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He Is Risen!

This is Easter week! Each day your family walks one step through the last week of Jesus’s life on earth: the Hosanna parade, the temple, the Last Supper, Gethsemane, the cross, the quiet tomb, and the happiest morning in history. Build a little “Easter Path” on a table or windowsill and add one small object each day, so kids can see the whole story come together. Keep the hard days gentle and short, and let Sunday be full of joy: because Jesus rose again, we will live again too.

  • Week 13
  • 📅 Mar 22–28, 2027
  • 📖 Easter Week
Start with Monday
Come, Follow Me manualNew Testament 2027, week 13

What your kids learn in class

Stories, verses and games for the week come from each child’s own Primary or youth lesson, so home matches Sunday.

Daily sparks

Five to ten minutes a day, Monday to Sunday. Grown-ups lead; kids act, play and answer. Where a step says to tap something, that’s in the Gospel Sparks app; on the web, use the “Play along” links.

Monday · 10 min · Story

The Hosanna Parade

🌿 Wave your palms! Shout Hosanna!Lay down the coats.Wave your palm leaf.Start your Easter Path!

📖 Read together: Matthew 21:1–11 ↗

  1. SAY“Yesterday was Palm Sunday. This week we’ll follow Jesus, one day at a time, all the way to Easter!” Then read Matthew 21:1–11 together.
  2. Prop a picture of Jesus at one end of a hallway. Have your kids lay jackets and towels down the hallway like the crowd laid their coats on the road.
  3. Wave paper palm leaves (or dish towels) and march along the path toward the picture, shouting “Hosanna!” (it means “please save us,” a way of praising Jesus as the Savior).
  4. Start your Easter Path: set one palm leaf on a table or windowsill. You’ll add something new every day.
Talk about it
  • Why were the people so happy to see Jesus?
  • How can we welcome Jesus into our home this week?
🧸 Little ones (2–5)Let your little one be the loudest “Hosanna!” shouter and place the first leaf on the Easter Path.
📚 Big kids (10–13)Have your 10–13-year-old read Matthew 21:10–11 and answer the crowd’s question, “Who is this?”, in their own words.
🧑 Teens (14–18)Read Zechariah 9:9 with your teen, then Matthew 21:4–5. Jesus chose to ride a donkey on purpose, fulfilling prophecy and showing what kind of King He is. Ask what that choice says about Him, and what kind of king the crowd may have been expecting instead.
☕️ For grown-upsThe same week that began with hosannas ended with a crowd calling for crucifixion. Enthusiasm is easy on parade days; discipleship is proven on the hard ones. Pray this week to be steady.

Sticker for today: 🌿

Tuesday · 8 min · Verse

A House of Prayer

🏛️ Make your home a holy place!Tidy up fast!Make a prayer corner.Learn the Easter verse.

📖 Read together: Matthew 21:12–16 ↗

  1. Read Matthew 21:12–16. Say: “Jesus cleaned out the temple because it’s His holy house. Then children cried ‘Hosanna’ to Him right there in the temple, and He welcomed their praise!”
  2. Have a 3-minute race to tidy one room and make a quiet prayer corner with a pillow, the scriptures and a picture of Jesus or a temple.
  3. Open the key verse screen and learn this week’s Easter verse together with motions. Practice it now so you can say it loud on Easter morning!
  4. Add a picture of a temple to your Easter Path, then say a short family prayer in your new prayer corner.

📖 Play along: the key verse (from the CTR 8 lesson; pick your kid’s class above for theirs)

Talk about it
  • How does it feel to be in a clean, quiet, holy place?
  • How can our home feel more like a temple?
🧸 Little ones (2–5)Let your little one choose the pillow for the prayer corner and fold arms to show how we pray.
📚 Big kids (10–13)Ask your 10–13-year-old to share what they’ve felt at the temple, or what they’re looking forward to doing there.
🧑 Teens (14–18)Ask your teen what might need clearing out to make their own space (their room, their phone, their schedule) more of a house of prayer. Invite them to set up a small quiet corner or routine of their own this week, and to tell you about it only if they want to.
☕️ For grown-upsRight after the temple is cleansed, the blind and the lame come to Jesus there and are healed, and children sing to Him (Matthew 21:14–15). Clearing out the clutter made room for healing and praise. What would clearing out make room for in your home?

