Have you ever heard of the poem The Legend of the Dogwood Tree before? I hadn’t until my husband shared it with me. He remembers having it shared with him in Sunday school when he was a little boy.It is a beautiful poem about the about the species of tree that may have been used for Christ’s cross.
I decided the poem would have more meaning if I created a teaching tool to go along with it. JDaniel could easily have made this hand print craft on this own and would have if we hadn’t had a lot of things going on to get ready for our Spring Break trip.
How did we make these crafts for kids?
- I brushed white paint onto my palm and then made four hand prints to make the dogwood blossom’s petals. I choose to space that hand print so that it didn’t overlap the other prints as three of the petal’s prints do. It needed to be a little longer than the other three.
- The indentations at the bottom of my palms stands for the nail holes in Jesus’ palm. The red fingerprints represent his blood. They were made by my pinky finger. I made the indentations more definite when I cut out the cross later on.
- An orange bingo marker was used to create the crown of Jesus or the center of the dogwood blossom. I filled in the crown but, you could create a simple ring of dots.
- The dogwood blossom was cut out to resemble a cross and glued to light blue paper.
What does each painted element stand for?
- The white paint stands for the purity of Christ.
- The indentations at the bottom of my palms stands for the nail holes in Jesus’ palm.
- The red fingerprints represent his blood.
- The crown in the center of the dogwood blossom is the crown of thorns Jesus was made to wear.
Here is the Legend of the Dogwood Tree that my husband remembers:
In Jesus time, the dogwood grew
To a stately size and a lovely hue.
‘Twa strong and firm it’s branches interwoven
For the cross of Christ its timbers were chosen.
Seeing the distress at this use of their wood
Christ made a promise which still holds good:
“Never again shall the dogwood grow
Large enough to be used so….
Slender and twister, it shall be
With blossoms like the cross for all the see.
As blood stains the petals marked in reddish brown
The blossom’s center wears a thorny crown.
All who see it will remember me
Crucified on a cross from the dogwood tree.
Cherished and protected this tree shall be
A reminder to all of my agony.”
Author Unknown
I think this craft for kids is a wonderful illustration of the Legend of the Dogwood and the message it shares.
If you like the Legend of the Dogwood Tree craft, here are some more Easter Crafts:
