Resurrection Eggs

Welcome Back Gal Pals!

Spring is in the air and Easter is just around the corner.  Like many of us, I come from a family with different holiday traditions.  My birth side of the family celebrates Easter with church, egg hunts, the Easter Bunny and a special family dinner.  My husband's side of the family, opted several years ago to not participate in eggs hunts nor do they recognize the Easter Bunny.  Instead, they chose to focus on the more religious aspects of this day and the resurrection of our Lord and Savior.  So, much like Christmas and Santa Claus (as mentioned in a previous post), the quandary yet again becomes, how do we handle Easter with our daughter?  How do we celebrate this holiday without focusing too much on the commercialized, fluffy bunny, chocolate covered aspects of this holiday, but still make it fun for a little one, especially when half of her cousins are going to receive a visit from the Easter Bunny and participate in egg hunts? 

Well, in a recent meeting with my mommy group, I was introduced to this cute and clever spin on the traditional Easter egg.  They are called resurrection eggs and we made them at our last meeting.  Here's how it works. 

Materials

Empty egg carton

12 plastic eggs

paper & pen or printer

permanent marker

and the following 10 items: 

cracker

dime

tiny piece of purple ribbon/fabric

toothpick (broken in pieces)

piece of rope/string

tiny cross (you can make this with toothpicks or matches glued together)

nail

small piece of a dish sponge

plastic sword (like the ones they use on cocktails)

a small rock/pebble

Instructions

Print or write out these verses on strips of paper:

1. While they were eating, Jesus took a piece of bread, gave a prayer of thanks, broke it, and gave it to His disciples and said: "This is my body" - Matthew 26:26 (cracker)

2.  Then one of the twelve disciples, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and asked, "What will you give me if I betray Jesus to you?"  They counted out thirty silver coins and gave them to him - Matthew 26:14-15 (dime)

3.  They put a purple robe on Jesus...Mark 15:17 (ribbon/fabric)

4. Then they made a crown out of thorny branches and placed it on His head, and put a stick on His right hand; then they knelt before Him and made fun of Him.  "Long live the King of the Jews!" they said.  - Matthew 27:29 (broken toothpick = thorns)

5.  Pilate wanted to please the crowd, so he set Barabbas free for them.  Then he had Jesus whipped and handed Him over to be crucified" - Mark 15:15 (piece of rope = whip)

6.  He went out, carrying His cross, and came to "The Place of the Skull", as it is called. (In Hebrew it is called "Golgotha".)  There, they crucified Him - John 19: 17-18a (cross)

7.  Thomas said to them, "Unless I see the scars of the nails in His hands and put my finger on those scars and my hand in His side, I will not believe"  - John 20:25b (nail)

8.  Above Him were written these words: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS - Luke 23:38 (For this egg you will also need to include a separate small piece of paper which reads "THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS"-It will serve as the prop)

9.  One of them ran up at once, took a sponge, soaked it in cheap wine, put it on the end of a stick, and tried to make Jesus drink it.  - Matthew 27:48 (sponge)

10.  One of the soldiers plunged his spear into Jesus' side and, at once, blood and water poured out - John 19:34 (sword)

11.  Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a new linen sheet, and placed it in his own tomb, which he had just recently dug out of solid rock.  Then he rolled a large stone across the entrance to the tomb and went away. - Matthew 27: 59-60 (pebble)

12.  He is not here.  He has risen just as He said. - Matthew 28:6 (This egg will have nothing inside)

Match up the corresponding props and bible versus together and place inside of the plastic eggs.  Be sure to write a number on the outside of each egg with permanent marker so that you keep them in order. 

I hope you enjoy using this fun and helpful teaching tool for your children.  I just love it when we can finds ways to reaffirm Jesus' message of salvation during these holidays.  Enjoy!  :)

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him."  John 3:16-17