Hopefully, all of your Easter Sunday plans for your children’s ministry are in place and ready to go, but if that’s not the case, here’s a user-friendly way to engage and teach little ones in celebration of the resurrection. This method is especially nice for dealing with a large crowd, but can work well with any size group.
Have your kids participate in a traditional Easter egg hunt, using plastic eggs…here’s the best part…that are EMPTY! No stuffing required! I ask the children to find five eggs (one of each color available) and then have them visit a different station for each egg where they receive an object to fill their egg with that represents a part of the Passion story. For example:
- Green Egg -Palm Sunday/piece of “donkey” fur or palm branch
- Pink Egg-Last Supper/cheerio or oyster cracker to represent bread
- Purple Egg-The Cross/small wooden cross or cross sticker
- Yellow Egg-Empty Tomb/small chocolate egg (to eat!), egg stays empty to represent the empty tomb
- Blue Egg-Jesus Appears Again/nail to remind us of the holes in Jesus’ hands that helped Thomas believe
It’s kind of like Resurrection Eggs, just a bit different! You can alter this to fit your needs and your ministry. This is the quick and simple start. If you want to go above and beyond, consider these ideas:
- Provide bags or baskets for the children to use to hold their eggs. I like to use simple colored lunch bags and “He Is Risen” stickers from Oriental Trading Company.
- At each station, explore the story more by reading a Bible verse, Bible story, or section of a children’s book that gives more details.
- Provide different art materials at each station (stickers/sequins/permanent markers/etc.) to be used to decorate the outside of the egg.
Can you think of other ways to adjust and adapt this concept to make for Easter success? If so, share them in the comments below. You’ll have extra time to make your ministry extra great now that you won’t be stuffing all of those plastic eggs yourself! All laziness aside, my hope is that this activity will combine the ever pleasing egg hunt activity with a meaningful and fuss-free way to share the true message of Easter with children. Blessings to you as you share the Good News! He has risen! He has risen indeed!