Peg Dolls for Holy Week and the Easter Season

Peg Dolls for Holy Week and the Easter Season

by | May 28, 2025 | Craft Tutorials

A number of years ago our family painted a few peg dolls for Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Last year, as we were having our Seder meal on Holy Thursday, I thought, “It would be wonderful to have peg dolls for the Last Supper.”

It took me a year to get around to figuring out what they should look like. I wanted each of the Apostles to have a symbol to signify who they are. There are many possible symbols for each Apostle seen in iconography, statues, and paintings. We chose symbols for each Apostle for their simplicity for children and their connection to something memorable in the Apostle’s life. (Scroll down for a free PDF guide.)

This Holy Thursday we worked together as a family (including grandparents!) to create the peg dolls for the Last Supper scene. While given a specific symbol for each apostle, everyone was encouraged to choose their own colors and styles for the apostles they chose to paint. For the table, we are just using a simple block of wood. Perhaps we’ll paint some food on the table next year? (The book pages shown behind the peg dolls is The Easter Story by Brian Wildsmith.)

I’m so excited to share with you our ideas for the Last Supper peg dolls, but I’m even more excited to share another beautiful and unexpected joy…

All throughout the Easter season, the peg dolls have been on our dining room buffet, and our children play with them almost every day! This has truly become a way to naturally encourage the celebration of Easter all 50 days. When my children play with the peg dolls, the dolls talk of Jesus having risen from the dead, and it’s as if we can feel the Easter joy and excitement of that very first Easter, everyone abuzz of this joyful news! Seeing my children play with these Easter peg dolls makes me think we might want to add more, like the many different people in a French Santons de Provence scene at Christmastime.

Would you like to make a Last Supper peg doll set? We have a FREE printable for you with possible symbols for each Apostle. Use the symbols as a starting point, and use your own creativity to make them your own. I think children especially love to play with the dolls they have made themselves. Encourage each artist to choose his/her own style, clothing and hair color, etc.

Click on the image below for a link to the FREE PDF.

aplostle peg dolls

We also added Matthias to join the group in the Easter season. We chose two symbols for Matthias, a heart with a cross in it (as a reminder that Peter prayed, acknowledging that God knows everyone’s heart), and some sticks (to represent being chosen by casting lots).

 

“Then they prayed, ‘You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this apostolic ministry from which Judas turned away to go to his own place.’
Then they gave lots to them, and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was counted with the eleven apostles.”
 – Acts 1:24-26

I used a permanent fine point pen to write the name and symbol of each Apostle on the bottom of each peg doll.

Wondering what supplies we used? We used 2 3/8  inch size peg dolls, Apple Barrel acrylic paint, and paint brushes in a variety of sizes. It’s also helpful to have toothpicks (for the eyes and other small details), paper towels (to dry the brushes), and a plastic table cloth to protect your work surface. Mod Podge is optional (but recommended) to protect the paint.

For more ideas on creating peg dolls for Holy Week and Easter, please visit our post, Homemade Easter Decorations that Last. Other peg dolls you may want for the Easter season include resurrected Jesus (showing the wounds in his hands and feet), Mary the Mother of God (we made her with happy smile and a heart), Mary Magdalene (with a jar of oil), Mary the mother of James, and some angels and soldiers.

If I had the woodworking skills, I would love to build an upper room as we near Pentecost. For now, we are building an upper room out of blocks.

Reading beautiful picture books helps to enrich understanding of the Easter story. Some of our favorites, which we like to place near the peg dolls, are The Easter Story by Brian Wildsmith, and The Holy Spirit and the Greatest Adventure by Gracie Jagla.

 

 

May God bless you in this Easter Season and always!

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Homemade Easter Decorations that Last

Homemade Easter Decorations that Last

by | Apr 6, 2023 | Craft Tutorials

Making Easter decorations together that can last for years is a special treat!  In this post, we’ll show you how to make an Easter scene with peg dolls, hand painted wooden eggs, and an Easter garland.

Easter Story Peg Dolls

Our family really enjoyed creating an Easter peg doll scene a few years ago.  Having an Easter scene provides a tangible experience for children to imagine the details of the story of Easter, like a manger scene does at Christmastime.

We chose 2 3/8 inch size peg dolls, but you could choose any size. We loved looking at the ideas on Catholic Icing. for inspiration on how to paint the peg dolls. If you are not up for painting, Catholic Icing also has printable decoupage designs to make creating the peg dolls even easier.

Catholic Icing also has a very well done resurrection story that combines the multiple gospel stories into one to make it easier for children to understand the details.

 

easter peg dolls

We found that getting some extra peg dolls was helpful so that our toddler could paint the dolls however she wanted to while the older children and mom and dad worked on the details of the Easter figures.  She loved painting and playing with these dolls!

good friday peg dolls

We originally made our Calvary Hill and tomb using air dry clay.  We found that the clay crumbled over the years.  This year, we remade Calvary Hill and the tomb using Model Magic.  Modle Magic is much sturdier and lightweight, so we think it will hold up better to playing.

 

 

We used a plastic container for the base of the hill, then covered it with Model Magic. We then placed real stones on the hill, and secured a wooden cross into the clay.  Finally we pained the Model Magic and stones with a watered down light brown acrylic paint. For the tomb, we began with a cardboard structure, and covered it with Model Magic, then added rocks and paint. Our 4-year-old had so much fun placing the rocks in the clay! It takes quite a bit of model magic to make the tomb and Calvary Hill, so we recommend a large tub of Model Magic.

We also remade our crucified Jesus figure this year. (Once again, air dry clay did not hold up over the years, but we think Model Magic will.) We used a wooden bead for the head to make the head about the same size and look as the peg dolls.  We used floral wire to form the body, and then covered the wire in Model Magic.  In order to easily attach the figure of Jesus to the cross on Good Friday, we tied a string under the head that fits around the top of the cross.

peg doll jesus crucified

We wrap the Jesus figure in a small cloth and place the figure in the tomb on Good Friday.  On Easter Sunday morning, the children wake up to find the stone rolled away, and the tomb empty.  We like to hide the figure of the resurrected Jesus somewhere in the room so that the children have the experience of looking for Jesus, like his friends did on the very first Easter morning. We also place flowers near the tomb as a reminder that the tomb was in a garden… and to add even more Easter joy!

easter peg dolls

Painted Wooden Eggs

We made this set of nesting eggs many years ago, and it is still a favorite to display when we decorate.  Even the youngest children can decorate eggs… our newborn at the time used her fingerprints to make dots on the egg. It’s fun to paint names on the eggs, as well as the year the eggs were painted.  

To create your set of eggs, find a wooden egg set (or multiple sets) that allows each member of the family to paint at least one egg. 

We used acrylic paints to paint the eggs, and then gave them a coating of Mod Podge.

nesting easter eggs

The year my parents had their 12th grandchild, each grandchild painted a wooden egg, and we presented them with a carton of a dozen eggs on Easter.  We got two sets of these wooden eggs (which are already painted white).

Rather than use an old egg carton, we found cute colorful cartons to store and display the eggs.

Joyful Easter Banner

Catholic Easter Garland

Creating an Easter garland together can be fun, as each member of the family can create a part of it.  If you are looking for something simple, consider coloring our Easter hymn garland (an instant download on Etsy).  For full details on creating this simple, garland, click here. Or use your own ideas to create your own beautiful banner to celebrate Easter… so many possibilities!  Have fun!

Happy Easter!

Note:  Some links on this page are Amazon Affiliate links.  Sparkles and Sprinkles is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Other links may or may not be affiliate links.  We provide links because we have found these products or services beneficial, and we think you might too.