It is so important to me that my boys know what Easter is really about. Though we do the modern traditions, I am always looking for ways to incorporate the real story behind Easter so that they may know the Easter Bunny is not what it's all about. I wanted to share with you my favorite activity we did. This was very age appropriate for my four year old and his friends and I was excited that when we were finished each of them could tell the story of Easter using this activity.
I took an egg carton and let the kids paint the outside however they liked. I printed each of the verses and let them glue the printed page on top of the carton. I then gave them each six eggs numbered 1-6 on the outside.
For the first egg, we added an oyster cracker to symbolize bread. We read Luke 22: 14-15. Each verse listed in the post is from The Message.
"When it was time, he sat down, all the apostles with him, and said, 'You’ve no idea how much I have looked forward to eating this Passover meal with you before I enter my time of suffering. It’s the last one I’ll eat until we all eat it together in the kingdom of God.”
For the next egg, we read John 19:17-18. I took some burlap and cut out cross shapes and then painted around the edges with brown nail polish to prevent fraying. You could easily make them from construction paper, but I thought the burlap would hold up to little hands better.
"They took Jesus away. Carrying his cross, Jesus went out to the place called Skull Hill, where they crucified him, and with him two others, one on each side, Jesus in the middle. Pilate wrote a sign and had it placed on the cross. It read: jesus the Nazarene the king of the jews"
Egg # 3 got a piece of cloth to go along with John 19:40. I took one of my husbands' old t-shirts and just tore small strips to be placed in the egg.
"Nicodemus, who had first come to Jesus at night, came now in broad daylight carrying a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. They took Jesus’ body and, following the Jewish burial custom, wrapped it in linen with the spices. There was a garden near the place he was crucified, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been placed. So, because it was Sabbath preparation for the Jews and the tomb was convenient, they placed Jesus in it."
Into the fourth egg, we placed a rock. Each child was able to go outside and pick out one small rock for their egg. The verse for this egg was Matthew 27: 59-60.
"Late in the afternoon a wealthy man from Arimathea, a disciple of Jesus, arrived. His name was Joseph. He went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. Pilate granted his request. Joseph took the body and wrapped it in clean linens, put it in his own tomb, a new tomb only recently cut into the rock, and rolled a large stone across the entrance. Then he went off. But Mary Magdalene and the other Mary stayed, sitting in plain view of the tomb."
And the fifth egg, we left empty. Luke 24: 1-3.
"At the crack of dawn on Sunday, the women came to the tomb carrying the burial spices they had prepared. They found the entrance stone rolled back from the tomb, so they walked in. But once inside, they couldn’t find the body of the Master Jesus."
Inside the sixth egg, we placed a jelly bean. We read John 3:16 and talked about the Easter story with this egg and we talked about how we celebrate. They learned that Jesus was a great gift to us and for that reason we can give each other candy and other gifts in celebration of what he has done for us.
"This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him."
And of course, we made a snack. These are
Wilton candy melts, placed in a 300 degree oven for 2-3 minutes or just until glossy. Then I placed a pretzel on top and made each child one more with bunny cupcake toppers I found in the cake decorating aisle. You can use any color to use these for any holiday or occasion.
