Easy One-Piece Rolled Palm Branch to Welcome Jesus

This 3-D palm branch is so easy, and the results are so good, you could think of it as a great Palm Sunday Coloring page with a little bit of love added - and glue. Sturdy enough to wave!

Preschool and kindergarten Palm branch craft: make a one-piece, sturdy, blunt, palm branch!
In Bible times, people waved palm branches similarly to us today waving a flag if we saw the president of the United states or an Olympic gold medal winner pass by us in a parade . Palm branches symbolized victory and triumph and were used to honor someone. Palm branches weren't easy to come by, so they were special. On very special occasions, the people might cover a dirt road with palm branches to create something like a carpet of palms. Biblically, Palm Sunday comes from "Jesus' Triumphal entry into Jerusalem".

BACKGROUND AND BOTANY
To learn more about the palm, see my page for the older kid's palm branch craft.

FOR THIS STURDY PAPER PALM BRANCH CRAFT:
I'm not a botanist, so I'll call the whole thing a Palm branch, and the individual parts, fronds.

Using the Palm branches: To re-enact Jesus going to Jerusalem, Bring a plain white cloth sheet if your Sunday School does not have costumes. See teacher information below.

Gather the materials and print 1 activity page for each child.

1. Coloring the page is easy - especially if you color before you cut it out. Color only the fronds on the front of the activity page. Scribbling is fine if you allow it. Over-coloring will be cut-away.

Do not color over the words "Glue" and do not color in the box.

2. Teacher, look at which half of the page is colored. Turn over the paper (you can hold it up to the light to see through it. ) and draw a rough outline only where just the fronds are on the front. Neatness and precision do not matter.

Have the children scribble over the back in the SAME PART OF THE PAPER THAT IS COLORED ON THE FRONT SIDE (Or you can outline the area to color on the back in advance)

3. From the front, cut out the whole thing on the heavy line. Cut all the way to the end of the lines between the fronds.

When the children get to and end of a line, have them pull out the scissors a bit and then turn them to continue with the next frond.

6. Press the pencil (that is now rolled up in the tube) into the glue.

Hold a minute to let the glue grip.

(in this picture, the pencil should still be all the way in the tube.)

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7. With the pencil still in the tube, fold BACK every other frond - the ones with the dotted lines - until they are on the other side of the tube.

8. Shake out the pencil. If it doesn't shake out, use another pencil to begin to push it out. Once you see the pencil, you can pull it out gently. Be careful! If it sticks, teacher should help remove it.

DONE!

WOW! Look at that! The palm branch is green on both sides, and the tube becomes a sturdy stem using "paper power".

Mini Palm Sunday Pageant (a one word pantomime)
This is a happy day!
When the palm branches are dry, try a re-enactment of Jesus going into Jerusalem and the welcoming people with palms. No one need say anything except cheering and shouting, "Hosanna!" Choose someone to be Jesus. If you do not have costumes, use a plain white sheet for Jesus, and wrap it over other clothing. Before you go further, discuss why the people were so joyous. Discuss what "hosanna" means (save us or rescue us).

Have the children line up and hold their palms high over their heads. As you read the story, have Jesus SLOWLY walk by. Just imagine the donkey - or have a dramatically oriented child pretend they are riding a donkey. Let the children smile and shout "Hosanna!" as they wave the palms directly over their heads. (this is important so nobody, including Jesus, gets wapped with a palm). After a run-through, have the children do it again, and encourage them to be much more enthusiastic. Some children may over-do it, but don't you imagine some people did become very excited when they got to see Jesus?

Lent - the days of preparation before Easter.