Sticker for today: 🏛️

Wednesday · 8 min · Service

You Did It unto Me

⏱️ Helping someone is helping Jesus!Start the timer.Help, help, help!Add your hand to the path.

📖 Read together: Matthew 25:35–40 ↗

  1. Read Matthew 25:35–40. Say: “Jesus taught that when we help anyone who is hungry, lonely or sick, it’s like helping Him!”
  2. Set the timer and do a Helping Blitz: how many kind jobs can your family do before it buzzes? Fill a water glass for someone, fold laundry, pick up toys, write a quick note.
  3. Pick one person outside your family to help before Easter, like a neighbor, a lonely friend or a grandparent.
  4. Trace a hand on paper, write “When I help others, I help Jesus,” and add it to your Easter Path.

⏱️ Big Timer (in the Gospel Sparks app)

Talk about it
  • Why is helping someone like helping Jesus?
  • Who could we help before Easter Sunday?
🧸 Little ones (2–5)Give your little one simple helping jobs during the blitz, like carrying socks to the laundry basket.
📚 Big kids (10–13)Let your 10–13-year-old help plan and lead the family’s service for someone outside the home this week.
🧑 Teens (14–18)Have your teen read Matthew 25:37–39: the righteous didn’t even realize they had served Jesus. Ask why that surprise matters. Then have them plan and lead one real act of service before Sunday for someone your family doesn’t usually notice.
☕️ For grown-upsNeither group in Matthew 25 recognized Jesus in the hungry, the stranger or the prisoner. The difference was whether they helped anyway. The Lord often comes to us looking like an interruption.

Sticker for today: 🤲

Thursday · 10 min · Activity

The Last Supper and the Garden

🍞 Jesus gave us a way to remember Him.Bread for the sacrament.Jesus prayed in a garden.He did it because He loves you.

📖 Read together: Matthew 26:26–30, 36–39 ↗

  1. Open the story scenes and read the first two together (the Last Supper and the garden). At dinner, dim the lights and set a loaf of bread on the table to help everyone picture the story (we don’t pretend to bless or pass the sacrament at home; that sacred ordinance happens at church). Say: “Jesus shared a special Passover meal with His Apostles. He gave them bread and a cup to help them remember Him. That was the very first sacrament.”
  2. Read Matthew 26:26–28. Ask: “What do we think about when we take the sacrament?”
  3. Then read Matthew 26:36–39 in a quiet voice. Say: “In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed and suffered for all our sins and all our sad and hurting feelings, so He can help us and we can repent. He did it because He loves us.”
  4. Sit quietly together for a moment. Add a paper cutout of bread and a leaf to your Easter Path.

🎭 Play along: scenes 1–2 (from the CTR 8 lesson; pick your kid’s class above for theirs)

Talk about it
  • What can you think about during the sacrament on Sunday?
  • How does it feel to know Jesus understands every hard feeling you have?
🧸 Little ones (2–5)Hold your little one on your lap and whisper, “Jesus loves you so much,” while the family sits quietly.
📚 Big kids (10–13)Ask your 10–13-year-old to read Matthew 26:39 and share what Jesus’s prayer teaches about trusting and obeying Heavenly Father, even when it’s hard.
🧑 Teens (14–18)Read Luke 22:44 with your teen, then Matthew 26:40–41, where the disciples keep falling asleep. Ask what it means to “watch” with Jesus today, and invite them to decide what they will think about during the sacrament this Sunday.
☕️ For grown-ups“Not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matthew 26:39) was prayed by the Son of God Himself. If there’s something you’ve been asking God to change, try adding His words to your prayer this week, and mean them.

