Written by Martha Hughes
Deep in the rainforest of Africa, there lived a herd of elephants: Mama Elephant, Papa Elephant, Sister Lola Elephant, Stompy, and baby brother Elephant.
One sunny school morning, Stompy woke up extra early. She was excited because today at school her teacher, Mrs. Flamingo, was going to tell the class about a special Easter parade, Stompy and her class would participate.
“Good morning, everyone!” Stompy greeted cheerfully when she arrived in the kitchen for breakfast.
Giving baby brother a kiss on his little head with her trunk.
“Good morning, Stompy,” Mama, Papa, and Lola answered with a smile.
Once breakfast was finished, Stompy got ready quickly, packing her school bag and lunch.
“Come on, Lola, let’s go,” Stompy called from the door. She really couldn’t wait to get to school.
When Lola and Stompy arrived at school, Stompy spotted her best friend Sophia and rushed over to her.
“Hi Sophia, have you been thinking about the Easter parade Mrs. Flamingo said she’d tell us about?” Stompy asked.
“Hi Stompy!” Sofia replied. ” Yes, I’ve been thinking about it and I can’t wait to find out”
The school bell rang, and everybody lined up outside their classrooms, then walked inside.
“Good morning, everyone,” said Mrs. Flamingo, greeting greeted once everyone was seated.
“Good morning, Mrs Flamingo!” the animals replied in unison.
“Today, I want to talk to you about our class Easter parade. As you may know, Easter is coming, and I thought it would be fun to do something special. So I’ve decided we will have an Easter hat parade,” Mrs. Flamingo explained.
“Since Easter is all about chocolates and the Easter Bunny, I want you to design and decorate your hat with that theme in mind. I will give you time this afternoon to draw a design idea.”
That afternoon on her way home, Stompy felt a bit confused. She loved chocolate, and she liked bunnies but what did they have to do with each other and Easter?
When Stompy arrived home, she went straight to Mama Elephant, who was feeding baby elephant some mashed banana.
“Mama,” she said, “Mrs. Flamingo said we have to decorate an Easter hat for the parade, and the theme is chocolate and bunnies. But I’m a bit confused about the chocolate and bunnies.”
“I can definitely help you with that,” Mama Elephant replied. “You see, Easter isn’t about chocolates and bunnies—it’s about remembering Jesus’ death and resurrection.”
“Oh! Can you explain it to me? Stompy asked, sitting down in front of mama.
Mama smiled and nodded.
“Well, in the very beginning, when man sinned, God promised to send His Son, Jesus, to come to earth to pay for our sins so we could one day live in heaven again. Because He loves us very much.
Now when Jesus came to earth, He came to show people how to live, forgive, how to show God’s love and kindness to everyone. But some people didn’t understand and didn’t want to listen to Him and others were jealous, so they decided that He had to die.
“That’s not fair? He didn’t do anything wrong!” Stompy interrupted, shocked at the injustice.
“Let me continue the story,” Mama Elephant said.
“Sorry, Mama.” Stompy, giggled.
“So even though it was terrible and not fair, Jesus had to die on a cross for our sins. And He did it because He loves us with all His heart. But that’s not the end of the story. After three days, God sent an angel to free Jesus from death, and Jesus came back to life! He rose from the grave just as He promised.
He took our punishment so we could have the hope of one day living in heaven again with Him.
That’s why we celebrate Easter”
“Oh wow, that’s beautiful,” Stompy said with a smile. “Thank you, mama.”
“You’re welcome, dear,” said Mama Elephant with a warm smile.
“Jesus,” baby brother clapped.
“You know, Mama,” Stompy started, “I know how I would like to decorate my hat. I’ll be back!”
Running to her room, Stompy got some scrap paper and crayons and brought them to Mama and baby brother.
“I’m going to put some grass at the bottom of the hat and cross standing to one side and then a rock to represent the tomb right in the middle and then next to the rock Jesus, standing with His arms wide open, smiling because He is alive. And all around I will put yellow flowers.”
“That is a wonderful idea, Stompy,” Mama Elephant beamed. “Let’s start looking around the house and outside to see what materials we can find. “
Stompy trumpeted loudly, excited to start finding supplies. Baby elephant trumpeting softly as he copies his big sister.
As the days went by, Stompy and Mama Elephant worked together on creating the perfect hat for Stompy. The Easter parade was getting closer.
Finally, the day before the parade arrived, and Stompy’s eyes sparkled as she realized how special the hat was. It would be different from everyone else’s because it would represent Jesus’s death and resurrection, not chocolate and bunnies, but that was okay. She loved Jesus and felt loved and special that He came to die for her.
She wrapped her arms around Mama Elephant and said, “Thank you, Mama, for helping me.”
“You’re welcome sweetheart, I can’t wait to see the parade tomorrow.”
The day of the Easter parade had arrived! Stompy got up extra early. She couldn’t wait to get to school and see what all her friends had made.
When she reached the school, it was filled with animals, each wearing their creative Easter hats. Some hats were made of banana leaves, others from coconut shells, but no two hats were the same—each one was uniquely designed and looked beautiful.
Everyone admired each other’s creations, marvelling at the creativity on display.
Mrs. Flamingo came out of the classroom, ringing a bell to get everyone’s attention. Once the animals were quiet, she gave instructions for the parade. “I want you all to line up, one behind the other.” she said.
As the parents sat on the grass, waiting for the animals to parade around the oval in their hats.
Stompy turned to Sofia and whispered, “I feel nervous because I’ve never done this before.”
“That’s okay, Stompy,” Sofia said kindly. “Neither have I. I feel a little nervous, too.” Finally, they started walking around the oval; their parents and friends clapped and whistled, cheering for everyone as they passed. Stompy felt incredibly proud of her creation because her hat represented the true meaning of Easter.
Once the parade was over, Mrs. Flamingo had all the students and their parents enjoy a nice picnic.
“Mama, Papa, come sit under this giant shady tree!” Stompy called out to her family,
“We’re coming!” answered Papa Elephant.
While Stompy was eating, her little brother, Baby Elephant, got up and pointed at Stompy’s hat.
“Hat! Hat! Please!” he said.
Stompy smiled, took off her hat, and placed it on Baby Elephant’s head. He giggled with delight, wearing the hat proudly. Then they all laughed as they watched Baby Elephant march down the hill, trumpeting with happiness.
On the way home from the Easter parade, Stompy couldn’t stop talking about the event. “Mama,” she said, “thank you again for telling me the story of Jesus. I understand now the real meaning of Easter.”
Mama smiled and replied, “Yes, sweetheart, just like it says in the Bible, in John 3:16: ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.’ It’s a wonderful promise God has given us.”
Stompy smiled too, and with Lola and her little brother by her side, they skipped all the way home, their hearts full of joy.
PICTURE CREDIT -CANVA AI
