What is Palm Sunday?
Springtime is an important period for many Christian holidays. The times leading up to and following Easter are all valuable moments within the bible, and Palm Sunday is no different. Palm Sunday is a Christian feast day that marks the beginning of Holy Week, one of the most important periods in the Christian calendar. Sometimes called “Passion Sunday,” it commemorates Jesus Christ’s arrival in Jerusalem on the back of a donkey.
It is called Palm Sunday because of the palm branches that the people waved and laid down before Jesus to honor his arrival. Despite being so revered, this was, in fact, the beginning of Jesus’ journey to his crucifixion and death at Calvary, when Christians believe he laid down his life for their sins.
When is Palm Sunday 2024?
Palm Sunday is always the final Sunday of Lent, which is forty days of fasting in the Christian tradition. Since Palm Sunday always falls on the last Sunday before Easter, the date varies each year, according to when Easter is celebrated. Palm Sunday 2024 falls on April 2nd.
Read More: Fun and Eggciting Ways to Celebrate Easter
Why do we celebrate Palm Sunday?
In the past, Palm Sunday was largely a day of mass prayer and appreciation of Jesus. The palm leaves used during this holiday symbolize the leaves that brushed his shoulders and cleared his path when he arrived in Jerusalem.
Today, in honor of Jesus’ sacrifice, a Palm Sunday mass service might occur, with the distribution of blessed palm leaves. These palms will often be saved and burned, to make the ashes for the following year’s Ash Wednesday service, to signify Jesus and his sacrifice. The individuals who save palms will often leave them around crucifixes or angels as a way to center their blessed significance.
Palm Sunday 2024 teaching resources:
If you’re looking for even more information on Palm Sunday, check out our detailed Palm Sunday Teaching Wiki. This wiki includes the original story which inspires today’s Palm Sunday and a variety of different facts about this important Christian holiday.
Now, if you’re in the need of some cool resources for your next class, look no further than Twinkl! We offer a variety of educational resources from presentations to problem worksheets, coloring books, classroom decorations, and more. If you’re looking for some of these handy resources that can help your students learn about Palm Sunday, here are our top picks that we highly recommend:
Palm Sunday Reader’s Theater – In need of a cool reading resource? This Palm Sunday Reader’s Theater is an awesome resource for bringing the spirit of Palm Sunday to life in your classroom. With a handy script provided, this activity is great for a class-wide activity and will certainly inspire your little thespians to get into the Palm Sunday spirit! Consider making props for this little play as well to really liven up the scenes. Palm Sunday Collaborative Art Pack – If you’re more interested in arts and crafts resources then this Palm Sunday Collaborative Art Pack is ideal. Each child will get a different image section to decorate as colorfully as possible. Then collect their images back, and tape them all together to reveal an awesome piece of artwork. This is a wonderful resource to add some color to your classroom! We also love and recommend this Palm Sunday Cross Craft for another innovative craft activity. Simple Easter Story for Kids PowerPoint – Finally, check out this Simple Easter Story for Kids PowerPoint! This presentation is a great tool to introduce the Easter story in a simple and child-friendly way. From there, this Easter Story Activity Pack is stacked with learning opportunities for your students.
