. Do you agree? Why?
• Is there anything you would like to say sorry for? Would you like to make a fresh start?