Sticker for today: 🍞

Friday · 7 min · Talk

He Gave His Life for Us

❤️ Jesus loves you THAT much.One quiet minute.Think about Jesus’s love.Add a heart to the path.

📖 Read together: Luke 23:33–34, 46 ↗

  1. Sit close together. Read Luke 23:33–34 and 23:46 gently. Say: “Jesus let Himself be put on a cross, and He died. Even then, He asked Heavenly Father to forgive the people who hurt Him.”
  2. Read Matthew 27:54. Say: “A soldier who watched said Jesus truly was the Son of God. His friends laid His body in a tomb, and they were very sad. It’s okay to feel sad today. But the story isn’t over!”
  3. Set the timer for one quiet minute. Everyone thinks about how much Jesus loves them. You could hum or sing “He Sent His Son” (Children’s Songbook, 34) afterward.
  4. Cut out a red paper heart and add it to your Easter Path.

⏱️ Big Timer (in the Gospel Sparks app)

Talk about it
  • What does it show you that Jesus forgave the people who hurt Him?
  • How does it feel to know Jesus loves you this much?
🧸 Little ones (2–5)Keep it simple for your little one: “Jesus died because He loves us, and Sunday we get happy news!” and let them color the heart.
📚 Big kids (10–13)Invite your 10–13-year-old to read Matthew 27:45–54 on their own and share which part helps them believe Jesus is the Son of God.
🧑 Teens (14–18)Read Matthew 27:42 and 27:54 with your teen: the mockers said they would believe if He came down from the cross; a Roman soldier believed because of how He died. Ask what that contrast teaches about faith and about the kind of power Jesus chose to use.
☕️ For grown-upsOn the cross, Jesus prayed for the people who were crucifying Him (Luke 23:34; the Joseph Smith Translation adds that He meant the soldiers who crucified Him). Take a quiet minute alone today to think about what His suffering means for you personally, not just for the world.

Sticker for today: ❤️

Saturday · 10 min · Game

The Waiting Day

🪨 Build the tomb and roll the stone!Build a tomb.Roll the stone in front.What will happen tomorrow?

📖 Read together: 1 Peter 3:18–19 ↗

  1. Build a tomb for your Easter Path: a bowl turned on its side, a small box, or a blanket tent. Roll a “stone” (a rock, ball or crumpled paper) in front of the door.
  2. Read 1 Peter 3:18–19. Say: “While Jesus’s body was in the tomb, His spirit went to the spirit world. He organized good people there to teach the gospel to everyone who had died, because Heavenly Father wants all His children to have a chance.” (See Doctrine and Covenants 138.)
  3. Play the family quiz to review everything on your Easter Path so far.
  4. Lay out Sunday clothes. After the kids are asleep, parents secretly roll the stone away and leave a flower and a note that says “He is risen!” inside the tomb.

🏆 Play along: Scripture Showdown (from the CTR 8 lesson; pick your kid’s class above for theirs)

Talk about it
  • How do you think Jesus’s friends felt on this waiting day?
  • Why does Heavenly Father want everyone, even people who have died, to hear about Jesus?
🧸 Little ones (2–5)Let your little one roll the stone into place and say “Goodnight, tomb. See you tomorrow!”
📚 Big kids (10–13)Let your 10–13-year-old in on the secret and help set up the empty-tomb surprise after the younger kids are in bed.
🧑 Teens (14–18)Have your teen read Doctrine and Covenants 138:18–19 and 138:29–30 about what the Savior did in the spirit world. Ask how this vision answers the question “What about people who never heard of Jesus?” and how temple work fits in.
☕️ For grown-upsSaturday was the day the disciples lived without knowing Sunday was coming. Many of us are living in some kind of Saturday. Doctrine and Covenants 138 shows the Savior was at work even in the silence, and He is at work in yours.

Sticker for today: 🪨

Sunday · 10 min · Sabbath

He Is Risen!

