Easter is coming quickly, time to start stocking up on Easter basket goodies and those amazing candy-filled colorful plastic eggs that your kids will love hunting for over and over again. Along with pumping our kids with extra sugar and giving them something fun to look for, we can also start planning how we want to plant the story of Jesus' death and resurrection into our kids' hearts and minds. A great way to tell the story of Easter to your kids is through Resurrection Eggs.
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What Are Resurrection Eggs?
If you aren’t familiar with these storytelling eggs, they essentially are a dozen of your traditional colorful plastic Easter egg hunting eggs. But, rather than filling them with candy, you fill them with things that help tell the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
As your kids open each egg you then read to them scripture or a script that summarizes the text to talk them through all the details of the Easter Bible story.
How Can We Make Resurrection Eggs?
Here is a quick overview of what part of the Easter story each egg tells about:
Egg 1: Palm Branch
Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey and the crowd praises him with palm branches.
Matthew 21:7-9; Mark 11:7-10; Luke 19:35-38; John 12:12-13
Egg 2: Silver
Judas betrayed Jesus and is paid 30 pieces of silver.
Matthew 26:14-15; Mark 14:10-11; Luke 22:3-5
Egg 3: Towel
Jesus washes his disciples' feet.
Egg 4: Bread and Wine
The first communion with Jesus.
Matthew 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:19-20
Egg 5: Garden
Jesus goes to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray.
Matthew 26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42; Luke 22:39-46
Egg 6: Rope
Jesus is arrested in the garden and tied up.
Matthew 26:47,50; Mark 14:43,46; Luke 22:47-48; John 18:3,12
Egg 7: Crown of Thorns
Soldiers make a crown of thorns to place on Jesus’ head calling him the King of the Jews.
Matthew 27:27-31; Mark 15:16-20; John 19:1-3
Egg 8: Cross
Jesus is nailed to the cross.
Matthew 27:31;Mark 15:22-24; Luke 23:33;John 19:17-18
Egg 9: Spear
A soldier pierced Jesus’ side with a spear before he was brought down from the cross.
Egg 10: Linen
Joseph wraps Jesus’ body in strips of linen and places it in a tomb.
Matthew 27:57-60; Mark 15:42-46; Luke 23:50-53; John 19:38-42
Egg 11: Stone
A large stone is placed in front of Jesus’ tomb along with soldiers to guard his body.
Egg 12: Empty
On the third day the woman came to his tomb and found it empty. An angel greets them and informs them that Jesus has risen from the dead.
Matthew 28:1,5-7; Mark 16:1-6; Luke 24:1-6; John 20:1-2
You can use these eggs in your home to help your kids better understand what Jesus did for them. They are also great to use for a Sunday school lesson or as a homeschool lesson.
Once you make or buy one set, store them away safely so you can reuse them each year to help refresh your families minds on the true and beautiful story that Easter celebrates.
Here are some great ways to get started on procuring your own set in time for this Easter:
Photo Credit: ©Pixabay/NickyPe
Where to Buy Your Own Resurrection Eggs
Thankfully, for those who lack Pinteresting skills or are short on time, there are a lot of great places you can buy Resurrection Eggs sets from. Christianbook.com has a great set that includes an illustrated companion to read as your kids open each egg and discover their surprising contents.
Amazon has this set you can get primed to your house too! This one comes with cute figurines for each plastic egg. It comes with a plastic container for the eggs that appears to make preserving your set to use for multiple years a little easier.
If you are looking for something more interactive, Oriental Trading has a set that includes coloring pages and labels. The great thing about this set is that it could become a family project (without too much effort on your part).
You can divvy out the coloring to the kids and cut and assemble the pieces together. If you are doing this as a Sunday school lesson, the coloring makes the lesson much more hands-on too!
How to Make Your Own Resurrection Eggs
If you have the time and supplies, it’s pretty simple to make your own set of these eggs. Save an old egg carton to store your eggs in or just throw the labeled dozen in a separate Easter basket then buy a set of those plastic eggs and set aside a dozen to fill.
Then use the “recipe” to fill your eggs with the proper items that will help you tell the story of the cross to your kiddos. Here is a great recipe for you to follow when making your own eggs.
You can be as creative as you’d like in filling each egg with items that match the part of Jesus’ story that they coordinate with.
Many people fill them with small trinkets from their homes that go along with the verse you read for that egg. For example, on day two you read about the silver pieces Judas was paid to betray Jesus. This egg you could fill with a few dimes you have laying around the house.
If you aren’t up for finding items on your own, this blog offers a free printable with a picture of each item. Just print and cut them out to fill your eggs with!
I love that this printable is colorful and includes the corresponding verse right on the picture. If you have older kids this would be a great chance to bring out the Bible and together practice locating and reading aloud each verse reference rather than printing the verses out ahead of time.
This free printable includes each verse and a picture to match. Thanks to having very crafty friends, I have a set of these laminated and held together with a ring. Laminating the set has preserved it for us so we can use it for multiple years.
Follow the Resurrection Egg Story Script
Raising Rock Stars has a huge printable packet with everything you need to make your set! It includes a script to help explain each egg in a preschooler-friendly language. The packet doesn’t include each verse but rather simplifies the story, which would be perfect if you have young ones that you are making your eggs for.
If you are looking for a script for a slightly older crowd, Bible Games Central has a printable script as well as printable pictures of each corresponding item for the eggs.
These printables are really good quality! The script is easy to follow and offers a little extra detail to keep your older kids more engaged.
Or, Skip the Long Script and Follow a Resurrection Egg Cheat Sheet
If you are looking for a more streamlined approach and don’t want to create a whole book or are packing sets of eggs to give out to families at church, a “cheat sheet” is a great way to pass on the story without too much work.
My Primary Purpose has a printable page that lists Egg 1-12 with verses, keywords, and a short summary.
This would be perfect to print out to give out to a Sunday School class to take home and use with their family.
Resurrection eggs give you the tools you need to better convey the message of Easter to your kiddos. They are a great hands-on and age-appropriate way to help them understand the progression of events that led to Jesus' death on the cross and miraculous resurrection!
Make a set that you make part of your annual family Easter traditions, making the discussion of the story of Jesus' death and resurrection a more central part of your conversations.
It’s so important that your kids walk away from Easter weekend knowing that Jesus came, died, and came back to life to show them that they have a powerful and loving God who came to rescue them!
The best thing about this project is that everyone can have fun while learning at the same time too.
Amanda Idleman is a writer whose passion is to encourage others to live joyfully. She writes devotions for the Daily Bible Devotions App, she has work published with Her View from Home, also for the MOPS Blog, and is a regular contributor for Crosswalk.com. You can find out more about Amanda on her blog or follow her on Instagram.
Photo Credit: ©Unsplash/Pel
This article is part of our larger Holy Week and Easter resource library centered around the events leading up to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We hope these articles help you understand the meaning and story behind important Christian holidays and dates and encourage you as you take time to reflect on all that God has done for us through his son Jesus Christ!
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