I baby-sit for a wonderful Catholic family and they have a beautiful tradition that I would love to incorporate into my future family.
Each Lent the family has an empty jar and some pinto beans. It is a sacrifice jar. The point is to teach your child about how Jesus was obedient to the Father and sacrificed Himself for us, even though it was hard.
photo creditAs children (and adults!) go through the Lenten season they add a pinto bean to the jar each time they make a sacrifice.
Then, on Easter morning, when the kids enter the kitchen they see their jar filled with jelly beans!
You can then explain, on Easter morning, how God can take our obedience, even when it is a painful thing, and turn it into something beautiful! I think another good thing would be to make sure that you use a large jar that you know your family would never be able to fill on their own with the pinto beans. Then, on Easter fill the jar to the brim with jelly beans. You can talk about how there are more jelly beans than Easter beans because God gives us grace; something that we can never earn.
I think the important thing would be to focus on Jesus, not the "good deeds" we can do. However, I do believe that it is a beautiful visual, especially for children. :)