🌅 The tomb is EMPTY! Jesus is alive!Check the Easter Path.Shout: He is risen!Jesus knows your name.

📖 Read together: Matthew 28:1–8 ↗

  1. First thing in the morning, send your kids to check the Easter Path. The stone is rolled away! Read Matthew 28:1–8 and say the key verse together as loud as you can.
  2. Open the story scenes and swipe to Easter morning, or read John 20:11–18: Mary was crying at the tomb, and Jesus called her by name. Say: “Jesus knows your name too.”
  3. SAY“Because Jesus was resurrected, every person who ever lived will be resurrected too. Our bodies and spirits will be together again, never to be separated. And because of Jesus, families can be together forever.”
  4. After church, ask: “What did you learn in Primary today?” Then sing or listen to “Did Jesus Really Live Again?” (Children’s Songbook, 64).
  5. Finish with a quiet circle: each person says one thing they know or feel about Jesus, and a parent shares a testimony that He lives.

🎭 Play along: scenes 5–10 (from the CTR 8 lesson; pick your kid’s class above for theirs)

Talk about it
  • How do you think Mary felt when Jesus said her name?
  • What did you learn in Primary today?
  • Because Jesus lives, what are you most excited about?
🧸 Little ones (2–5)Let your little one be the first to peek inside the empty tomb and find the flower.
📚 Big kids (10–13)Ask your 10–13-year-old to read 3 Nephi 11:8–15 (Jesus visiting the Nephites) and share why another witness of the risen Jesus matters.
🧑 Teens (14–18)Invite your teen to read John 20:24–29 about Thomas and ask what honest doubts sound like at their age. Jesus met Thomas right where he was. Then ask them to share, in a sentence, what they believe about the Resurrection today, even if it’s still growing.
☕️ For grown-upsMary didn’t recognize the risen Lord until He said her name (John 20:16). Remember a time you have felt known by Him personally, and tell your kids about it today.

Sticker for today: 🌅

Family challenge

Share the Good News

Jesus’s friends ran to tell others that He was risen. This week, every person in the family shares the Easter story or their feelings about Jesus with someone outside your home: call a grandparent, make an Easter card for a neighbor, or invite a friend to church on Easter Sunday.

Parent Corner

The Savior’s last week unfolded during Passover, the feast that remembers Israel’s deliverance from Egypt, when the blood of a lamb marked each door and death passed over. Jesus chose that week and that meal to give His disciples the sacrament, taking bread and a cup and making them about His own body and blood. The Lamb of God was about to free all people from a deeper bondage than Egypt: sin and death. All week, the people around Him keep missing it: crowds expecting a political king, disciples asleep in the garden, leaders demanding a sign from the cross. Only after the empty tomb do the pieces fit. Because He rose, every person who has ever lived will be resurrected; because of His Atonement, we can be forgiven and changed. Everything else in the gospel rests on this one week.

  • Ponder: If you had been in Jerusalem that week, where do you honestly think you would have been on Friday, and what does your answer teach you about grace?
  • Try this: Before Easter morning, read one Gospel’s account of the Resurrection slowly on your own (Matthew 28, Luke 24 or John 20), then write your own witness of the risen Christ in a few sentences and keep it.

From general conference

“Palm Sunday was not just an event, another page in history with a date, time, and place. Jesus Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem and the events of the week that followed exemplify doctrine we can apply in our lives today.”

— Elder Ronald A. Rasband, “Hosanna to the Most High God,” April 2023

For parents on Monday, before the Hosanna parade.

Read the talk ↗

Dinner-table questions

  • Which day on our Easter Path meant the most to you?
  • If you had been in the Hosanna crowd, what would you have said to Jesus?
  • What can we think about during the sacrament to remember Jesus?
  • Who is someone you’re excited to see again after the Resurrection?
  • How is Easter different because we know Jesus lives?
  • What’s one way we can share the Easter news with someone this week?

Sources

Scripture quotations are from the King James Version, the Bible used by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

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