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Thursday, April 2, 2009

Easter Story Egg Hunt

With Easter just around the corner, I thought I'd share a neat activity idea. We did this yesterday with the 8-11 year old girls I work with at church. We read the scriptures only, but for the sake of my young family, my own version includes a summary to accompany each scriptural account. This is a great way to combine the spiritual aspect of Easter with a fun traditional egg hunt. We will probably start this tradition next year when Chloe's a little older.



Easter Story Egg Hunt

You will first need 12 plastic eggs. If you prefer, gather several more and fill them with candy, but make sure to reserve 12 for this activity. Number the eggs 1-12 with a sharpie and fill the eggs with the corresponding scriptures/summaries and props. When the egg hunt is over, gather everyone in a circle to open the eggs.

#1
Prop:
3 dimes
Scripture: Matthew 26: 14-16
Summary: Judas betrayed Jesus, revealing to the chief priests Jesus' whereabouts in exchange for thirty pieces of silver.

#2
Prop:
sacrament cup
Scripture: Matthew 26: 39-44
Summary: Jesus prayed to His Father in the Garden of Gethsemane. He pleaded to be relieved of His suffering, but only according to His Fathers' will. He had just been betrayed by Judas. His other disciples, who promised to stay awake and wait for Him, had all fallen asleep, leaving Jesus entirely and utterly ALONE! In these final moments of His life, Jesus was literally taking upon himself all the sins and sorrows the world had ever and would ever committ and endure. His agony was so extreme that He sweated drops of blood.

#3
Prop:
knotted twine
Scripture: Matthew 27: 1-2
Summary: When morning came, the chief priests and elders of the people decided to put Jesus to death. They bound Him, led Him away, and delivered Him to the governor, Pontius Pilate.

#4
Prop:
small piece of soap
Scripture: Matthew 27: 24-26
Summary: Pilate believed Jesus was innocent, but due to the pressures of the Pharisees, he handed Jesus over to them, then washed his hands clean, as if to say, "I want nothing to do with this."

#5
Prop:
square of red fabric and thorns
Scripture: Matthew 27: 28-29
Summary: Jesus was stripped down and put in a scarlet robe. A crown of thorns was placed on His head, and He was mocked and whipped.

#6
Prop:
nail
Scripture: Matthew 27: 31
Summary: After they mocked Jesus, they took the robe off Him and led Him away to be crucified. The soldiers nailed His hands and feet to a cross.

#7
Prop:
dice
Scripture: Matthew 27:35-36
Summary: The soldiers took Jesus' garments and cast lots for them.

#8
Prop: small rocks, pebbles or dirt
Scripture: Matthew 27: 50, 51 & 54
Summary: Jesus died. The ground shook and there was a great earthquake. The people, in fear, then realized that Jesus truly was the son of God.

#9
Prop: strip of white cloth
Scripture: Matthew 27:57-59
Summary: Joseph, a disciple of Jesus took Jesus' body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, then placed Him in His tomb.

#10
Prop:
stone
Scripture: Matthew 27: 60, 65-66
Summary: Joseph rolled a large stone in front of the tomb and "sealed" it to ensure Jesus' body would be safe.

#11
Prop:
bay leaf
Scripture: Mark 16: 1-4
Summary: After Jesus had been in the tomb for three days, Mary Magdalene, Mary, and Salome brought spices to Jesus' tomb so they could anoint Him, only to discover the stone had been rolled away.

#12 {this one gives me chills}
Prop: leave the egg empty
Scripture: Mark 16:5-6
Summary: When the women entered the sepulchre, they saw an angel, who told them Jesus was no longer there. He had risen!

Because this activity leaves out some of the other important aspects of the Easter story (in my opinion), it may be worth reading it in the Bible from start to finish, and then pausing to open the eggs when those points of the story are reached. Either way, I think this is an awesome idea. Props to whoever came up with it!

Photobucket

No matter the fun activities we each have planned with our families this season, may we all remember why we're celebrating.
signautre

13 comments:

Jamie Lamb said...

This will make a great FHE lesson/activity. Thanks for the idea!

Barry and Shannon said...

Great idea. Thanks for sharing. I think that we'll try it out this year.

R A C H A E L said...

This was a great activity. You need to post the pretzel recipie!!! Zoey asked for them today!

Rebekah said...

we did this one for FHE last year, great fun! i never would have thought about doing it for church, I have the 8 year olds and my stuff is already ready-maybe this would be a good one for the Easter Sunday lesson.......

GREAT IDEA!! THANKS!

stephschmidt said...

I did this same activity when I was Activities Day Leader last year, and the girls loved it! I thought it was such a great activity!

Jill Halliday said...

Oh honey, perfect! That was all sooo very wonderful to read (and see). It brought tears. The idea of combining the story of Christ's painful journey (through the Garden...Pilate...Calvary) to and through the tomb to the joy of the Resurrection using the eggs (with all their new-beginning symbolism) is just perfect. I'll bet your girls loved it - and will always remember it. I know Chloe will love it whenever you decide to do it with her...and later Ryan too.
The girls are all so lucky to have you.

So are Gpa Roy and I.

Love love love,
Mama/Gma Jill

Stelene said...

What good ideas you have. Brynlee was sad she missed it but we are still in Idaho. Thanks for sharing :)

Jodi said...

I have a similar list that I thought I'd share with you. Some of the items are the same. I like your idea with the empty egg.

You get a dozen plastic eggs to fill. Inside each one you have a piece of paper with a sentence describing some part of the Resurrection Story of Jesus. You also include something tangible that represents that scripture or sentence. Then you number the eggs and open one up each day before Easter, the last egg on Easter.

1. Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. The people waved palm branches. (Matthew 21:1-11) Inside: a palm leaf

2. Mary poured expensive perfume on Jesus’ head. (John 12:2-8) Inside: a tiny perfume bottle

3. Jesus shared His last supper with His disciples. (Matthew 26:17-19) a piece of bread

4. Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. (Matthew 27:3) Inside: 3 dimes

5. The soldiers placed a crown of thorns on Jesus’ head. (John 19:2) Inside: a thorny branch

6. Jesus carried his own cross. (John 19:17) Inside: a small cross, made of toothpicks

7. The soldiers parted Je sus’ garments and drew lots for His coat. (John 19:23) Inside: a piece of colored fabric

8. Jesus was nailed to the cross and pierced in His side. (John 19:18, 37 and John 20:25-29) Inside: a nail

9. They gave Jesus vinegar mixed with wine on a sponge to drink. (Matthew 27:34) Inside: a small piece of sponge, soaked in vinegar

10. The women brought spices to prepare Jesus for buriel. (John 19:40) Inside: some whole cloves and allspice

11. The stone covering Jesus’ tomb was rolled away. (John 20:1) Inside: a rock

12. The cloth around Jesus’ head was lying separately from the rest of His clothes. He was not there. He is risen! (John 20:6-7) Inside: a piece of white cloth

Wendy said...

I love this idea! Thanks for sharing!

p.s. look at your post time :)

Anonymous said...

I love that. How beautiful!

*Are you related to the Neil Andersen who was just called to be an apostle? Is he Neil's dad?

Camille said...

Beautiful idea. Where did you get the sacrament cup? Did you swipe it from church?

Cristi said...

very cool! thank you for sharing!!!!!

Pat said...

Very inspirational! And I love your pictures of the pretty colored Easter eggs and Christ! The photos of Chloe and Ryan are darling too!